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Former WWE Tag Team Champion Debuts For IMPACT Wrestling

By John Canton • Published 13th October 2023
Impact Wrestling

A former WWE Tag Team Champion made a huge assist on the latest edition of IMPACT Wrestling.

During last night’s October 12th edition of IMPACT Wrestling, a familiar face to wrestling fans made their debut in IMPACT Wrestling.

There was a five-way match with Eric Young, Jordynne Grace, Champagne Singh, Jake Something and Dirty Dango where the winner of the match will enter the Call Your Shot Gauntlet at #20 and the loser will enter at #1.

During the match, former WWE Tag Team Champion Vladimir Kozlov made his way down to the ring. The announcers Tom Hannifan and Matthew Rehwoldt called him Oleg Prudius (his real name) while also referencing the Kozlov name.

On his way to the ring, Oleg took out both Eric Young and Champagne Singh at ringside. Oleg went onto the apron where Dango (formerly Fandango in WWE) shoved Jake Something into him and Oleg hit Something with a headbutt. Dango hit a Dead End, which is a reverse DDT, to beat Something and win the match.

That cheap win by Dango puts him at #20 Call Your Shot Gauntlet while also being aligned with Prudius, who will likely be a bodyguard of sorts. Prudius, who is 54 years old, did make a cameo with IMPACT earlier this year, but this appears to be more of a regular role.

Oleg Prudius was a WWE Tag Team Champion with Impact Wrestling’s Santino Marella

Prudius was signed by WWE in 2006 and became Vladimir Kozlov, who was a serious Ukranian powerhouse. In 2008, he was pushed strongly on the SmackDown brand where he picked up wins over big names including a clean win over The Undertaker at one point. Kozlov was also pushed in major WWE Title matches with the likes of Triple H, Jeff Hardy and Edge.

In December 2010, Prudius as Kozlov became a WWE Tag Team Champion with Santino Marella. By this point, Kozlov was more of a comedy character rather than a guy who received a serious push. They held the titles for about two months.

While Prudius is known for his wrestling career, he also appeared on HBO’s The Wire prior to his WWE run.