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*[http://www.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingArchive/feb18_ironsheik.html Iron Sheik still in the game] by Greg Oliver
*[http://www.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingArchive/feb18_ironsheik.html Iron Sheik still in the game] by Greg Oliver
*[http://www.wrestleinfo.com/IronSheik.html The Iron Sheik] by Mike Rickard II
*[http://www.wrestleinfo.com/IronSheik.html The Iron Sheik] by Mike Rickard II
* [http://thaoshow.podomatic.com/enclosure/2010-05-13T13_33_33-07_00.mp3 Tha O Show Episode 25 Iron Sheik Interview]
* [http://thaoshow.podomatic.com/enclosure/2010-05-13T13_34_04-07_00.mp3 Tha O Show Episode 28 Iron Sheik Interview]
* [http://thaoshow.podomatic.com/enclosure/2010-05-13T13_34_14-07_00.mp3 Tha O Show Episode 29 Iron Sheik Interview]
* [http://thaoshow.podomatic.com/enclosure/2010-05-13T13_45_43-07_00.mp3 Tha O Show Episode 55 Iron Sheik Interview]
* [http://thaoshow.podomatic.com/enclosure/2010-05-13T13_39_04-07_00.mp3 Tha O Show Episode 65 Iron Sheik Interview]
* [http://thaoshow.podomatic.com/enclosure/2010-05-13T13_42_48-07_00.mp3 Tha O Show Episode 86 Iron Sheik Interview]
* [http://thaoshow.podomatic.com/enclosure/2010-05-13T13_48_15-07_00.mp3 Tha O Show Episode 122 Iron Sheik Interview]


{{WWE Championship}}
{{WWE Championship}}

Revision as of 20:27, 31 August 2010

Template:Distinguish2

The Iron Sheik
Born (1943-03-15) March 15, 1943 (age 81)[1]
Tehran, Iran[2][3]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)The Iron Sheik[2]
Col. Mustafa[1]
Great Hussein Arab[1]
Great Hossein Arab[1]
Ali Vasari[1]
Billed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2][1]
Billed weight262 lb (119 kg)[1]
Billed fromTehran, Iran
Trained byVerne Gagne[2]
Billy Robinson
Debut1972[1]
RetiredApril 24, 2010

Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri (born March 15, 1943)[1] is a retired Iranian professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name The Iron Sheik. He is known for ending the near six year World Wrestling Federation Championship reign of Bob Backlund and for being the man Hulk Hogan defeated for his first WWF Championship.

Typecast as a heel in the 1980s, he later gained additional popularity on The Howard Stern Show due to his infamous outbursts on the wrestling industry and the real-life hatred he expressed for various wrestlers while in character.

Early life and amateur wrestling

Khosrow was born in Tehran, Iran.

He made a name for himself as an amateur wrestler and also worked as a bodyguard for Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and his family for several years.[3]

Khosrow competed to become part of the Iranian Olympic Greco Roman team for the 1968 Summer Olympics held in Mexico. [3]

After this, he moved to the United States and became the assistant coach of two US Olympic squads in the 1970s. In 1971, he was the Amateur Athletic Union Greco-Roman wrestling champion at 183.5 pounds.[5] He was assistant coach to the USA team for the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich.

Pro wrestling career

Beginnings (1972–1983)

In 1972, Khosrow was invited into becoming a professional wrestler by promoter Verne Gagne. Khosrow trained at Gagne's wrestling camp under trainer Billy Robinson (in the same class as Ric Flair and then wrestled for Gagne's American Wrestling Association. He also worked as a trainer, teaching Ricky Steamboat, Greg Gagne and Jim Brunzell.[6]

Khosrow first wrestled as a face in preliminary matches before a promoter suggested that he adopt a heel gimmick similar to that of the notorious Sheik.[6]

Khosrow obliged and adopted what came to be his signature look: he shaved his head bald, grew a traditional "buffo" style mustache, added wrestling boots with the toe curled up (a nod to his ethnic background which, according to Khosrow, was an idea from Jimmy Snuka[citation needed]). He also introduced the Persian clubs, a sport in his native Iran, and challenged wrestlers to do as many swings as him.[7] His Iranian gimmick received attention due the events of the Iranian revolution.[6]

Taking the name The Great Hossein Arab, he won his first title, the Canadian Tag Team Championship, with partner the Texas Outlaw.

