Vladimir Petrov (wrestler)
| Birth name | Al Blake |
|---|---|
| Born | 1961 Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States |
| Residence | Pine City, Minnesota, United States |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Al Blake Vladimir Petrov |
| Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Billed weight | 285 lb (129 kg) |
| Billed from |
Russia (as Vladimir Petrov) |
| Trained by |
Eddie Sharkey Ivan Koloff |
| Debut | January 1987 |
| Retired | 1992 |
Al Blake is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Vladimir Petrov. Petrov wrestled in various North American promotions including Jim Crockett Promotions and the Universal Wrestling Federation, most notably as a member of The Russian Team and Paul Jones' Army with Ivan Koloff during the 1980s.
A former bouncer, Al Blake was brought into the Jim Crockett Promotions in January 1987 as the masked Vladimir Petrov, "The Russian Assassin" after Krusher Khruschev had left for the World Wrestling Federation. Although then head booker Dusty Rhodes was to originally have brought in John Nord, he instead had Blake team with Koloff at the last minute. Introduced as a protégé of Ivan Koloff, he had been brought to the United States to help Ivan Koloff in his feud with Nikita Koloff after turning on Ivan Koloff's group.
Facing Nikita Koloff in a series of Russian Chain Matches, they eventually kayfabe injured Koloff's neck with the help of Dick Murdoch in April. They also had a series of matches with then-NWA World Tag Team Champions the Rock 'n' Roll Express,The Fabulous Freebirds and Jimmy & Ron Garvin. They would again lose to Ron Garvin & Barry Windham in a tournament for the vacant NWA US Tag Team titles and were eliminated in the opening round of the Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup by Bob & Brad Armstrong.
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