Nikolai Volkoff, professional wrestler who played a Soviet villain, dies at 70.
By Ben Sumner
July 30
Nikolai Volkoff, a Croatian-born professional wrestler who played a villainous communist in the ring, belting out the Soviet national anthem before matches against Hulk Hogan and other Cold War-era giants of World Wrestling Entertainment, died July 29. He was 70.
WWE confirmed the death but did not provide details. He reportedly had heart problems and was recently released from a hospital in Maryland, where he was being treated for dehydration. According to WWE, he died on the same day as two other former wrestling stars: Brickhouse Brown and Brian Christopher Lawler, who performed as Grand Master Sexay and was the son of wrestler Jerry Lawler.
Mr. Volkoff, who was born Josip Peruzovic, was one of the most notorious “heels” in pro wrestling, known for entering the ring with a fur ushanka hat and a red-and-gold turtleneck emblazoned with “USSR.”
The burly 300-pounder made his biggest mark in 1985, partnering with the Iron Sheik — Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri, an Iranian supervillain — at the first WrestleMania. To the dismay of more than 19,000 fans at New York’s Madison Square Garden, the duo won the tag team championship against Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda, a team known as the U.S. Express.
While Mr. Volkoff portrayed a staunch anti-American in his matches, in reality he had fled communist Yugoslavia. At the suggestion of his manager, he took on the Volkoff persona as a way of making fun of communism.
Wrestling fans greeted him with jeers and sometimes violence, tossing garbage at him while he insisted they stand for his performance of the Soviet anthem. As tensions with fans escalated in the mid-1980s, Mr. Volkoff asked that his matches take place earlier in the show, rather than serving as the main event, so he could leave stadiums before the crowds. He said he sometimes wore a wig while dining with his family, to avoid public attention.
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