He caught the eye of the WWF where he made his debut in 1979 and won the first-ever Battle Royal in Madison Square Garden, New York City. This earned him a title shot at then-champion Bob Backlund, who pinned him later that night in a 30-minute battle.[8] He later feuded with Chief Jay Strongbow and Bruno Sammartino before leaving in 1980.[9]

Khosrow would resurface as The Iron Sheik in the NWA territories. Playing on real-life political matters (notably the Iran hostage crisis) and the animosity Americans had for the country of Iran, he moved on to the Mid-South and Mid-Atlantic territories, capturing the Mid-Atlantic title from Jim Brunzell before moving to Georgia Championship Wrestling. There, he had notable matches with Dusty Rhodes, Dick Murdoch, and Tommy Rich, and traded the National TV title with Ron Garvin.[10]

World Wrestling Federation (1983-1987, 1988)

Sheik with Freddie Blassie and Nikolai Volkoff.

Khosrow would return to the WWF in 1983 as The Iron Sheik and challenged Backlund once again; he defeated him on December 26, 1983 at Madison Square Garden for the WWF World championship. Sheik also injured Backlund during a Persian club challenge prior to this title match.[11]

During his title reign, The Iron Sheik held memorable bouts against Backlund, Chief Jay Strongbow, Pat Patterson, and Tito Santana before dropping the belt just four weeks later to Hulk Hogan.[12] He would then engage in a bitter feud with Sgt. Slaughter, to whom he would eventually lose a "Boot Camp Rules" match. The Iron Sheik would go on to team with Nikolai Volkoff as the "Foreign Legion", and under the management of "Classy" Freddie Blassie, won the WWF World tag team title from the U.S. Express at the first WrestleMania.[13] During his stint in the WWF, he appeared in the music video for Cyndi Lauper's "Goonies 'R' Good Enough" as a part of the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection.[14]

In 1987, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan (an on-screen rival) and Khosrow were pulled over by New Jersey police after a WWF event, suspecting Duggan of DUI. After a search of the vehicle and the persons, police discovered that Duggan was under the influence of marijuana while the Sheik was high on cocaine. Small amounts of cocaine were also found in the vehicle. Duggan received a conditional release while the Sheik was placed on probation for a year. The mini-scandal that erupted after two in-ring enemies were found drinking and doing drugs together led to the end of the angle, the Sheik's release, and Duggan's temporary departure from the WWF.[1][6][15][16][17] In 1988, he returned to the WWF but the return was short-lived.[18]

Other national promotions (1987-1990)

In 1987, the Iron Sheik competed in Dallas' World Class Championship Wrestling where he feuded with Matt Borne over the WCWA Texas Heavyweight Championship.[19] He stayed with that organization for only a few months, followed by brief stints with the AWA, where he attacked Sgt. Slaughter during a match, and Puerto Rico's World Wrestling Council. In addition to reigniting his feud with Slaughter and teaming with Col. Debeers, his main opponent during this time period was Tony Atlas, who he feuded with in both WCCW and WWC.[20]

In 1989, he had a short stint in the National Wrestling Alliance, where he feuded with Sting over the NWA World Television Championship. He left after about half a year into his stint with the company.[21]

Return to the WWF (1991-1992)

He returned to the WWF again in early 1991 and wrestled a few house shows as the Iron Sheik before making his televised re-debut on Wrestling Challenge as Colonel Mustafa,and was aligned with former enemy Sgt. Slaughter. Along with Iraqi General Adnan, Slaughter and Mustafa were portrayed as Iraqi sympathizers during the first Gulf War and feuded with Hulk Hogan. Following Slaughter's face turn after SummerSlam 1991, he teamed with General Adnan until the middle of 1992, when he left the promotion again.[22]

Return to the independent circuit (1993-1994)

The Iron Sheik wrestled independently afterward, and went on a wrestling tour to Nigeria in 1994, promoted by Chris Adams and co-sponsored by Pepsi, and featuring former WWF stars Jimmy Snuka, Greg Valentine, Demolition Ax, and World Class wrestler/owner Kevin Von Erich.

The Sheik was the second champion of "Boston Bad Boy" Tony Rumble's Century Wrestling Alliance, originally winning the title from Tommy Dreamer in Burlington, Vermont on March 21, and dropping the championship to Vic Steamboat on October 23, 1993 in Wakefield, Massachusetts.

In 1994, the Sheik tried his hand at strong style professional wrestling in the UWFi in Japan. He lost by tap-out to Yoji Anjoh in about 5:30 (the in-ring action of the UWFi, though tailored to resemble an actual competitive bout, was in fact made up of predetermined outcomes).

