MVP Calls The Iron Sheik “Most Memorable All-Time WWE Bad Guy”
Following the death of the legendary Iron Sheik, MVP did his best to explain why the WWE Hall of Famer was so great at being a bad guy.
It was earlier this month on June 7th when the wrestling world suffered a huge loss with the news of The Iron Sheik’s death. The WWE Hall of Famer was 81 years old and leaves behind his loving family including his wife, daughters and grandchildren.
The Iron Sheik also left an incredible legacy in pro wrestling as one of the greatest villains in WWE history. The Iron Sheik was such a great heel that he was the man that ended Bob Backlund’s 1,470-day World Title reign in 1983.
Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) currently works for WWE and has spoken in the past about his admiration for The Iron Sheik.
While speaking on the “Cheap Heat” podcast, MVP spoke more about what made The Iron Sheik stand out.
“In honor of Sheiky baby, I went down the YouTube rabbit hole. And I was watching some of his old, old stuff when he was Khosrow Ali or when he still had hair. And he was, like, I’d say maybe 215 pounds, 220. Shredded … He was a babyface in that particular match and the crowd was popping for him because of his athleticism. He was doing cartwheels [and] suplexes.”
“And, you know, watching wrestling from that time, and watching him wrestle that way at that time, it just kind of made me smile and remember why I used to think wrestling was real because he was real.”
As MVP continued, he talked more about what made The Iron Sheik special.
“But, it was kind of funny, he, a lot like The Bushwhackers in their earlier days, they weren’t scary dudes [or] dangerous people. But the most money they ever made was being, you know, all caricatures of bad guys or whatever the case may be. And when you ask me about the all-time great heels, you know, I was born in ’73, so I remember the Iran hostage crisis and the Ayatollah Khomeini, and, you know, that was a part of my childhood. So when, you know, Iron Sheik came on the scene and lost to Hulk Hogan and later on was teaming up with Nikolai Volkoff … This is iconic. This is legendary. We’ve never forgotten this.”
“So in the pantheon of all-time great WWF/WWE bad guys, I mean he’s got to be right up there at the top. You know, it’s subjective, but certainly for me, if you ask me, he is the most memorable all-time WWF bad guy.”