With today’s sad news of the passing of WWE Hall-of-Famer, the Iron Sheik, many wrestlers and friends have taken to social media to pay tribute to the entertainment legend.
Sheik, whose real name is Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri, played the role of the villainous Iron Sheik so well that at the peak of his career in the early to mid-1980s, receiving death threats was not uncommon for him. Sheik’s brief reign as the champion of the WWE — then known as the WWF — served two historic purposes for the business. It ended the more than 5-year reign of fan favorite Bob Backlund and then, a month later, ushered in the reign of Hulk Hogan, whose popularity transcended wrestling.
Sheik later won the tag team titles with Nikolai Volkoff in the first-ever tag team championship match in Wrestlemania history.
In real life, Sheik actually was an outstanding wrestler, winning the gold medal in 1971 at the National Amateur Athletic Union Greco-Roman championships in the United States. He was also an assistant coach for two Olympic U.S.A. teams.
Today, numerous famous wrestlers took to social media to pay tribute to the legend.
Dwayne Johnson, long-time blockbuster actor who also had a lengthy career as The Rock in the WWE, told a story about the Iron Sheik whom he considers family. He also notes that Sheik was often involved in wrestling matches with his dad, Rocky Johnson, and would actually babysit The Rock on occasion.
Actor and comedian Ken Jeong shared this message about his friend the Iron Sheik.
Public Enemies Podcast reminds us that the Iron Sheik actually made an appearance on the Jerry Springer show.
Rest in Peace, Iron Sheik.
Published: Jun 7, 2023 03:47 pm