Sporadic appearances (1996-present)

In late 1996, the Sheik would team up with his old nemesis Bob Backlund to manage WWF wrestler The Sultan, who had a Middle Eastern gimmick, however he once again failed a drug test (he refers to this as a "medicine test" in various shoot videos) and was excluded from the federation. On April 1, 2001, at WrestleMania X-Seven, the Iron Sheik was the victor of the Gimmick Battle Royal, a match between other popular wrestlers from the 1980s and 1990s. Rather than being booed for winning, he was cheered as a fan favorite. He went on to wrestle in various independent promotions for several years afterwards and he still appears at independent events today.[23]

In 2005, the Iron Sheik was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by his old rival, Sgt. Slaughter.[24] On the June 11, 2007 episode of Raw, he along with Jimmy Snuka appeared in a taped segment showing their appreciation of WWE owner Vince McMahon. On the June 18 episode of Raw, he approached McMahon's executive assistant Jonathan Coachman about having his own interview show (like Piper's Pit and The Brother Love Show) to show on Raw. Coach replied saying, "I like the idea and I will really take some time to consider it."[25] On August 13, he appeared on an episode of Raw held at Madison Square Garden for a WWE version of American Idol. Sheik came out with Nikolai Volkoff while Volkoff sang the Soviet anthem. The March 10, 2008 edition of Raw featured rematches from previous WrestleManias. Iron Sheik appeared along with Nikolai Volkoff to face off against the U.S. Express in a rematch from the first WrestleMania. Before the bout could begin, however, they were interrupted by Jillian Hall, who came out to sing the Bruce Springsteen song "Born in the USA."

On October 2, 2009, on the 10th anniversary of Smackdown, he appeared backstage arguing with Sgt. Slaughter, choking on a shrimp, then helped by Hurricane Helms.

He made another appearance on WWE Monday Night Raw on November 16, 2009 in the opening of the show, with Rowdy Roddy Piper and Luis Guzmán, going nuts on Hulk Hogan and proving his dominance with a LJN WWF action figure of himself and Hulk Hogan.

Acting career

Sheik made his film debut in The Tale of the 3 Mohammads in 2005. He then appeared alongside Daniel Baldwin and Corey Feldman in The Adventures of Belvis Bash in 2009. He was also mentioned in the series Everybody Hates Chris in the episode entitled "Everybody Hates Varsity Jackets".

Personal life

Iron Sheik was a former soldier in the Iranian Army.[26] He had a daughter, Marissa Jeanne Vaziri, who was found strangled to death in her apartment on May 5, 2003, at the age of 27. Marissa's live-in boyfriend, Charles Warren Reynolds, 38, confessed to the crime and was charged with murder.[27]

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

  • International Association of Wrestling
    • IAW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
    • IAW Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Brian Costello
  • NWA 2000
    • NWA 2000 American Heritage Championship (1 time)
  • Pro Wrestling Illustrated
    • PWI ranked him #134 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003
    • PWI ranked him #96 of the 100 best tag teams of the "PWI Years" with the Nikolai Volkoff in 2003

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Iron Sheik Profile". Online World Of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Iron Sheik WWE Hall of Fame Profile". WWE. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
  3. ^ a b c d Ellison, Lillian (2003). The Fabulous Moolah: First Goddess of the Squared Circle. ReaganBooks. p. 163. ISBN 9780060012588.
  4. ^ “”. "Iron Sheik discusses Chris Benoit (Almost 100% Sober)". YouTube. Retrieved 2010-08-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ http://image.aausports.org/sports/wrestling/results/past_results/greco_roman.pdf
  6. ^ a b c d Iron Sheik Wrestleinfo
  7. ^ Johnson, Jedd (2008-05-17). "Napalm Jedd Johnson of the Diesel Crew: Iron Sheik's Persian Clubs". Napalmjedd.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
  8. ^ www.thehistoryofwwe.com
  9. ^ [1][dead link‍]
  10. ^ Solie's Title Histories: NWA - NATIONAL WRESTLING ALLIANCE
  11. ^ [2][dead link‍]
  12. ^ [3][dead link‍]
  13. ^ [4][dead link‍]
  14. ^ Ellison, Lillian (2003). The Fabulous Moolah: First Goddess of the Squared Circle. ReaganBooks. p. 173. ISBN 9780060012588.
  15. ^ WrestleView.com - Jim Duggan FAQ
  16. ^ 4w-Online
  17. ^ CANOE - SLAM! Sports - Wrestling - RVD suspended 30 days
  18. ^ "World Wide Wrestling Federation / WWF / WWE". Pwchronicles.com. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
  19. ^ Online World of Wrestling
  20. ^ Online World of Wrestling
  21. ^ Online World of Wrestling
  22. ^ Online World of Wrestling
  23. ^ PWI Staff (2007). "Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents: 2007 Wrestling almanac & book of facts". "Wrestling’s historical cards". Kappa Publishing. p. 107.
  24. ^ WWE: Superstars > Hall of Fame > The Iron Sheik > Bio
  25. ^ Raw Results-6/18/2007
  26. ^ "cooldudesandhotbabes.com - THE IRON SHEIK". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  27. ^ "wsbtv.com - Boyfriend Arrested in Death of Wrestler's Daughter". May 6, 2003.
  28. ^ "Jimmy Hart profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-09-04.

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Iron Sheik.
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