The Iron Sheik, a standout Greco-Roman wrestler from Iran who gained global fame in professional wrestling with his 1980s rivalries against the likes of Hulk Hogan, died Wednesday at the age of 81, according to hisSheik, whose real name was Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri, was a former WWF World Heavyweight champion and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005. As a hated heel, he had legendary battles in the '80s against Hogan, Bob Backlund and Sgt. Slaughter.
Prior to starting professional wrestling, Vaziri was a bodyguard for the last Shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. He was a Greco-Roman wrestler in his home country, nearly making the 1968 Olympic team. Vaziri then moved to the United States, where he won an AAU Greco-Roman wrestling championship at 180.5 pounds and became an assistant coach for the U.S. wrestling team, including its Olympic team in 1972.
Former professional wrestler The Iron Sheik is seen after speaking on a panel during 140: The Twitter Conference LA in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009.After dropping the WWF title to Hogan in 1984, Vaziri had a memorable host of matches with Sgt. Slaughter, a U.S. military-based character. The feud played off the real-life tensions between the U.S. and Vaziri's Iranian homeland.
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