Iron Sheik, a professional wrestler who was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, has passed away at the age of 81, according to a statement he shared on his Twitter account on Wednesday.
According to the statement, Iron Sheik is a “pop culture icon” and “cultural phenomenon” who is not just a part of professional wrestling:
Before being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005, Iron Sheik had a significant impact on WWE in the 1980s and early 1990s, winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and the WWE Tag Team Championship, respectively.
Khosrow Hossein Iron Chief, an American-Iranian professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and actor, is Ali Vaziri. He is the only Iranian Champion in WWE history after winning the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in 1983.
During the 1980s WWF wrestling boom, the villainous persona peaked, and Hulk Hogan became one of the greatest TV heroes of the decade as a result of their conflict. Later, he and Nikolai Volkoff created a tag team that won the WWF Tag Team Championship at the first WrestleMania. He was admitted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005.
An offshoot from the 1980s, Sheik subsequently gained attention for shooting interviews, using profanity, and openly disliking some professional wrestlers, including Hulk Hogan and Bryan Blair, who are both highly well-known online. He was also featured on Kid Chriss, The Howard Stern Show, and the Internet.
Khosrow, who was born in 1942 in Damgan, Iran, grew up in a working-class home with few resources and no running water. Even though it shows March 15 on his passport, he was born on September 9. He looked up to the Iranian wrestler who won the gold medal at the Olympics and later became famous as an amateur wrestler, Gholamreza Takhti. He also spent a number of years protecting Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and his family.