Vladimir Kozlov

This article is about the WWE wrestler. For the Soviet Union international footballer, see Vladimir Kozlov (footballer).

Oleg Prudius
Born	(1972-07-04) July 4, 1972 Ukrainian SSR
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Oleg Prudius Vladimir Kozlov
Billed height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Billed weight	302 lb (137 kg)
Billed from	Moscow, Russia
Trained by	DSW Training staff OVW Training staff
Debut	2005

Oleg Aleksandrovich Prudius (born in July 4, 1972) is a Ukrainian professional wrestler, also known by his ring name "The Infraggable" Vladimir Kozlov. He is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment and is working on the ECW brand. He is trained in freestyle wrestling, rugby, football, sambo, kickboxing, judo, and mixed martial arts. He was introduced to WWE by Jerry Jarrett.

Prudius has also worked as a stage and screen actor, notably having a small role in Spike Lee's 25th Hour. Kozlov also had a role in Grindhouse, appearing in the "Werewolf Women of the SS" trailer; he was credited under his real name and his WWE persona for the appearance. He is a former Ohio Valley Wrestling Heavyweight Champion.

Career

Pre-wrestling

Prudius has won numerous achievements, becoming the 2005 USA Open Heavyweight Sambo Champion and a United States Kick-Boxing Association (USKBA) International Heavyweight Grappling Champion. He has also played American football for the Ukrainian National Team as well as Santa Barbara City College.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2005)

Prudius accompanied Jerry Jarrett to the ring at Slammiversary in 2005.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2006-present)

Kozlov entering the arena during a dark match on February 25 2008.

On January 17, 2006, World Wrestling Entertainment announced that Prudius had signed a developmental deal and was sent to Deep South Wrestling. On April 7, 2006 he debuted under his real name "Oleg Prudius" and had his first match in DSW against Tommy Suede.

On May 5, 2006, Prudius had his first untelevised WWE match during a house show in San Jose, California, defeating Rob Conway. The next night, at another house show in Sacramento, California, Matt Striker cut a promo on Prudius, calling him a "filthy immigrant," causing Prudius to attack him. Prudius then picked up the microphone and said he that he is "proud to be in America."

On the December 18, 2006 episode of Raw, Prudius made an appearance as a WWE prospect named Vladimir Kozlov, which became his ring name. For the next several weeks, Kozlov was interviewed on WWE programming, proclaiming his love for "Double Double E" (WWE), but drawing some heel heat for declaring his superiority over whatever wrestlers were competing at the time, saying "I could beat both of them." He then was taken off television for over a year while working in the developmental system and participating in a number of dark matches all of which he won.

Ohio Valley Wrestling (2007-2008)

On July 28, 2007 in Louisville, Kentucky, he won the OVW Heavyweight Championship by defeating Paul Burchill, but gave the Championship the same night to Michael W. Kruel due to an agreement they made before.

SmackDown (2008-2009)

[[Image:kozlovwins.jpg|thumb|175px|right|VLADIMIR SMASH! On the April 4, 2008 episode of SmackDown, Kozlov made his official WWE debut as a heel, with the unique quirk of having no entrance music and no TitanTron video – his "entrance" consisted of complete darkness except for a solitary spotlight following him to the ring. He defeated Matt Bentley in his first match, and over the following weeks, Kozlov would win a series of squash matches, first against local talent, and then established names including Colin Delaney, Funaki, Nunzio, Shannon Moore, Jimmy Wang Yang, Jamie Noble, and Domino. On the July 11, 2008 airing of SmackDown, Kozlov debuted an entrance theme and TitanTron video as he defeated Stevie Richards.

In the following weeks, as Kozlov continued to easily win matches, he began demanding "better competition". On the September 12, 2008 edition of SmackDown, he started to seek that competition, attacking Jeff Hardy. Over the following weeks, Kozlov would continue attacking both Hardy and the WWE Champion Triple H, eventually starting a loose feud between the three of them over the WWE title. On the November 7 episode of SmackDown Kozlov earned a match against Triple H for the WWE Championship at Survivor Series by defeating The Undertaker by disqualification after he was attacked by Jeff Hardy. Edge was added to the match while it was in progress, and pinned Triple H to win the match.

At Armageddon, Kozlov gained his first pay-per-view win by defeating ECW Champion Matt Hardy in a non-title match. Kozlov competed in the 2009 Royal Rumble match, entering number 6, but was eliminated by Triple H after eliminating The Great Khali, Carlito, and Montel Vontavious Porter. He then qualified to be part of the No Way Out Elimination Chamber match, where he was pinned for the first time after receiving a Last Ride from Undertaker, though he still remained unpinned in one-on-one competition. Kozlov's undefeated streak in televised singles competition ended on the March 2, 2009 episode of Raw, in which he was defeated by Shawn Michaels; this match was for the opportunity to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXV. His first televised singles loss on Smackdown came against The Undertaker on March 13, 2009.

ECW (2009-Present)

On April 13, 2009, Kozlov was drafted to the ECW brand as part of the 2009 WWE Draft, he was ECW's only pick of the night. He won his first match on the brand when he easily defeated a local competitor.

Other media

Prudius has made many television appearances. He appeared in the second season of the HBO drama series The Wire, as well as Roksalana and It's Not To Easy on Ukrainian TV. In 2002, he appeared in Spike Lee's film 25th Hour, playing a Russian mafia enforcer. He appeared in the Russian military theatre play Victory Day and a Ukraine University play Three Musketeers.

In wrestling

• Finishing and signature moves
  • Backbreaker rack drop – OVW / WWE; 2007–Early 2008
  • Battering ram to a charging or diving opponent – WWE
  • Kneeling leg trap chokeslam – WWE
  • Scoop lift dropped into an inverted DDT – WWE
  • Fallaway slam
  • Fireman's carry takeover
  • Chokeslam
  • Kick to the chest of an opponent draped horizontally over the top turnbuckle
  • Overhead / Side belly to belly suplex
  • Over the shoulder arm drag
  • Pushing big boot to the chest of an opponent
  • Scoop powerslam
  • Single leg Boston crab

• Nicknames
  • "The Moscow Mauler"
  • "The Ruthless Russian"
  • "The Russian Wrangler"

• Entrance themes
  • "All For The Motherland" by Jim Johnston (2007–2008; Used for dark matches)
  • "Pain" by Jim Johnston (2008–present)

Championships and accomplishments

Martial arts

• Sambo
  • USA Open Heavyweight Sambo Champion (2005)
• United States Kick-Boxing Association
  • USKBA International Heavyweight Grappling Champion

Professional wrestling

• Ohio Valley Wrestling
  • OVW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• World Wrestling Entertainment
  • Slammy Award for Breakout Star of the Year (2008)
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • Most Overrated (2008)
  • Worst Worked Match of the Year (2008) vs. Triple H and Edge at Survivor Series
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #149 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2008

External links

• WWE.com Profile
• WWE Universe Profile
• Gerweck.net Profile
• onlineworldofwrestling.com Profile