Oleg Aleksandrovich Prudius (born April 27, 1979) is a Ukrainian-American martial artist, Professional Wrestler and actor best known for his time in WWE from 2006-2009 as Vladimir Kozlov. After making some appearances in the crowd where he would be interviewed and finish by saying, "I love Double Double E," he was sent down to WWE's developmental programs at Deep South Wrestling and Ohio Valley Wrestling, where he would become a 1x OVW Heavyweight Champion
. He made his official WWE TV in-ring debut in 2008. He would feud with Triple H, Jeff Hardy, Christian, and JTG of Cryme Tyme. He is a 1x WWE Tag Team Champion with Santino Marella. He currently competes for the Inoki Genome Federation in Japan.
"Mauling Tropes":
- Amazon Chaser: Once got Distracted by the Sexy with Beth Phoenix as a result of receiving a kiss from her while Under the Mistletoe.
- Celebrity Resemblance: At Judgment Day 2009, Santino said that he looks like Sam the Eagle.
- Collegiate American Football:
- At Santa Barbara City College.
- American Football: Well, it was in the Ukraine, but, he did play for the National Team.
- Co-Dragons: In the 2011 edition of the Smackdown vs Raw game, he becomes one of a set of two Co-Dragons to Randy Orton with Ezekiel Jackson (the other set being Orton's teammates from Legacy, Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibaise Jr.). This has some basis in real life, where he also teamed with Jackson to help William Regal.
- Department of Redundancy Department: "You are physically inferior, therefore you are weak!"
- Distracted by the Sexy: Once during a backstage skit. But then, it was Beth Phoenix, after all.
- Finishing Move: "The Iron Curtain," a leg-trap chokeslam into a spinebuster. As Alexander Kozlov in IGF, he uses a crossface he calls the "Kozlock."
- Foreign Wrestling Heel: From the Ukraine, billed from the Soviet Union, and used the hammer-and-sickle logo, even though the Soviet Union was dissolved at the end of 1991.
- Hard Head: He used a Battering Ram headbutt as one of his Finishing Moves.
- Hidden Depths: Who knew Kozlov could dance?
- I Know Karate: Subverted. Prudius has a background in Sambo and submission wrestling (2005 USA open heavyweight champion and USKBA international heavyweight grappling champion), but although Kozlov's in-ring style was stoic and hard-hitting, he was never presented as a shooter nor used any recognizable martial arts technique. This changed when he was drafted to ECW, as he started the custom to wear boxing robes to the ring, but he never became a full-fledged shooter.
- Joisey: Discussed the trope for some cheap heat."Worst of all, you are from a state devoid of class or integrity. The single most depressing place on Earth, New Jersey. I cannot wait for my fellow Russian to buy your pathetic NBA franchise, The Nets, and move it out of this horrible state forever."
- Law of Chromatic Superiority: Wore a red martial arts uniform.
- Mother Russia Makes You Strong/Husky Russkie: In Kayfabe, as he's actually Ukrainian.
- Odd Friendship: With comedic moron Santino Marella. This friendship has a shocking amount of subtext, though: in real life, both Kozlov and Santino are accomplished martial artists, and Santino even used to play a Russian fighter character similar to Kozlov's own gimmick.
- Power Stable:
- (in OVW): Team America
- (in WWE): Regal's Ruthless Roundtable
- Put on a Bus: One of the victims of having his leg broken by Mark Henry after the latter took to the habit of folding people's ankles into chairs then body-splashing them. He never returned to TV after that and was released by the WWE not long afterward.
- The Quiet One: He didn't talk much at first, partially due to the fact that he wasn't easy to understand when he did talk.
- Red Baron: "The Moscow Mauler," "The Soviet Cyborg", "The Soviet War Machine"
- Squash Match: He's been on both ends of this. His first several wins on SmackDown! qualify, as they were often three minutes long or less. At IGF Genome17, September 3, 2011, however, Eric Hammer defeated him in a mere 2:44.
- Unperson: Surprisingly averted. After his release, his name has been invoked a fair few times for a guy that (save for a lengthy and fairly entertaining Tag-Team reign with Santino Marella) was mainly a mid-carder, usually to put over Mark Henry.
