The Man, The Myth, The Legend Vol. 4: Nikolai Volkoff

Another legend has passed. Here are ten poignant moments from Nikolai Volkoff's career.

To understand the man Josip Nikolai Peruzović--better known to the world as Nikolai Volkoff--you first have to understand where he came from.

Born in Soviet-era Croatia, Volkoff was raised under the specter of the U.S.S.R, then engaged in a cold war with the United States and their allies. Having been devastated by frequent wars, his home country offered few opportunities.

The six foot five, three hundred pound man would become a weightlifting champion, representing Yugoslavia in competition. During a tour of Austria, he legally became a citizen of Canada and left the Soviet Union behind for greener pastures.

Once in Canada, he received training from the legendary Stu Hart in his infamous Hart Dungeon. Then he would embark upon a career that spanned nearly fifty years.

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#1. Before he was the Russian villain, he was a Mongol.

After graduating the Hart Dungeon, Volkoff struggled to get noticed in the wrestling business. By chance, he met journeyman grappler Newton Tattrie. The two began a friendship, which led to a tag team.

Tattrie and Volkoff became Geeto and Bepo Mongol, respectively. Their 'barbaric' appearance and massive size were precursors to the days of the Road Warriors and Powers of Pain. The two garnered massive heel heat wherever they went due to their cheating and nationalistic ways. The Mongols made their way to the WWWF and captured the International Tag team titles, which they held for over a year.

#2. The Executioners

Volkoff's friend and partner Newton Tattrie grew disgruntled with the intense road schedule of the WWWF, and left to form his own company. Volkoff briefly used the Nikolai Volkoff character before leaving the company as well. He returned several years later under as mask as one of the Executioners. His partners were legends themselves: Killer Kowalski and Big John Studd.

Like the Mongols, the Executioners were bullying heels who the fans hated. Since Volkoff spoke little English and Kowalski's identity was supposed to be secret, they communicated through their manager Captain Lou Albano. Eventually, the idea of a three-man tag team was scrapped, just before the Freebirds made it popular, and Volkoff ended up on his own for the first time in his career.

#3. Feud with Bruno Sammartino

Volkoff would receive a fantastic opportunity and boost to his career when he was booked into a program with the legendary Bruno Sammartino.

Possibly the most popular wrestler pre-Hulk Hogan, Sammartino was the beloved babyface and Volkoff the cowardly heel who attacked him during an interview. Their matches sold out arenas all over the country, including one memorable bout at Madison Square Garden.

#4. Teaming with Iron Sheik

By 1984, the cold war's flames were fanned so high many people in the United States were genuinely afraid of Russian invasion or Nuclear attack. The Iran hostage crisis had ended a few short years earlier, and a hawkish Ronald Reagan sat in the white house promising to be 'as strong as the bear (Russia.)'

In other words, the wrestling landscape was ripe for foreign heels from those two countries. WWF doubled down and paired up arguably the two most famous representatives of their respective homelands- Volkoff and Iron Sheik.

Sheik's career was winding down, and Volkoff had become a wily veteran. The two men often spent their downtime together, and became real friends. It seems like almost everyone wanted to be Vokoff's friend--except the fans in attendance, of course.

#5. Volkoff sings.

In order to stir up heel heat for the Sheik and Volkoff, the WWF asked him to sing the Soviet National Anthem before their matches.

While his antics resulted in many boos, the fact was that Volkoff had a magnificent vibrato singing voice. Many fans would fall into a hush just to hear his dulcet tones, even if he was singing the anthem of their enemy.

#6. The Sheik and Volkoff capture the gold.

One of the older tropes in wrestling is that it works better when heels are the champion. Since you couldn't find two bigger heels in 1985, it was natural they would end up wearing the gold.

They won the titles in front of a record-setting crowd at Wrestlemania 3, in classic heel fashion, resulting in one of many iconic moments from that super show.

#7. Feud with Hulk Hogan

The Iron Sheik retired from a full-time wrestling schedule, and Volkoff was left without a partner for the third time in his career. It was decided that Volkoff would be elevated to the main event to feud with none other than Hulk Hogan himself.

Playing on the cold war fears, the match was a chance for the US to beat the USSR in effigy within the confines of a wrestling ring. Hogan would go on to say that Volkoff was one of the toughest men he ever faced in the ring.

#8. The Bolsheviks

If one is good, two must be better--or at least that's what the WWE thought when they decided to clone Volkoff's character for American wrestler James "Boris Zhukov" Harrell.

The duo were largely used as Gatekeeper talent, meaning they defeated enhancement wrestlers but usually lost to bigger name teams. Their most 'famous' moment occurred when they were defeated by the Hart Foundation in under twenty seconds at Wrestlemania 4.

But the cold war was winding down, and the US and USSR's relations thawed. It was time for yet another change for Volkoff.

#9. Volkoff, the patriotic American?

As the cold war thawed, the WWE decided to do away with its Russian heel characters. They decided that Volkoff would keep his name and heritage, but would turn babyface and embrace the USA. This was explained in kayfabe that Volkoff was from Lithuania, which had been the sight of oppression and unrest from the Moscow government. Volkoff was angry at the USSR for harming his homeland according to the storyline.

He turned on his partner Zhukov, singing the Star Spangled Banner rather than the National Anthem. Volkoff would remain babyface for the rest of his WWE tenure, even when forced to join Ted Dibiase's Million Dollar Corporation.

After 1995, Volkoff retired from full-time wrestling, only taking the occasional date.

10. Last match at almost 70.

Volkoff took rare bookings even late into his life, such as in 2016 when he appeared at the Night of Legends event for Billtown Wrestling.

Despite being 68 years of age at the time, Volkoff still took bumps and powered his way through his opponents. While he had slowed considerably from his youth, he still is one of the rare wrestlers who competed over five decades, a feat that few can claim.

Volkoff passed away in 2018, but he leaves behind a wrestling legacy spanning fifty years that encompasses much of the cultural changes the world underwent. While he never won a singles world title, he is still remembered as one of the all time greats.

Nikolai Volkoff was truly a legend.

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