ALL ANNOUNCER ANTHONY BOB_BACKLUND BRET BRUCE CARYL CHILDREN COMMENTATOR DAN DIAMOND FREDDIE GENE GREG HACKSAW_JIM_DUGGAN HOSSEIN HOWARD HULK_HOGAN INTERVIEWER JAKE_THE_SNAKE JEFF JERRY JIAN JIMMY JOHN JUMPING_JIM_BRUNZELL KEITH MAN MAZ MICK NEWS_ANCHOR NEWS_REPORTER NIKKI NIKOLAI_VOLKOFF PAGE REFEREE RICKY RIKISHI SAM SGT_SLAUGHTER TANYA THE_ROCK TV_HOST VERNE VINCE WRESTLER ANNOUNCER Introducing the challenger, the Iron Sheik SAM Wrestling fans believe that the Iron Sheik was every despicable thing that he presented himself to be MAN One of the perfect bad guys or heels in wrestling DAN And everybody wanted to come and see him, hoping that he'd get beat up HOSSEIN The Iron Sheik! Iran! Iran! Iran! HULK HOGAN His work was believable The way he talked was believable He was very easy to hate COMMENTATOR Oh, look at that Oh, he's gonna break his back JIAN The whole package of being a wrestler in that era was pretty dark PAGE The use of cocaine was prevalent MAN He was developing a very serious drug problem NEWS ANCHOR Instead of battling opponents, they are fighting drug charges SAM This is undoubtedly the most painful part of the Iron Sheik story CARYL He screamed, he howled, he cried HOSSEIN I cried for her so much I miss her so much RIKISHI Sheik gave them maybe the highest element of a heel JEFF The biggest box office attraction that the industry had really ever seen COMMENTATOR Capacity on the case of the Iron Sheik RIKISHI People were throwing stuff at him, you know That's how much heat--that people just didn't like him COMMENTATOR Sheik now going to work COMMENTATOR Oh! JOHN It was easy to not like him He was so different BRUCE The Sheik loved being hated COMMENTATOR The Hulk's gotta come out of it If not, it's over COMMENTATOR Oh! Oh! COMMENTATOR Okay! HOSSEIN USA COMMENTATOR Indeed, the Camel Clutch applied and I'm sure that's all she wrote SGT SLAUGHTER Khosrow did the right thing at the right time and became larger than life HOSSEIN It was really tough to leave my country Iran COMMENTATOR Iron Sheik not wasting any time going to work on that back area Look at the pain Backlund's in HOSSEIN I work hard for this moment in my life COMMENTATOR He's now going for the Camel Clutch Backlund not so good! Arnold Skaaland threw something in the ring! HOSSEIN My dream and hard working I've become champion ANNOUNCER The new world champion, the Iron Sheik! KEITH Khosrow Vaziri was born in Damghan, which was a town about miles outside of Tehran, Iran KEITH After the family lived in the country for a few years, they made a decision to move to the city, Tehran And what the parents did was they opened up a wrestling gym JIAN Wrestling in Iran was like religion If you knew how to wrestle, that got you in places HOSSEIN Wrestling was in Iran, big here Very, very big ANTHONY Wrestling is , as they would call it in Farsi Iranian men love to wrestle And they're pretty badass at it and good at it HOSSEIN Around, maybe years old I started wrestling in the freestyle airbags deploy Greco-Roman KEITH He achieved success very quickly I mean, he was just so driven HOSSEIN Only a high school champion and an army champion and then three times national champion KEITH Khosrow Vaziri was, legitimately, the Iranian army champion, which is saying a lot in a country where everyone is mad for amateur wrestling HOSSEIN Beautiful my young day in the Iranian army I come number one and General give my medal to me I never forgot that day KEITH After the army, Khosrow had a very sweet job He was given a job as an assistant cameraman at Iranian National Television And he worked directly for the Shah's cousin PAGE At the time that the Shah was in power, the Sheik, who was literally a lethal weapon, was handpicked by the Shah of Iran and his family to protect him KEITH Later on, you'd hear stories about the Iron Sheik used to be a bodyguard for the Shah and everyone thought it was wrestling hype It wasn't wrestling hype It was legit JIAN Above all, the one guy you can say was the pinnacle of athletics and wrestling was Gholamreza Takhti He was a multi-time Olympic champion gold medalist and was the pride and joy of the Iranian people So just like all the Iranians growing up, the Sheik idolized Takhti HOSSEIN Takhti was a greatest Iranian champion We had