"I love the TV Tropes. It make me feel good, like good cold beer. Fuck the Hokogan."
Insane. Completely, utterly and wonderfully insane. That's the only way we can describe the Iron Sheik, who in recent years has gone from forgotten Cold War wrestling villain to the nutty Iranian grandpa we all wish we had.
— RD Reynolds, The WrestleCrap Book Of Lists!, "The 6 Wrestlers Who Must Have a Reality Show"
If there was ever any wrestler who best exemplified the Foreign Wrestling Heel character in Professional Wrestling, especially in WWE's "Federation years," The Iron Sheik was it. Born Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri, this Iranian-born Olympic wrestling competitor and coach made a name for himself in the early 80s WWF, where he won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship from Bob Backlund, breaking the former champion's six-year title reign...only to drop it the next month to Hulk Hogan, kicking off the Hulkamania craze. His appearances would be sporadic for many years after that, seemingly fading into obscurity in the pro wrestling scene.And then, in the 2000s, RF Video decided to do a shoot interview with him...Check out his article on That Other Wiki for more info regarding his career. Not to be confused with The Iron Chef.Also; he has a Twitter, check it out here, but BE CAREFUL. Iron Sheik has gone far off in the deep end on this.
Tropes pertaining to him include:
Anything That Moves: What the Sheik does just after breaking your back and before making you humble.
Gary Bettman as well, since Sheikie's a huge NHL fan
Sheikh seems to hate almost every wrestler in the business, ironically, his KayfabeArch-EnemyHacksaw Jim Duggan seems to be one of the few wrestlers hegenuinely likes and respects
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: In May of 1987, Sheik was riding with Arch-EnemyHacksaw Jim Duggan when the two were pulled over by New Jersey police, who found that both of them were doped and coked out of their minds. Duggan was given a conditional release and Sheik was put on probation. This caused a major stink in WWE at the time, but the big issue here wasn't the fact that they were caught doing drugs and driving under the influence, but that the two of them (who were in a major feud at the time) were breaking Kayfabe with their actions. Sheik was released by WWE and Duggan would be taken off of television for a few months.
In his now legendary tirade on Howard Stern's radio show, he ran through every profane thing you could think of to B. Brian Blair...and paused to apologize to Robin Quivers about his abrasive language.
Berserk Button: Mention anyone that he believes didn't measure up to his standard of "respect" for the business (B. Brian Blair, Hulk Hogan, Warrior...)
In recent years: "You're a no good motherfucker!" or "I put you in the Camel Clutch, Break your Back, and fuck your ass, and make you humble!"
Character Filibuster: His promos, even by professional wrestling standards. "Mean" Gene Okerlund would frequently have to cut him off..or try to only to get a quick "don't interrupt!"
He stated that at Wrestlemania III, he wanted to humble Brian Blair, but didn't "because for the God and Jesus, and Mr. McMahon."
Exact Words: He once stated in an interview that he doesn't type his own twitter. The internet assumes he merely shouts what he wants to say from another room...not exactly a far-fetched assumption.
After a Forbes(!) interview, it was indicated that, yes, this is indeed how his twitter is managed: his agent tweets based on conversations he has with The Iron Sheik.
Expansion Pack Past: Before emigrating and becoming a wrestler, worked as a bodyguard for the Shah of Iran.
Fake Nationality: Portrayed the The Great Hossein Arab in 1972 and the Iraqi Col. Mustafa in 1991.
Hidden Depths: One of Sheik's workout routines involves the use of a pair of instruments called "Persian Clubs." Apparently, nobody in the entire professional wrestling industry is able to pull off how to work these clubs properly except Iron Sheik himself... and Mark Henry.
Also falls into World's Strongest Man - its so difficult he's legendary in strongman circles. 75lbs. may not sound much, but swinging that much weight on what is essentially a lever is extremely difficult.
His relationship with Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka mixes this with Worthy Opponent—he raves about him and considers him a friend, but "shooting-wise, I beat the fuck out of him."
Worthy Opponent: When asked on YouShoot why he could never defeat Jerry "The King" Lawler, Sheik answered that it was for the sake of diplomacy: because Jerry Lawler was "the King" and he was wrestling him in his home "country" of Memphis, Tennessee, he thought it only proper that he should put "the king of the Memphis, Tennessee" over, but he could beat Lawler in a real fight.
from Bob Backlund, breaking the former champion's six-year title reign...only to drop it the next month to Hulk Hogan, kicking off the Hulkamania craze. His appearances would be sporadic for many years after that, seemingly fading into obscurity in the pro wrestling scene.And then, in the 2000s, RF Video decided to do a shoot interview with him...
0 reviews