The Iron Sheik, a former pro wrestler who played a burly, bombastic villain in 1980s battles with some of the sport’s biggest stars, has died at age 81.
FILE - The Iron Sheik arrives at the ESPY Awards in Los Angeles on July 15, 2009. The Iron Sheik, born Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri, died Wednesday, June 7, 2023, at age 81.
The Iron Sheik, whose real name was Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri, grew up in a small village in Iran where he embraced wrestling in his youth. He was a successful individual wrestler as well, winning the WWF championship in 1983 by defeating Bob Backlund, before losing it later to Hulk Hogan. He also built a long-running rivalry with Sgt. Slaughter, who played the role of an American hero.
In a documentary about his life called “The Sheik,” he said he became attracted to wrestling as a teen and as a grappler in the Iranian Army. The Iron Sheik used his humor and wisdom to build a large Twitter following. He also made appearances on “The Howard Stern Show,” “The Eric Andre Show,” and others, the WWE biography said.
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