Ivan Koloff

"The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff was a former professional wrestler who once held the WWF World Heavyweight Championship.

Since first watching professional wrestling on TV at the age of eight, he wanted to become a wrestler, and would often wrestle with his brothers growing up. At age 18, he left high school and joined Jack Wentworth's wrestling school in Hamilton, Ontario, where he would lift weights and learn wrestling holds. He stood 5' 7 1/2" tall, and weighed approximately 270 pounds. Towards the end of his career, he dropped a considerable amount of weight and was tipping the scale at 205 pounds.

Subject ID: 9921

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"The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff was a former professional wrestler who once held the WWF World Heavyweight Championship.

Since first watching professional wrestling on TV at the age of eight, he wanted to become a wrestler, and would often wrestle with his brothers growing up. At age 18, he left high school and joined Jack Wentworth's wrestling school in Hamilton, Ontario, where he would lift weights and learn wrestling holds. He stood 5' 7 1/2" tall, and weighed approximately 270 pounds. Towards the end of his career, he dropped a considerable amount of weight and was tipping the scale at 205 pounds.

In 1967, Perras became "The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff, a bearded villainous character billed from the Ukraine, and debuted with the International Wrestling Association in Montreal, Québec. He defeated Johnny Rougeau for the IWA International Heavyweight Championship the following year. Koloff debuted in the World Wide Wrestling Federation in late 1969, managed by "Captain" Lou Albano. He soon started a rivalry with then-WWWF World Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino. On January 18, 1971, Koloff defeated Sammartino in Madison Square Garden for the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship by pinfall after a knee drop from the top rope, ending Sammartino's seven and two-third years reign. Koloff lost the championship 21 days later to Pedro Morales, essentially being used as a "transitional champion" (as he was used to move the title from Sammartino to Morales without having the two fan favorite work against each other), much like Stan Stasiak and The Iron Sheik would be in later years. After the loss, Koloff remained a contender for the title, but never reclaimed it, and left the WWWF in 1971.

Subject ID: 9921

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