to go Olympic and then for Olympic and come back home always with medal KEITH The Sheik really looked up to Takhti because Takhti was the kind of wrestler, the kind of athlete, the kind of human being he wanted to be And at a certain stage, Takhti began mentoring a young Khosrow Vaziri JIAN He was his mentor, he was his idol, and the Sheik just wanted to be exactly like him There was no one else He had his sights set Takhti was the man and Sheik was gonna be the one to follow in his footsteps KEITH The problem with Takhti was he was not that deferential to the Shah And the Shah was an absolute ruler DAN The Shah was a brutal dictator And Takhti was kind of a man of the people, a very progressive figure JIAN One day, there was a massive soccer match And the Shah of Iran was sitting in the stands And the fans started to get really disgruntled and boo him And Takhti entered the arena and everyone started cheering him KEITH Now in addition to that, Takhti was not afraid to speak out about flaws he saw in the Iranian government And ultimately, I believe that led to Takhti's undoing HOSSEIN They found out Takhti in some hotel He passed away, but they didn't know for what reason He commits suicide or somebody killed him JIAN The death of Takhti is still one of the country of Iran's most unsolved mysteries Some people said that he was killed for opposing the government, while others said that he had committed suicide KEITH This seemed very curious to a young Khosrow Vaziri because he knew Takhti and Takhti was not a man weak enough to take his own life and became convinced that Takhti was not the victim of suicide, he was the victim of homicide And he drew the conclusion, if the government can kill Takhti, who knows what can happen to me HOSSEIN I don't want to talk about politician too much, but I said if Iran no good for Takhti, better I go somewhere too because he was a greatest champion we had and nobody know how he passed away JAKE THE SNAKE Here's a cat that was a bodyguard for the Shah, that if he hadn't have gotten out of there, they'd have killed him, man, chopped him up to pieces DAN At that time, Khosrow had been Princess Farah's bodyguard in the royal palace And he fled And he only knew two words in English, which were Alan and rice And when he landed at Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport, he just kept saying Alan Rice, Alan Rice, 'cause no one at the airport spoke Farsi And Alan Rice was eventually reached KEITH At the Pan American Games, Khos had met Alan Rice Alan Rice was an American Olympic wrestler and later the coach of the US Olympic wrestling team Alan Rice had made it clear that he would love for Khos to come to the US and train with the Minnesota Wrestling Club CARYL Mr Alan Rice was quite a life saver to Khos in the fact that he took him under his wing He treated him like his own son HOSSEIN And I assistant coach for the American team and I like wrestling myself too and I become three times All American champion KEITH He was so skilled and so knowledgeable that Alan Rice, when he became the coach of the US Olympic team, he asked Khos to be his assistant coach And in and , Khosrow Vaziri was an assistant coach to the US Olympic team And this led to his early character in pro wrestling Everyone thought he started out as the Iron Sheik No, he started out as, basically, an All-American who would come to the ring with a singlet with the Olympic rings around it And he was depicted as an American hero He had the Iranian accent, he had a full head of hair; very different character than we saw later on COMMENTATOR What a suplex! COMMENTATOR Devastating suplex COMMENTATOR Oh, well done job by the Sheik COMMENTATOR Sheik now going to work HOSSEIN Iran number one! Iran number one! GREG Alan Rice was the head of the US Amateur Wrestling in Minnesota And he was the one that met Khosrow Vaziri, better known as the Iron Sheik My father Verne was the sponsor for the Olympic wrestling team So that's how him and Alan Rice got together And Alan is the one that eventually asked Verne if he would take Khosrow and turn him into a professional wrestler DAN At that time, Minneapolis was Verne Gagne's AWA headquarters He controlled wrestling all the way from Chicago to the West Coast HOSSEIN I'll talk