IVAN KOLOFF: Koloff is the archetypical Cold War Russian. No one ever topped him when it came to brandishing that hammer and sickle.
Koloff’s promos and presence were so good, he was even able to get over a substandard performer like his “nephew” Nikita, though I can’t help but wonder whether too-fresh memories of his very visible SuperStation run as “Uncle Ivan” – he was a bit past his prime by then – have damaged his Hall of Fame chances.
I saw Koloff during his WWWF peak. Promoters were sometimes afraid to use him because they were afraid of rioting. We were at odds with the “Commies” then, and Koloff was amazing when it came to providing a microcosm of Stalinesque tyranny. Most of his ilk devolved into a caricature, Koloff never did.
Koloff turned out to be a transition champ when he beat Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF title in 1971, but there’s a reason Koloff was chosen to defeat the indomitable Bruno: Koloff was believable. Bruno was seen as invincible, but Koloff – a stone badass in the ring, a hulking mountain of bulk and muscle – was perceived as legit. That was extremely important when it came to moving a belt that almost never moved, and Koloff served that purpose well.
A “Russian” should be in the Hall. It was an important genre given the Cold War. Koloff was the very best.
