UPDATED: WWE Hall of Famer Nikolai Volkoff Passes Away

UPDATE: WWE released the following statement on the passing of WWE Hall of Famer Nikolai Volkoff:

WWE is saddened to learn that Josip Nikolai Peruzović, known to WWE fans as Nikolai Volkoff, has passed away at age 70.

Best known for his dastardly, WWE Tag Team Championship–winning union with The Iron Sheik, Volkoff’s in-ring career spanned the better part of 40 years, which featured battles against the likes of Sgt. Slaughter, Hulk Hogan and Bruno Sammartino. As one of the greatest villains sports-entertainment had ever seen, Volkoff’s infamous rendition of the Soviet National Anthem before his matches made him an instant icon in the eyes of the WWE Universe as a Superstar they truly loved to hate. Jim Ross inducted Volkoff into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2005.

WWE extends its condolences to Peruzović’s family, friends and fans.

Additionally, a number of current and former Superstars, WWE alums, fellow WWE Hall of Famers, and wrestling legends have commented on his passing on social media. You can check out some tweets from Nikolai Volkoff’s former tag team partner The Iron Sheik, Triple H, Ricky Steamboat, Ric Flair, Ted DiBiase, and more below.

MY BEST FRIEND. MY PARTNER. MY BROTHER. WE GET MORE HEAT THAN ANYONE ON EARTH. I TRUST HIM WITH MY LIFE. HE TAKE CARE OF ME WHEN I WAS DOWN. I MISS YOU FOREVER 💔 pic.twitter.com/pp7ZgQRDnb

— The Iron Sheik (@the_ironsheik) July 29, 2018

Nikolai entertained while inciting anger in fans all across the @WWE Universe as an in-ring competitor, but backstage he was a gentle and thoughtful family man. Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time. https://t.co/ItHtCpA1KU

— Triple H (@TripleH) July 29, 2018

https://twitter.com/real_steamboat/status/1023624119697530882

Nikolai Volkoff, One Of The Really Nice Men In The History Of Our Business. Rest In Peace 🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/gdhv7z8URC

— Ric Flair® (@RicFlairNatrBoy) July 29, 2018

I shared a room with Nicolai twice. He brought his hot plate and long gown (shirt?) to sleep in. He was in the class of the nicest, funniest old timers I watched as a kid and got to know in the business. #RIPNikolaiVolkoff

— Tom Prichard (@drtomprichard) July 29, 2018

Nikolai Volkoff was a solid wrestler, and more than that, a good man. He will be greatly missed. Rest in peace my friend. pic.twitter.com/Kt76MgnrI2

— Ted DiBiase (@MDMTedDiBiase) July 29, 2018

ORIGINAL: Nikolai Volkoff, one of the most famous heels in professional wrestling history, has passed away. PWInsider reports that Volkoff, real name Josip Nikolai Peruzović, died on Sunday morning at the age of seventy. Volkoff had been released days ago from a Maryland hospital where he wasz treated for dehydration and other medical issues. Volkoff’s cause of death has not yet been revealed.

Volkoff is best known for his run in WWF during the Hulkamania era of the 1980s, working as one of the top heels in the company under his Russian gimmick. He was born in then-Yugoslavia (now Croatia) in October of 1947, gaining a spot on the Yugoslavian weightlifting team when he was twenty years old. Volkoff left his home country for Canada in 1967 and decided to get into professional wrestling with help and initial training from Newton Tattrie, who he had become friends with.

He trained with Stu Hart and began working for Hart’s Stampede Wrestling, then went with Tattrie to the US in 1968. They began working for the National Wrestling Alliance, working territories like NWA Detroit, International Wrestling Association and National Wrestling Federation. The latter of those saw them win the NWF World Tag Team Championship under the tag team name of The Mongols. They also worked under that gimmick in the WWWF, holding the International Tag Team Championships twice between 1970 and 1971.

After they lost those titles in November of 1971, Volkoff left the company and began working in singles matches under the Russian gimmick that would become his signature character. He retrurned to the WWWF and had a big feud with Bruno Sammartino. Volkoff also worked worked the AWA, where he was known as Boris Breznikoff and was managed by Bobby Heenan, as well as working Mid-South.

When WWF became a national company, Nikolai Volkoff returned again for the run he would be most well-known for. Working as a foreign heel, he teamed with the Iron Sheik with Freddie Blassie managing him. Volkoff would play into Cold War sensibilities and would sing the Russian national anthem to rile up the crowd before matches began. The two beat the US Express (Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda) for the WWF Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania, holding them for just over two months before dropping them back to the Express.

Evgentually, Hogan and Volkoff would meet in the ring in a United States vs. Russia feud that became Volkoff’s defining moments as a wrestler. Volkoff never won the WWE Championship, but he would prove to be a resilient heel against Hogan and their feud helped push the company’s exposure in a big way. Volkoff would also feud with other patriotic heels around that era such as Corporal Kirchner, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan and others.

Volkoff would go on to be managed by Slick and would team with Boris Zhukov to become the Bolsheviks. They put over a lot of talent and feuded with the Bushwhackers, until Volkoff turned babyface and associating with Lithuania left the USSR. He would face foreign heels from that point, or characters like Sgt. Slaughter who were portraying traitorous heels who had turned their backs on America. Volkoff eventually left WWE in 1990, then reutrned for a run through 1995 that included a feud and “forced” association with the Million Dollar Corporation. Following this run, he went into semi-retirement but would make one-off appearances on WWE television on and off over the many years that followed. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005, the same year Hogasn, Roddy Piper, Bob Orton, Jimmy Hart, Paul Orndorff, and Iron Sheik were inducted.

Volkoff was generally known as one of the most well-liked and respected personalities in the business, spending his time away from the camera as a family man with his wife and daughters. His last appearance for WWE came in 2014, when he appeared in a backstage segment with Lana and Rusev where they sang the Soviet National Anthem. He released a comic book book miniseries, Nikolai, in 2016 and had an unsuccessful run in the Maryland Republican Primary for State Delegate in District 7 in 2006.

On behalf of 411, our condolences to the family, friends, and many fans of Mr. Volkoff. The wrestling industry would not be the same without him.