to Mr Alan Rice I'd like to go someday professional And then I go in the training camp GREG It was in an old barn out in Chanhassen, Minnesota It was pretty� It was rough looking KEITH Verne Gagne was a little bit on the thrifty side They trained in this old barn under really trying circumstances Apparently, it was freezing in the wintertime HOSSEIN We didn't have a choice, you know, in the barn So you get hurt very fast in there that cold ring KEITH You know, Verne was not big on any kind of personal comforts VERNE You guys get back in the ring Come on, come on, dig, dig, dig, dig! JUMPING JIM BRUNZELL It was six days a week And it was like almost six hours a day HULK HOGAN Verne Gagne would beat you and work you like a dog and stretch you and make you scream in the ring and make you work on his farm DAN The guys that had been amateur wrestlers would come in and they could do a really hard workout that Verne would put them through But the other guys, he would just completely destroy them VERNE Two hundred and�thirty SGT SLAUGHTER That's kind of how Verne weeded out those who didn't belong there SAM He had such high expectations that only the toughest and the strongest and the most athletic got through his program HOSSEIN We go on practice, practice, we didn't stop VERNE Remember, falling is basic You gotta know how to fall If you don't know how to fall, you're gonna get hurt And if you're hurt, you can't wrestle And if you can't wrestle, you don't eat It's that simple GREG My father actually turned out wrestlers throughout his career And only % didn't make it as a main eventer KEITH And this was a really blue chip class Ric Flair was in the class, Jumping Jim Brunzell JUMPING JIM BRUNZELL We got Ken Patera from the Olympics and then Greg and then Khosrow COMMENTATOR Drop kick by Gagne COMMENTATOR Uh-oh, hang on, they're outside the ring COMMENTATOR Well, look at that COMMENTATOR Flair chopping TA to down SAM Ric Flair is in the conversation for greatest of all time, alongside the Iron Sheik It's an incredible lineup JUMPING JIM BRUNZELL Well, he was a natural, as far as stamina He was in great shape The hardest thing that Khosrow had to learn about pro wrestling was the fact that he had been indoctrinated so long by the amateur wrestling and rules It was hard to, you know, teach somebody a new trick HOSSEIN It's different Different technique, different move You have to convince the people we are real in that ring Otherwise, if the people think it's a phony, no good VERNE Dive over the arm Dive over it SGT SLAUGHTER If you made it through the weeks of training camp, you earned the right to become a professional wrestler And then Verne would come to you personally and tell you whether you made it or not PAGE From that class, the Sheik got a job, his first job in America, as a professional wrestler But not just a professional wrestler, he had to be the referee first and he had to drive the truck GREG Myself and Khosrow, we were the two that were picked to--we had to drive the ring truck around HOSSEIN I'll go there, put on the ring, make everything ready to the people to come, and then if they need me to I'll be referee I changed my clothes I become referee if they need me to I'll be wrestling, and then I'm wrestling too DAN It was hard for him at first because he had to travel around to all the small matches around the Midwest He had to learn the whole business And you know, he's starting out in his--probably his mid- s PAGE I mean, this was a man that was coming from being the bodyguard of the Shah of Iran to now living this simpler life and started from scratch He wasn't the Iron Sheik then I mean, this was just Khosrow Vaziri KEITH Khosrow Vaziri realized he wasn't going back to Iran And he was enjoying the life of an American So he's living in Minnesota Why not go out with a nice, sweet-natured, pretty Scandinavian girl? And that's how he met his wife CARYL I met my future husband on a nice summer evening And we just hit it off immediately like we'd known each other forever SGT SLAUGHTER He was living in Minnesota and he had met his wife And so every Saturday night, as soon as we were done wrestling, he would drive to Minnesota, no matter where we were, to visit Caryl and then would come back for the Monday show