Professional wrestling legend and WWE Hall of Famer, ‘The Iron Sheik’ died on Wednesday. He was 81.
Sheik, whose real name was Khosrow Ali Vaziri, was a former standout Greco-Roman wrestler from Iran before being launched into superstardom in the 1980s as a top heel for the World Wrestling Federation, now known as WWE. Sheik had memorable feuds with the era’s top stars including Bob Backlund and Sgt. Slaughter, but none were bigger than his rivalry with sports-entertainment megastar Hulk Hogan.
In January 1984, Sheik surrendered the WWF championship to Hogan in front of 20,000 fans at the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden.