39 Best Wrestlers From 39 Different Countries

21. Iran: The Iron Sheik

british bulldog portrait
WWE

Birthplace: Tehran, Iran

Having spent decades shouting “Iran number 1! USA… hack-pitooey!”, of course The Iron Sheik has to be classed as Iran’s greatest wrestler.

In fairness, there isn’t really many other serious contenders out there, but that’s not to take anything away from Sheik. After all, this is a man who defeated the legendary Bob Backlund for the WWF Championship.

Sure, he was mainly used as a conduit to get the title to Hulk Hogan – Sheik would drop the belt to The Hulkster after a month – but he still has the honour of holding one of the most coveted prizes in the business.

Regardless of his crazed rants of recent years, The Iron Sheik is an Iranian national treasure with a legit Olympic past and the distinction of being the only Iranian to hold a WWF/WWE title.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.