10 Superstar-Centric Gimmick Wrestling Matches
6. Russian Chain Match - Ivan Koloff
What is it about the Russian chain? Despite my knowledge of the great Slavic nation I can't tell you anything about the quality of their chain, but it seems to have found its way into professional wrestling on a number of occasions. A variation of the classic strap match, the Russian Chain Match was the specialty of the legendary Ivan Koloff, who used the item to defeat the likes of Ricky Morton and Bruno Sammartino.
The Russian Chain Match made a return in 2015 as Rusev challenged John Cena for the United States Championship. The two men were chained together at the wrist and victory could only be achieved by touching all four corners. Cena pulled out the win in the end, because Rusev had beaten him a few months earlier and as such Cena needed to win three in a row.
Nikita Koloff also specialised in the match, taking up the Soviet mantle against Sting at the 1991 Great American Bash.
Now, I've studied Russian and speak a decent amount of the language, and I can honestly say that I have no idea why wrestling figures that chains equal Russia.