Nikolai Volkoff (born Josip Peruzovic around October 1947.) Although he portrayed a Russian as a wrestler, he defected from the former Yugoslavia.
Peruzovic defected in 1968 while at a weightlifting tournament in Vienna, Austria. He came to the United States in 1970, wrestled with WWE until the mid-1990s. As soon as he arrived, he began wrestling in the WWWF. Managed by Captain Lou Albano and partnered with Gito Mongol , he captured the WWWF Tag Team Titles from Victor Rivera and Tony Marino . They lost the titles and Volkoff went on to singles competition.
In 1974, he had what he considers to be the most memorable match of his life when he sold out Madison Square Garden wrestling Bruno Sammartino. Volkoff was always given a considerable amount of title shots from whoever was the current WWWF Champion. He continued this for some time before leaving, then entering a few years later once again in the new WWF, where he teamed up with the Iron Sheik.
They captured the WWF Tag-Team Championship from Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham at Wrestlemania I, the same title he held 15 years before. He came and went and finally quit shortly after 1995.
On February 3, 2005, Volkoff was announced as one of the inductees for the Class of 2005 into the WWE Hall of Fame along with Paul Orndorff, "Cowboy" Bob Orton, Jimmy Hart, The Iron Sheik, Hulk Hogan, and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper. The induction ceremony took place on April 2, 2005 in the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, California.
Currently, Peruzovic is working as a code enforcement officer in Baltimore County, Maryland. He is considering running as a Republican for the Maryland House of Delegates in 2006.
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