PWInsider is reporting “The Russian Bear” Ivan Koloff died at the age of 74 after battling liver cancer.
Born Oreal Perras of Montreal, Quebec, Canada in August of 1942, Koloff will always be known as the man who originally ended the near 8 year run of the legendary Bruno Sammartino, beating him for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship in Madison Square Garden back in 1971. Koloff would go on to have much more success over the next couple of decades in the business, from being one of the men who jumped from the NWA to Eddie Einhorn’s IWA in the mid 70’s, to his multiple NWA World Tag Team Title runs.
Most modern day fans will remember ‘Uncle Ivan’ most for introducing his “nephew” Nikita Koloff to the sport. After Nikita was brought into the fold, Ivan, Nikita, and Krusher Khrushchev (Barry Darsow) would form a formidable stable of Russian wrestlers who played a major part in Jim Crockett’s NWA promotion on WTBS during the mid and late 1980’s.
We here at Crazy Max send our condolences to the friends, family, and fans of a true legend in the Russian Bear, Ivan Koloff.
