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WWE Hall of Famer Nikolai Volkoff Has Passed Away at Age 70

TJR Wrestling

Nikolai Volkoff has passed away at the age of 70 years old according to PWInsider’s Mike Johnson. According to Johnson, Volkoff passed away on Sunday morning after being in the hospital in Maryland a few days earlier. Volkoff was treated in the hospital for dehydration along with other issues that are not specified in the report. Volkoff’s real name was Josip Nikolai Peruzović.

Volkoff was inducted in WWE’s Hall of Fame in 2005 after a long career where he played foreign heel that the fans hated because he liked to sing the Russian national anthem to get heat. Volkoff was a one-time WWE Tag Team Champion with his tag team partner The Iron Sheik. That title win was at WrestleMania 1 in 1985. Volkoff also had a WWWF Tag Team Title reign in 1970 with Geto Mongol when Volkoff was known as Bepo Mongol.

Volkoff was married for over 35 years and he had two daughters with his wife. We send our condolences to his friends, family and fans all around the world.

Here’s what WWE.com wrote about Volkoff’s passing.

WWE is saddened to learn that Josip Nikolai Peruzović, known to WWE fans as Nikolai Volkoff, has passed away at age 70.

Best known for his dastardly, WWE Tag Team Championship–winning union with The Iron Sheik, Volkoff’s in-ring career spanned the better part of 40 years, which featured battles against the likes of Sgt. Slaughter, Hulk Hogan and Bruno Sammartino. As one of the greatest villains sports-entertainment had ever seen, Volkoff’s infamous rendition of the Soviet National Anthem before his matches made him an instant icon in the eyes of the WWE Universe as a Superstar they truly loved to hate. Jim Ross inducted Volkoff into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2005.

WWE extends its condolences to Peruzović’s family, friends and fans.

I expect WWE to show an “In Memory of Nikolai Volkoff” graphic to start Raw on Monday.