Nikita Koloff
| Nikita Koloff | |
|---|---|
Koloff (center) speaking on radio in July 2006.
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|
| Birth name | Nelson Scott Simpson |
| Born |
March 9, 1959 Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Nikita Koloff |
| Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Billed weight | 267 lb (121 kg) |
| Billed from |
Moscow, Russia Lithuania |
| Trained by | Eddie Sharkey |
| Debut | 1984 |
| Retired | 1992 |
Nikita Koloff (born Nelson Scott Simpson on March 9, 1959) is an American retired professional wrestler, actor, and minister. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, he wrestled as "The Russian Nightmare" Nikita Koloff, which was a play on the nickname of fan favorite "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes (in fact, it was Rhodes who gave him the nickname).
Nikita was brought into the National Wrestling Alliance by his "Uncle" Ivan to prove Soviet superiority. Their ultimate goal was to dethrone NWA World champion Ric Flair. A physical marvel, Koloff was also hailed as the Russian Road Warrior. He was billed from Moscow in the Soviet Union, and then from Lithuania after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Koloff, now a preacher, appears on the Lifetime Network series, Preachers' Daughters.
He grew up without knowing his father and aspired to play professional football. He started lifting weights in junior high school and built up a massive body, weighing 275 lb (125 kg) with a 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) frame.
He was a 1977 graduate of Robbinsdale High School where he was an all-conference receiver. Simpson played college football at Golden Valley Lutheran College before transferring to Moorhead State. Simpson suffered an injury playing football but rehabbed to play for Moorhead State University where he suffered another injury.
In 1984, Simpson was going to try out for the USFL when Road Warrior Animal, a professional wrestler from the Minnesota area, called him to ask him to become a professional wrestler. Simpson decided to go with wrestling and was told to shave his head bald and to show up. Jim Crockett, Jr., the promoter of the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions, renamed him Nikita Koloff, the Russian Nightmare, and teamed him with "uncle" Ivan Koloff and Don Kernodle, a turncoat American. Koloff debuted in 1984 with barely any training at the time and won his first match in 13 seconds, with the only edict from Crockett being that should Koloff trip on the ropes, he would be fired on the spot.
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