CARYL Khos doesn't do anything halfway We saw each other, if he was in town, every night He was quite intense We had Marissa in August, And it was an easy birth compared to the later ones that I had SGT SLAUGHTER He loved his wife and his family And he did everything he could to be Khosrow Vaziri for them SAM My understanding is that when the Sheik first started professional wrestling, it was more about his history as an athlete, his Olympic wrestling He wore a singlet He had hair He was handsome He was in shape But he wasn't getting anywhere He wasn't getting where he wanted to go JIAN When the Sheik broke into wrestling, there was no character And his entire game was very dry HOSSEIN Ali Vaziri, nice guy but not enough I get to work so I can make a good living HOSSEIN I said I'm tired I don't want to work a good guy anymore I want to be bad guy And the Mrs Gagne tell me I have a new name Good name for you GREG You know, my mother, we were having dinner And that's when she said, A good name for you would be 'The Iron Sheik ' SAM The Iron Sheik completely changed his physical appearance And he became the Iron Sheik And it was almost this symbol, this foreign menace that was what so many Americans feared at the time COMMENTATOR Right now It's all one way, The Sheik is definitely carrying it to him GREG As he developed and personality came out of him, all of a sudden, the light went on and he was the Iron Sheik ANNOUNCER Introducing the challenger, the Iron Sheik! NEWS ANCHOR Some Americans are now beginning their sixth day of captivity inside the US Embassy in Tehran MAZ The Iranian students took Americans hostage at the American embassy Lasted for days It was broadcast nightly on television NEWS ANCHOR This flag was burned Tuesday evening outside the embassy's gates BRUCE When we had conflict with Iran, all of a sudden that became, Well, here's a heel And the rest, you know, as they say, is history COMMENTATOR The Iron Sheik, along with Freddie Blassie, and they are thick as thieves DAN All of a sudden, he was the Iron Sheik from Tehran And he brought a lot of heat HOSSEIN The Iron Sheik! Iran! Iran! Iran! DAN And everybody wanted to come and see him and hoping that he'd get beat up ANTHONY Iran number one, that's what he would say HOSSEIN Iran number one! Iran! ANTHONY He wanted to find an antagonist to the American protagonist What better antagonist than an Iranian? HOSSEIN Bunch of stupid American here They are terrible They are sick people AUDIENCE SAM When the Iron Sheik realized everybody is against this country, he ramped it up by and realized that this could make him the biggest villain in wrestling SAM Between the accent and the look� HOSSEIN SAM And the way he looked down on the audience and spit COMMENTATOR Oh, disgusting! SAM And the physicality of the way he brutalized opponents COMMENTATOR Ramming down across the back SAM Every territory in the United States wanted the Iron Sheik to be their top bad guy HOSSEIN USA HULK HOGAN He would say, Iran number one America He acted like he was spitting on America And he just--he knew how to press buttons COMMENTATOR Now in the ring, we have the Iron Sheik KEITH Every single night, you could turn on the news and you saw Americans being paraded blindfolded by Iranian militants NEWS ANCHOR This morning for the first time since the hostages were put under lock and key, one of the captives, blindfolded, was brought out into the open KEITH So there was not a lot of love for the Iranian people in the United States at the time Sadly, there was also a lot of racism completely unwarranted MAZ Back then, they used to call you effing Iranian That was the thing They call you effing Iranian, they beat you up PAGE We were made fun of We were even tied to a tree once at school MAZ If you said I'm Iranian or I was born in Iran, you were basically saying, I'm a hostage taker and I support what Iran has done to your American people HOSSEIN Well I don't have to say about Persian carpet, Persian cat, Persian pistachio, everything you want over there is the best JIAN So for anyone growing up at that time who was Iranian, seeing the Sheik on TV was thrilling COMMENTATOR Here is the winner, the Iron Sheik PAGE Though hated and though used as a heel, it allowed them to have something