Seventy-five years ago, on March 15, 1942, Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri was born in Iran. Vaziri has been an actor, amateur wrestler, and most notably a professional wrestler. Better known as The Iron Sheik, he began his professional wrestling career in 1972 with the American Wrestling Association. In 1980, while wrestling under the name, Hossein Arab, he was selected as the Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Most Underrated Wrestler. After wrestling for various professional wrestling promotions during the 1970s and 1980s, he won the WWF World Heavyweight Championship from Bob Backlund in 1983 at the famed Madison Square Garden. He successfully defended the title for a month, including a match against Tito Santana at The Spectrum in Philadelphia (See the below video for the full match).
On January 23, 1984, The Iron Sheik lost the title to Hulk Hogan, but later won the World Tag Team Championship with Nikolai Volkoff on March 31, 1985 at WrestleMania.
Boosted by his anti-American rhetoric, the Iron Sheik was known as one of the most "hated" wrestlers in the United States during the 1980s and 1990s. In the wrestling ring, The Iron Sheik was a solid wrestler, mastering the camel clutch and various suplex maneuvers. He was also one of the best entertainers in professional wrestling. Happy 75th birthday to the colorful WWE Hall of Famer.
The Iron Sheik on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/the_ironsheik
Documentary Film on his life:
http://sheikmovie.com
