Soldat Ustinov
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| Birth name | Jim Lanning |
|---|---|
| Born | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Soldat Ustinov Ivan the Terrible Big Jim Steele The Russian Krusher |
| Billed height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) |
| Billed weight | 315 lb (143 kg) |
| Retired | October 26, 1990 |
Jim Lanning (born in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is a retired American professional wrestler, best known by the ring name Soldat Ustinov, who competed in North American regional promotions including the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and the American Wrestling Association (AWA) during the 1980s.
Arriving in the AWA in late 1986, he would begin teaming with Boris Zukhov under manager Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie and together would defeat the Midnight Rockers for the AWA World tag team title in Lake Tahoe, Nevada on May 25, 1987. After defending the titles for almost five months with victories over Wahoo McDaniel & D.J. Peterson on August 10, Zukhov jumped to the World Wrestling Federation in October as part of The Bolsheviks with Nikolai Volkoff.
Replaced by "Pretty Boy" Doug Somers, he and Somers would hold the titles little more than a week before losing them to Jerry "The King" Lawler & "Superstar" Bill Dundee on October 10, 1987.
In 1988, Lanning would team with Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie losing to Greg Gagne & "The Crippler" Ray Stevens on January 10 and to Wahoo McDaniel & Baron von Raschke on January 17 as well as single matches to Tom Zenk and Stevens.
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