to cheer for HOSSEIN I love wrestling so much I didn't have a choice I want to stay in this business To me was a natural to be a villain and heel COMMENTATOR Very, very painful hold COMMENTATOR He's really pulling back on that man's skin JEFF What made the Sheik such a good villain? I think it's real simple What you see is what you get DAN He understood the politics of the moment very well USA! USA! COMMENTATOR Oh, USA JERRY In the fans' eyes, they thought he was best friends with the Ayatollah And in their mind, they could just envision the Iron Sheik and the Ayatollah having drinks at the end of the day, right, and spitting on the American flag All of those things helped to solidify his image of one of the perfect villains, bad guys, or heels in wrestling BRUCE So someone sitting at home is going, Yeah, you know what? That guy, he's probably still working for those people over there And the Iron Sheik played up to everyone's internal fears of that foreign menace SAM Wrestling fans believed that the Iron Sheik was every despicable thing that he presented himself to be VINCE One of the rather unusual methods that you use in your training is the use of some sort of Persian clubs Correct? HOSSEIN Exactly Jamilla, leave me alone Leave me alone COMMENTATOR Now that is very difficult JERRY He had these things called the Persian clubs which looked like two enormous bowling pins or something He picked those two Persian clubs up and he just started twirling them over his head just so gracefully It was as if they weighed ten pounds at the most COMMENTATOR Lifts those -pound clubs and begins to twirl them about JEFF Not to use this term lightly, but unbelievable strength Because he could pick 'em up and twirl 'em like you would a knife and a fork COMMENTATOR He's trying to work 'em I would think it's quite easy to get hurt with those clubs, Bruno, if you don't know what you're doing HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN A lot of big, strong, powerful men couldn't do 'em But the Sheik, man, he could use those clubs like nobody's business HULK HOGAN None of us could do it We all tried The damn things were so heavy And I tried a couple of times, I thought I was gonna break my wrist RIKISHI I used to watch Sheik doing them freakin' clubs inside the locker room And then I could see him go over there and just start twisting his mustache and start slapping his chest KEITH What the Iron Sheik wanted to do was make his character bigger COMMENTATOR As you look at the controversial foot gear KEITH And the way to do that was add little touches to his ring attire COMMENTATOR Make note of the shoes and notice those hooks HOSSEIN I approached some special shoemaker I tell him I want--Can you make the special boots like that for me? He said, Yeah And then I get it COMMENTATOR These are presumably or ostensibly decorations JUMPING JIM BRUNZELL What he would do is, when times got tough, he would turn his back to the guy he was wrestling COMMENTATOR He's loading that boot up now as we've seen him do so many, many times JUMPING JIM BRUNZELL He'd more or less kick his toe into the mat and supposedly loaded the toe COMMENTATOR Ron whips into the foot gear Oh, my JAKE THE SNAKE No, I was never a victim of the Camel Clutch, and I'm so friggin' glad I wasn't COMMENTATOR Look at him now, setting it up, pulling the arms back Once he gets him, he sets Brock's back, it's give-up time COMMENTATOR He's got him Look at him pulling on that neck And that is painful RIKISHI The Camel Clutch Hmm A move that you don't want to be into COMMENTATOR Oh, he sits back, goodbye, that's it He's got him cinched This is undoubtedly it JIAN The dreaded Camel Clutch PAGE The only move that I still don't know how you can get out of, physically BRUCE It's an extremely painful and somewhat torturous maneuver WRESTLER COMMENTATOR He's got him Look at him pulling on that neck COMMENTATOR Oh, he's gonna break his back! JAKE THE SNAKE He just had a way of doing it that it was so infuriating COMMENTATOR Oh, my HOSSEIN Put one hand here, one hand here, and I had this chin, and pull him up And I can break his back COMMENTATOR And he is really raring back RIKISHI Camel Clutch, fans, that move hurts COMMENTATOR Perhaps one of the most sadistic men in professional