On television, he was presented as a villain from the Soviet Union for much of his career. In truth, Josip Nikolai Peruzovic, aka Nikolai Volkoff, was from Croatia, back when it was part of Yugoslavia, who began his wrestling career under the tutelage of the late Stu Hart in Calgary.
Peruzovic wrestled under the name Bepo Mongol initially, and the Mongols competed the then-World Wide Wrestling Federation, winning the tag titles under the direction of "Captain" Lou Albano, and Eddie Einhorn's IWF, as late as the early 70's. In 1974, he returned to the 3WF as Nikolai Volkoff, and the rest, as they say, is history. As Volkoff, he won the WWF tag titles with the Iron Sheik at the first Wrestlemania in 1985, and began singing a version of the Russian national anthem before matches to get extra heat. Truth was, he had a deep, powerful singing voice, which explains why Vince McMahon recruited him to record a cover of Jay & The Americans' "Cara Mia" for "The Wrestling Album", released at the end of '85. Volkoff would turn babyface around 1990, breaking up his partnership with Boris Zukhov as the Bolsheviks, and showed he could also nail the "Star Spangled Banner".
Outside the ring, Peruzovic settled in the Baltimore area, working with the Baltimore County Police Athletic League, among other endeavors.
From December 1984 and WWF All-Star Wrestling, three months before his final tag title victory, Volkoff goes it alone in a squash, with Fred Blassie as his manager. Jack Reynolds and Canadian icon Angelo "King Kong" Mosca are at the mics.
We also lost Brickhouse Brown, mostly known for competing in Memphis and with World Class Championship Wrestling, and Brian Christopher Lawler, son of Hall of Famer Jerry "The King" Lawler today. We'll be checking the Memphis archives for something on them before the week is out. Rest in peace.
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