"They kept on paying him"- WWE Hall of famer offers insight behind Iron Sheik's firing (Exclusive)

The Iron Sheik was one of the best heels in WWE (then known as WWF) during his time with the promotion in the 1980s. During this run with the company, he became the first and only Iranian-born WWE Champion in the company's history but only held the title for less than a month.

His legendary rivalry with Hulk Hogan during this time saw the Hulkster defeat The Iron Sheik for the championship which started his iconic 1474-day title reign. WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long provided insight regarding The Sheik's brief time in WCW before being let go from the promotion.

The former SmackDown General Manager spoke on The Wrestling Time Machine on Sportskeeda WrestleBinge. He explained how the promotion kept on paying him, long after he was let go from the promotion.

"Yeah, well, they did that one time at WCW. I remember they paid The Iron Sheik and God rest his soul, and they had already fired him. Well, those guys had contracts, that's what I'm saying, they had contracts. When they fired Sheik, they never called their office and told them that he was fired. So, they never killed his contract. They kept on paying him," Long said. [From 2:39 onwards]

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The Iron Sheik went on to become one of the most iconic heels in the business. In addition to becoming the WWF World Heavyweight Champion, he even won the WWF Tag Team Championship with Nikolai Volkoff. He was recognized for his efforts in 2005 when The Iron Sheik was inducted into the WWE's Hall of Fame.

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About the author

Faiz is a WWE writer at Sportskeeda Wrestling. He is a BBA graduate who is passionate about sports and wants to make a career in that field. This passion led to a postgraduate degree in Journalism, which helped him pivot into becoming a sports writer. When writing, he puts the utmost importance on accuracy and thorough research.

Faiz has six years of work experience across four companies. He started his career with Zomato and then moved to Amazon. He shifted to becoming a football writer at TV9 Digital and is now with Sportskeeda. He covered the Wrestling Xtreme Mania event in Gurgaon in 2025, where he had the opportunity to interview Raj The Maharaja, fka Jinder Mahal. At the same event, he also got quick interviews with former WWE Superstar Dijak and Japanese Joshi legend Emi Sakura.

When it comes to his favourite wrestlers, Faiz has two names in mind. He loved to watch Triple H before the current WWE CCO retired, and he is a huge fan of Roman Reigns. Being a loyal fan since the Tribal Chief's SHIELD days, Faiz credits Roman's mic skills and unmatched in-ring storytelling for his mega success. When he was young, one in-ring story left a lasting impression on his mind and eventually got him hooked on WWE. That match was Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair at WrestleMania 24. Apart from that, he is also a fan of RAW.

When Faiz is not writing for Sportskeeda, he loves to keep up with other sports. He is an avid cricket and football fan, a huge gamer, and loves playing some RPGs on the PlayStation.

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Edited by Arsh Das