A Fallen Comrade: Tribute To Nikolai Volkoff

  Sunday, July 31st, 2018 was a tough day for wrestling fans.  We lost three superstars we all loved and admired.  This sad turn of events happens much too often to wrestlers.  The wrestling world lost Brickhouse Brown, a journeyman in the last days of the Territories.  Another big loss was that of Attitude Era star Brian Christopher Lawler, known in the wrestling world as Grandmaster Sexay, as well as being the son of Jerry "The King" Lawler.  Those deaths notwithstanding, I am here to talk about the passing of Nikolai Volkoff, whom we also lost that day.

   Joseph Perusovic traveled from his home in Yugoslavia to Canada, where he started out training in the Dungeon under the legendary Stu Hart in the late 1960's.  Not long after, he met his future tag team partner and they made their way to the World Wide Wrestling Federation as a team known as the Mongols.  Perusovic became known as Bepo Mongol.  Together, he and his partner Geeto Mongol had a reign as the WWWF International Tag Team Champions.  After losing the Titles, he left and from then on became known as Nikolai Volkoff.

    Upon returning to the WWWF in 1974, Nikolai Volkoff was known as an evil wrestler from the Soviet Union.  His menacing build and new gimmick during the Cold War made him a great adversary to then Champion Bruno Sammartino, the perennial fan favorite.  Volkoff was a formidable challenger to the World Title and wrestled a match against Bruno in a sold out Madison Square Garden.  Volkoff briefly became the third man in the masked Executioners of Killer Kowalksi and Big John Studd.  As a singles star, he continued his feud with Sammartino and together they sold out arenas all over the Northeast.  Volkoff would show his strength by crushing apples with his bare hands.  He would also be a challenger for Bob Backlund during his years as Champion.  

   After a brief run in the AWA and the Mid-South territory, Nikolai Volkoff returned once again to the WWF in 1984.  This time, he started teaming with the Iron Sheik under the tutelage of Classy Freddie Blassie.  Before matches, Volkoff would request that people rise for his singing of the Soviet National Anthem, before promptly getting booed by the fans in attendance.  Volkoff and the Shiek were great at playing foreign heels and got heat every night they wrestled.  At the first WrestleMania, they defeated the US Express to win the WWF World Tag Team Titles. 

   Volkoff enjoyed his greatest success in wrestling during the mid-80's.  Later on in 1985 and 1986, Volkoff had several Title matches against WWF Champion Hulk Hogan, known as the ultimate American hero.  The WWF took advantage of the Cold War by pitting the evil Soviet against the USA's protector.  His most famous match with Hogan was a Flag Match on Saturday Night's Main Event.

   Also during this time, Volkoff began a feud with another man hell bent on defending the United States, Corporal Kirchner.  Their battles raged on in late 1985 through 1986 and Volkoff defeated Kirchner in a "Peace Match" on Saturday Night's Main Event.  The climax of the feud occurred at WrestleMania 2 when Kirchner defeated Volkoff once and for all in a Flag Match due to the backfired interference of Blassie.  

   Blassie sold Volkoff's contract to his new manager, Slick.  Soon after, Volkoff continued to team with the Iron Sheik.  In 1987, the duo began having problems with the WWF's latest great American, Hacksaw Jim Duggan.  At WrestleMania 3 before their match with the Killer Bees, Duggan interrupted Volkoff's singing of the Russian National Anthem.  The foreigners won the match by disqualification when Duggan hit Sheik with his 2x4.   

   After the Iron Sheik left the WWF, Volkoff found a new tag team partner in another Russian, Boris Zhukov.  Together, they were known as the Bolsheviks.  One of their early feuds was with the Powers of Pain, who defeated the Bolsheviks at SummerSlam in 1988.  The Bolsheviks didn't win many matches but were still a team to take serious.  They lost manager Slick and eventually, their losses piled up to where they were used as comic relief, even losing matches to the Bushwhackers.  They never held the Tag Team Titles and they were embarrassed by the Hart Foundation at WrestleMania VI when they lost to them in 19 seconds.  Later in 1990, the Bolsheviks split up when Volkoff started singing the American National Anthem, becoming a babyface in the process.  Volkoff defeated his former partner Zuhkov in several matches after that.  

   Volkoff's new passion for the USA came full circle when he started teaming with former enemy, Hacksaw Jim Duggan.  Together, they defeated the Orient Express at SummerSlam 1990.  Due to the end of the Cold War, Volkoff became very pro-US and this became a problem for the traitorous Sgt. Slaughter, who returned to the WWF as an Iraqi sympathizer during the beginning of the Gulf War.  Volkoff teamed with Tito Santana and the Bushwhackers at the Survivor Series and although he was eliminated, his team defeated Sgt. Slaughter, Boris Zuhkov, and the Orient Express.  Soon after, Volkoff left the WWF.  He returned briefly to participate in the 1992 Royal Rumble and won a preliminary match in 1993.

   Volkoff returned to the WWF in 1994 but was not the same man.  He had fallen on hard times, and it showed, as he was seen in the crowd several times.  Due to his misfortunes, he reluctantly sought employment under Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation.  DiBiase referred to his new employee as "Nickel and Dime" Volkoff and the man became a sympathetic heel as DiBiase's whipping boy, often used to soften up the opponents of DiBiase's stablemen.  DiBiase forced Volkoff to replace his famous Russian sickle on his trunks with a cent symbol and his jacket read "Property of the Million Dollar Man."  Volkoff broke away from DiBiase and retired, only to become homeless.

   At WrestleMania XVII, after being retired since 1995, he participated in the Gimmick Battle Royal.  In 2005, Volkoff was honored with an induction into the WWF Hall of Fame.  He wrestled Hacksaw Jim Duggan at a Wrestling Legends Pay-Per-View in 2006 and made sporadic appearances on WWF television over the years.  Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik reunited in 2008 to participate in a match against former rivals the US Express.  However, before the match could get started, Volkoff's singing of the Russian National Anthem was once again interrupted.  Volkoff did get to sing the Russian National Anthem one more time in 2010 in a duet with Vladimir Koslov.  

   While Nikolai Volkoff may have played the role of "Evil Russian," he was quite the opposite in real life.  He met his wife in 1970 and became a US citizen.  He was known as a good family man and once helped former manager Freddie Blassie reconnect with his estranged daughter.  Volkoff is known as a legend in professional wrestling and his passing has saddened those in the business, his fans, and his family.  Volkoff will be forever missed.