WWE Hall Of Famer The Iron Sheik Passes Away At Age 81

The legendary Iron Sheik has tragically passed away.

by Andrew Pollard
Iron Sheik Freddie Blassie
WWE

In some tragic news, the legendary Iron Sheik has today passed away. He was 81 years of age.

This unfortunate news was announced across various social media platforms via a statement from the Iron Sheik's family.

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The Iron Sheik - real name Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri - is viewed as one of the greatest villains in the history of professional wrestling. In a career which spanned five decades, the larger-than-life Shiek terrorised countless territories, including the then-WWF, the AWA, Jim Crockett Promotions, Championship Wrestling from Florida, Mid-South, Georgia Championship Wrestling, World Class, World Wrestling Council, and Ted Turner's WCW.

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Across his legendary career, the Iron Sheik is best remembered for his stints with WWE, including defeating Bob Backlund to win the company's World Championship in December 1983; a title reign which would soon be brought to an end by a rising Hulk Hogan, as Hogan was launched as the new poster boy of the World Wrestling Federation.

In addition to winning the promotion's top title, the Iron Sheik's tenures with WWE also saw him win the Tag Team Championships with Nikolai Volkoff, rebrand himself as Colonel Mustafa as part of Sgt. Slaughter's Gulf War-driven heel turn of 1990, famously emerge victorious in WrestleMania X-Seven's Gimmick Battle Royal, and cement himself in the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005.

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The Iron Sheik won a slew of titles in various other promotions, and prior to his pro wrestling career Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri served in the Iranian Army and challenged for a spot on Iran's Greco-Roman wrestling team at the 1968 Olympic Games.

Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri leaves behind Cheryl, his wife of 47 years, their three children, and five grandchildren. From all of us here at WhatCulture Wrestling, best wishes to Khosrow's family, friends, and fans.

RESPECT THE LEGEND, indeed. May he rest in peace.

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.