Josip Nikolai Peruzović -- or Nikolai Volkoff -- dead at 70

WWE Hall of Famer Nikolai Volkoff, a beloved villain, has died

Pro wrestling Hall of Famer Nikolai Volkoff has died at the age of 70.. His villainous Soviet ring persona made him a heel Cold War-era crowds loved to hate..

World Wrestling Entertainment released the news on Sunday.

Volkoff — born Josip Nikolai Peruzović in the former Yugoslavia — rose to prominence in the ring during the 1980s, relentlessly taunting American audiences with his scarlet-and-gold outfits and Soviet flag-waving antics.

He mattered greatly to our pop culture.. 
And as an example, here is this:


HISTORY