Many tributes in the wrestling world after the death of WWE legend 'The Iron Sheik', who died at the age of 81. The wrestler, whose real name is Hussein Khosrow Ali Waziri, was born in Iran. He became a global superstar in the 80s, winning the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in 1983.
He previously competed on Iran's Greco-Roman wrestling team for the 1968 Olympic Games, and then won the title of collegiate champion in 1971 after moving to the United States. When he made the move to the WWF in 1979 in his early days, he became an international superstar, alongside legendary rivals such as Hulk Hogan, Jesse Ventura and Andre 'The Giant'.
His family paid tribute to him: "A true legend, a force of nature and an iconic figure who left an incredible mark on the world of professional wrestling." The cause of death has not been released. "WWE is saddened to hear of the passing of Hall of Fame wrestler, Iron Sheikh, and expresses his condolences to his family, friends and fans," the organization formerly known as WWF said in a tweet.
He liked to be the "bad." The Sheikh (Screenshot, from social networks)
Former wrestling fighter The Iron Sheikh (Photo by Getty Images, Ilya S. Savenok)
The Iron Sheik starred in WWE throughout the 80s and into the early 90s, holding the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and Tag Team Championship once, before being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005.
In 1983, he joined WWE full-time, defeating Bob Backlund in the WWE Championship match on December 26, 1983 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In doing so, he ended Backlund's reign of 2,135 days, which is the second longest in WWE Champion history.
Just 28 days later, the Sheikh lost the WWE Championship to Hulk Hogan, marking the beginning of Hulkamania, one of the most successful eras in WWE history.
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The Iron Shear did not win another singles title in WWE, but he and Nikolaj Wolkoff defeated Barry Wyndham and Mike Rotondo of The U.S. Express to win the WWE Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania in 1985. .
After leaving WWE towards the end of the decade, Shayk returned in 1991 as Colonel Mustafa, forming an alliance with General Adnan and Sargent Slaughter, who caused controversy for their support for Iraq and Saddam Hussein during the Gulf War.
Slaughter held the WWE Championship during that period before losing it to Hogan at WrestleMania 7. A few months later at SummerSlam 1991, Iron Sheikh teamed up with Slaughter and Adnan against Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior. It should be noted that years later, Iron Sheikh made it clear that as an Iranian, he hated Saddam Hussein for his insult to the Iranian people.
In recent years, "The Iron Sheikh" has become known for its social media presence, with his Twitter account amassing over 600,000 followers. The Sheikh's account became a hit online thanks to its amusing humor, blunt language and teasing of Hulk Hogan.
However, for many he represented the "primitiveness" of the wrestling world, with superficial stereotypes such as the evil "Arab wrestler" who served as the enemy. However, it had a lot of self-deprecating humor. "He was the ultimate evil, the man all of America loved to fear," one obituary read.
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