10 Things You Didn't Know About Nikolai Volkoff
Russian heel, WWE great, politician and victim of hilarious ribs...
"Ladies and gentleman, Mr. Volkoff requests that you all please rise and respect the singing of the Soviet national anthem."
With those simple words from longtime WWE ring announcer Howard Finkel, boos started raining down from the stands on a nightly basis. They weren't aimed at Fink, but instead at the burly frame of Nikolai Volkoff. Whether he was teaming with fellow foreign heel The Iron Sheik or with Boris Zhukov as The Bolsheviks, Nikolai knew how to stir an angry reaction and leave fans eager to see top babyface talent put him in his place.
Bizarrely, his own overtly patriotic characterisation was something that annoyed him too, largely because he wasn't actually Russian. Imagine that.
Volkoff, who sadly passed away over the weekend, leaves behind a legacy of terrific heel work, a staunch belief in going out of his way to entertain and a genuine appreciation for North American life. His career, one spanning six separate decades, was quite the journey from Croatia to New York.
He's a WWE relic, albeit one younger fans should know more about. Покойся с миром, Nikolai...