The Man, The Myth, The Legend Vol. 4: Nikolai Volkoff

#4. Teaming with Iron Sheik

By 1984, the cold war's flames were fanned so high many people in the United States were genuinely afraid of Russian invasion or Nuclear attack. The Iran hostage crisis had ended a few short years earlier, and a hawkish Ronald Reagan sat in the white house promising to be 'as strong as the bear (Russia.)'

In other words, the wrestling landscape was ripe for foreign heels from those two countries. WWF doubled down and paired up arguably the two most famous representatives of their respective homelands- Volkoff and Iron Sheik.

Sheik's career was winding down, and Volkoff had become a wily veteran. The two men often spent their downtime together, and became real friends. It seems like almost everyone wanted to be Vokoff's friend--except the fans in attendance, of course.