The 5 greatest international tag teams in WWE history

#4. Nikolai Volkoff & The Iron Sheik - WWE

The wrestling world paid tribute to WWE Hall of Famer Nikolai Volkoff after his passing. MORE @ https://t.co/kQFKCPnF8x pic.twitter.com/lD5GGMARLw

— BarDown (@BarDown) July 29, 2018

When fans think of foreign heel tag teams in WWE, the list must start with Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik. Both men had their own struggles to overcome before coming together. The Iron Sheik lost the WWE Championship to Hulk Hogan in January of 1984, kickstarting the era of Hulkamania, while Nikolai Volkoff left the promotion and came back looking for more success.

Vince McMahon decided to pair them up and placed "Classy" Freddie Blassie as their manager. Sheik and Volkoff quickly became the most hated tag team in WWE. They defeated Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda of the U.S. Express to win the WWE Tag Team Championships at the first WrestleMania.

The late WWF legend Nikolai Volkoff was born on this date in 1947 (died 2018). In the '80s Volkoff rose to fame in the WWF with his tag team partner @the_ironsheik with whom he won the Tag Team Championship at the inaugural WrestleMania event. #80s #80swrestling pic.twitter.com/wGbMX9P4YF

— LandOfThe80s (@landofthe80s) October 14, 2020

Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik would garner massive heat together in many different ways. They waved their respective flags of Iran and the Soviet Union to the ring. Once inside the squared circle, Volkoff and Sheik would demand the crowd to quiet down and "show respect" while Volkoff sang a terrible rendition of the Soviet national anthem. This demand would usually attract boos.

Sheik usually ended things by saying "Iran number 1, Russia number 1, USA - HACK-POOIE!" The two men earned heat wherever they went and seemed to revel in it all. They are still known as one of the greatest foreign heel teams in wrestling history. WWE will always remember their impact in becoming prominent names in tag team wrestling.