The Sheik was the thirteenth participant eliminated, at 5:22 by Bruno Sammartino.Īt WrestleMania III, he and Volkoff defeated The Killer Bees ( Jim Brunzell and B. The Sheik was a participant in the 20-man invitational battle royal in the Chicago portion of WrestleMania 2 which saw fourteen WWF superstars in the ring with six National Football League (NFL) players. This included the Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff who would now be managed by the "Doctor of Style". Sheik then usually grabbed the mic and said "Iran number 1, Russia number 1, USA (followed by a simulated spitting act)." It was all designed (very successfully) to get major heat from the crowd.ĭuring 1986, Fred Blassie was beginning to wind down his career and as part of the story line, eventually sold his wrestlers contracts to new WWF manager Slick before retiring. Part of the pair's regular entrance consisted of waving the flags of Iran and the Soviet Union, then demanding that the crowd be quiet and "show respect" while Volkoff sang a throaty version of the Soviet national anthem, a demand that usually only attracted boos from the usually pro-American crowds. Express ( Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo) at the first WrestleMania at Madison Square Garden when he knocked out Windham from behind with Blassie's cane. Slaughter, winning a few matches by disqualification, but losing the rest by pinfall, including a "Boot Camp Rules" match.Īs a tag team partner with Nikolai Volkoff, and under the management of "Classy" Freddie Blassie, the newly dubbed " Foreign Legion" won the WWF Tag Team Championship from The U.S. This moment is generally considered the beginning of "Hulkamania". Hogan powered to his feet with Sheik still on his back, rammed him backwards into the turnbuckles and hit his Atomic Legdrop for the pin and the championship. Five minutes in, Sheik had Hogan locked in the Camel Clutch. Two days later, at Madison Square Garden, The Iron Sheik was scheduled to rematch Backlund, who was replaced by Hulk Hogan. On national TV, he defeated only jobbers, but wrestled Tito Santana in Philadelphia on January 21, 1984. The Iron Sheik faced Backlund in a rematch indecisively at house shows and primarily defended the title against Chief Jay Strongbow, as well as Pat Patterson and Salvatore Bellomo. Backlund didn't submit, but his concerned manager Arnold Skaaland threw in the towel and forfeited the championship. ![]() ![]() Sheik capitalized by applying his Camel Clutch chinlock finisher. In the December 26 title bout at Madison Square Garden, Backlund attempted to roll Sheik into a bridge pin, but this aggravated his weakened neck. He was successful in his third attempt to swing the clubs, and the Sheik immediately attacked him from behind, injuring his neck. Backlund accepted, and on the December 24 episode of All- American Wrestling, also accepted Sheik's weekly Persian club challenge. ![]() The Iron Sheik returned to the WWF in 1983 and challenged Bob Backlund for WWF World Heavyweight Championship again. This earned him a title shot at then-champion Bob Backlund, who pinned him later that night in a 30-minute battle. He later feuded with Chief Jay Strongbow and Bruno Sammartino before leaving in 1980. In 1979, Sheik joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) where he made his debut in 1979 and won the first-ever Battle Royal in Madison Square Garden, New York City.
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