wrestling today JUMPING JIM BRUNZELL One of the only matches that I actually got hurt to the point where I had to have stitches was with Khosrow So Khosrow holds a real dear spot in my heart COMMENTATOR A group of folks in the audience with a large American flag in retaliation to the flag brought in by the Iron Sheik KEITH So at one point, Jerry The King Lawler painted the face of the Ayatollah Khomeini on the Iranian flag COMMENTATOR We see the likeness of Ayatollah Khomeini on the colors of Iran and the Iron Sheik JERRY We were just talking in the locker room and I said something about, Hey, Sheik, you know, I'm an artist I said, I would just think that it would look great if in the middle of that just empty white space of that flag, if I did a portrait of the Ayatollah And I'm telling you, immediately his eyes went�he said, Oh, Jerry Lawler, make me famous with this flag HOSSEIN They see me with the Iranian flag and Ayatollah's face in the middle of the flag That was real shoot heat COMMENTATOR He is indeed one of the great World Wrestling Entertainment athletes However, again, a lot of people do not like the Iron Sheik SAM Heat is the power that you have that's measured in the way the audience reacts to you Heat means they're booing you Heat means that they hate you When you really have heat, people are going to the arena not only wanting you to lose, but they themselves want to kill you That's the heat that the Iron Sheik had HOSSEIN You people shut up And don't cry USA, USA USA is a sick country JEFF The Sheik had a sense that you go, as a fan, I know this guy's not gonna play fair And that type of heat is lasting AUDIENCE Go back to your country! DIAMOND The heat that the Sheik had, the word I like to use is blistering RICKY Walking out to the ring, the fans started booing him He didn't even have to do anything Iran sucks! COMMENTATOR I know what they're saying, but I'm not saying it COMMENTATOR Capacity on the case of the Iron Sheik RIKISHI People were throwing stuff at him, you know That's how much heat--that people just didn't like him HOSSEIN Oh, they throw everything in the ring Everything, the ring was packed ANNOUNCER The Iron Sheik! JOHN Because he was so brash and bold and braggadocio, it was opposite our views, it was easy to not like him He was so different BRUCE The Sheik loved being hated COMMENTATOR Camel Clutch COMMENTATOR Oh, look at that! Oh, he's gonna break his back! BRUCE And loved doing whatever he could do to tap into you to get you to hate him COMMENTATOR Got to release that Oh, he's gonna break his back right in two ANNOUNCER From Iran, the Iron Sheik COMMENTATOR Ooh, devastating suplex SAM Prior to the early s, wrestling was not a national thing It was divided up into territories There was no one singular base JEFF The country was split up into regional territories And the means of distribution were local TV stations That's prior to cable television and prior to Vince McMahon's national expansion SAM When Vince Jr purchased WWE from his father, he decided that he wanted to take that company national VINCE Hello, everyone, welcome to Championship Wrestling This is Vince McMahon here at ringside standing next to wrestling's living legend, Bruno Sammartino JEFF Vince McMahon came along and had a vision that I'm gonna go into these local markets and I'm gonna pay these television stations to be on the air That was the transition, from a business perspective, that took the WWE from a regional northeast promotion to a national promotion VINCE So we shall return here with the festivities beginning in just a few moments SAM I think that when Vince McMahon decided to take WWE national, he knew he wanted a product that would penetrate pop culture And he knew he wanted to show that it was about these over-the-top, marketable characters ANNOUNCER The ultimate in sports entertainment, it's Saturday Night's Main Event JEFF That was the vision that transitioned from professional wrestling to sports entertainment And Sheik was a huge part of that SGT SLAUGHTER When Vince took over and made the WWE what it is today, he decided that Bob was no longer to be the champion HOSSEIN Bob Backlund was a good champion, but people get tired about him, they want to see a better change HULK HOGAN Well, the place needed