The Rock Pays Tribute to His ‘Uncle Sheiky’ The Iron Sheik

– Former WWE Superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson shared a heartfelt and moving tribute today on his social media to the late WWE Hall of Famer, The Iron Sheik, Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri. The Iron Sheik’s passing was announced earlier today. He was 81 years old.

The Rock has a long history with The Iron Sheik, or “Uncle Sheiky” as he calls him. His father, late WWE Hall of Famer Rocky Johnson, worked with Sheik in Jim Crockett’s NWA and also in the WWF. Also, The Iron Sheik was ringside for The Rock’s first WrestleMania match at WrestleMania 13 against The Sultan (WWE Hall of Famer and The Rock’s cousin Rikishi), with Sheik serving as The Sultan’s manager. The Rock said the following in his video tribute for The Iron Sheik:

“We lost a pro wrestling legend today, The Iron Sheik, and I just want to say, well, a few things. Most importantly, I want to send my love and my support, my strength, my light, my mana, and my condolences to The Iron Sheik’s family, who I consider ohana. They are family of ours too as well. As I think a few of you may know, I grew up calling The Iron Sheik ‘Uncle Sheiky.’ And when my dad and The Iron Sheik used to wrestle together not only in the WWE, but also before that, when we were living in the Carolinas in North Carolina, and my dad and Uncle Sheiky were wrestling together there for the National Wrestling Alliance, the NWA, Uncle Sheiky would come over to the house, and his wife would babysit me. And I was about eight years old at that time, and I was a pain in the ass even then. So God bless that woman, his wife, Caryl, thank you, Caryl, for putting up with all my s*** as a kid. I hope you guys are staying strong, and again, I’m so sorry to hear the news.”

“I will say this, as someone who has professional wrestling in his blood, had it not been for the world of professional wrestling, I would not have the life that I have today because it was everything. And my grandfather was in pro wrestling, my dad, my cousins, my grandmother, everybody, you name it. So, as a man who loves professional wrestling, I want to take a moment to acknowledge The Iron Sheik and all of his accomplishments.”

Rest in Power, Uncle Sheiky ❤️
Thank you for paving the way 🙏🏾
Love, light and strength to Caryl & the ohana x pic.twitter.com/p9c9wwQz6U

— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) June 7, 2023