Nikolai Volkoff
| Nikolai Volkoff | |
|---|---|
Volkoff in 2008.
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| Birth name | Josip Nikolai Peruzović |
| Born |
October 14, 1947 Split, Croatia |
| Residence |
Glen Arm, Maryland, United States |
| Children | 2 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) |
Nikolai Volkoff Bepo Mongol Boris Breznikoff Executioner #3 |
| Billed height | 192 cm (6 ft 4 in) |
| Billed weight | 143 kg (313 lb) |
| Billed from | Moscow, RSFSR, Soviet UnionMongolia (1970's as Bepo Monogl and Nikolai Volkoff) |
| Trained by | Stu Hart |
| Debut | 1967 |
Josip Nikolai Peruzović (born October 14, 1947), better known by his ring name of Nikolai Volkoff, is a Yugoslavian semi-retired professional wrestler who is best known for his performances for the World Wrestling Federation. Although the Volkoff on-screen character was often portrayed as a villainous Russian, Peruzović actually originates from Croatia and has a mixed background. He is known for teaming with The Iron Sheik, with whom he won the WWF Tag Team Championship at the inaugural WrestleMania event, and also with Boris Zukhov as The Bolsheviks.
Peruzović grew up in the Socialist Republic of Croatia, which was then part of Yugoslavia. His mother is Ukrainian and his father was Croatian. He was on the Yugoslavian weightlifting team until 1967, when he emigrated to Canada after a weightlifting tournament in Vienna, Austria. He received training in Calgary from Stu Hart, followed by his arrival in the United States in 1970.
As soon as he arrived, he began wrestling in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) (currently known as WWE). Wrestling as Bepo Mongol, managed by "Captain" Lou Albano and partnered with Geto Mongol, he captured the WWWF International Tag Team Titles from Tony Marino and Victor Rivera on June 15, 1970. After losing the titles to Luke Graham and Tarzan Tyler in a match that unified the WWWF International and WWWF World Tag Team Titles, Peruzovic left WWWF and went on to singles competition under the name Nikolai Volkoff.
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