WWE Hall of Fame wrestler who portrayed Cold War heel dies at 70
Nikolai Volkoff, who was one of professional wrestling’s biggest villains during the Cold War in the 1980s, died Sunday, according to the WWE.
The WWE Hall of Fame wrestler, whose real name is Josip Nikolai Peruzovic, had heart problems, according to his wife, who said he was unresponsive when she went to give him medication, ESPN reported.
Peruzovic was recently “released from a Maryland hospital where he was treated for dehydration and other ailments,” RNN reported.
WWE released a statement on Peruzovic, calling him “one of the greatest villains sports-entertainment had ever seen.”
“Best known for his dastardly, WWE Tag Team Championship — winning union with The Iron Sheik, Volkoff’s in-ring career spanned the better part of 40 years, which featured battles against the likes of Sgt. Slaughter, Hulk Hogan and Bruno Sammartino,” the WWE said of Peruzovic, who was inducted into its Hall of Fame in 2005. He was “an instant icon in the eyes of the WWE Universe as a Superstar they truly loved to hate.”
Peruzovic often entered the wrestling ring wearing a Russian ushanka hat, all red outfits representing the Soviet Union, and waving a Soviet flag before singing the Russian national anthem, according to CNN.
He was born in Croatia in 1947 before emigrating to Canada, the New York Daily News reported, saying he became a pro wrestler in the 1960s.
While teamed with the Iron Sheik, Peruzovic won the tag team championship in the first Wrestlemania in 1985, per ESPN.
He lived in Maryland, where he worked as a code enforcement inspector in Baltimore County after retiring and made an unsuccessful run for the House of Delegates in 2006, according to the Baltimore Sun.
Those in the pro wrestling world reacted to news of his death.
Ric Flair tweeted “Nikolai Volkoff, One Of The Really Nice Men In The History Of Our Business. Rest In Peace.”
“Nikolai entertained while inciting anger in fans all across the WWE Universe as an in-ring competitor, but backstage he was a gentle and thoughtful family man. Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time,” Paul “Triple H” Levesque, wrote on Twitter.
Peruzovic’s longtime tag team partner, the Iron Sheik also shared an emotional message on social media, closing with a broken heart emoji.
“My best friend. My Partner. My brother. We get more heat than anyone on Earth. I trust him with my life. He take care of me when I was down. I miss you forever.”
This story was originally published July 29, 2018 at 10:27 PM.