to be shaken up And you had five years of plain white milk toast You know, Backlund's a great wrestler, but not an attraction BOB BACKLUND By golly, one way or another, whether he beats me or not, I'm gonna go in there and fight to the last end SGT SLAUGHTER Bob was an incredible amateur wrestler But Bob didn't have a whole lot of color He didn't have a character that was very colorful SAM Apparently, Bob Backlund doesn't think that certain people should be able to beat him And if he was gonna lose a match, he thought it was important that he lost a match to somebody that could legitimately beat him ANNOUNCER Introducing first, to my left, the challenger, the Iron Sheik CARYL He knew he had the title match And he didn't know how it was gonna end HOSSEIN No, I didn't know Surprise, Mr McMahon come tell me And my wife didn't know I surprise everyone, everybody COMMENTATOR Iron Sheik not wasting any time going to work on that back area This match is underway COMMENTATOR Bob came into the ring and it was obvious to me that he was favoring his left arm MICK I was in the at the Garden the night the Iron Sheik defeated Bob Backlund And it was just stunning Because Bob Backlund had held the WWE title for five years COMMENTATOR And he rips him Look at the pain Backlund's in FREDDIE Come on! Come on! Sheik! MICK You don't think you're going to see the title change hands at the Garden COMMENTATOR Oh! COMMENTATOR Going for the roll up He got him with the roll up There's the bridge Sheik now going for the Camel Clutch SAM People bought tickets to watch the Iron Sheik get beat Nothing could upset them more than buying a ticket to see the Iron Sheik win the biggest match conceivable, the WWE Championship match COMMENTATOR Now he's got it He hooked Backlund back He's right in the center of the ring COMMENTATOR And Backlund's got a bad neck FREDDIE Pull on it! COMMENTATOR Whoa! FREDDIE Pull on it! COMMENTATOR Whoa! Backlund not so good! Arnold Skaaland threw something in the ring! COMMENTATOR If I'm correct, it's the same as a sedition We have a new champion in the World Wrestling Federation PAGE When the Iron Sheik won the title, I mean, it rocked the wrestling world COMMENTATOR Threw the towel in--I can't believe it COMMENTATOR I'm sure Backlund didn't say a word CARYL I was sitting in the front row And they said that he won and he put the hand in the air and I was numb I was like, No way ANNOUNCER And the new World Wrestling Entertainment Heavyweight Champion, the Iron Sheik! ANTHONY It's theater and drama at its highest Shakespeare would have been proud MICK It was stunning Like, I kept thinking there was gonna be some type of reversal HOSSEIN Iran number one! Iran! MICK And Sheik walked out of there with that title And we basically ushered in a new era HOSSEIN Oh, my life changed and made it get more famous, more territories using me COMMENTATOR The Iron Sheik from Tehran, Iran, currently wears the gold JEFF Sheik really had a recipe of what makes a great heel COMMENTATOR Oh, what a boot JEFF There was nothing really to like about the Sheik in his prime He was a really, really good heel HULK HOGAN Everything was believable about him His look was believable, the way he talked was believable, and so he was very easy to hate COMMENTATOR Indeed, the Camel Clutch applied, and I'm sure that's all she wrote JUMPING JIM BRUNZELL The fans who loved to hate him would also love to hurt him HOSSEIN Iran number one! Iran number one! JUMPING JIM BRUNZELL They're asking somebody to bear the brunt of this and actually, you know, risk their life HULK HOGAN I knew there were problems because I was good friends with the Iron Sheik's wife You know, the mail would come and, Oh, my gosh, there's another death threat And I was like, Oh, my God, you gotta be kidding me HOSSEIN I was very, very lucky, as a matter of fact, two, three times they call Mr McMahon For example, if Iron Sheik come to the Albany or Providence, Rhode Island, they're going to shoot me because they know I'm a real Iranian PAGE I mean, the guy had to be escorted by police He had to go into the trunks of cars to leave the buildings CARYL The fans were really out of control sometimes Sometimes he'd even be stabbed in the arm JAKE THE SNAKE I'm sure he's been cut We've all been cut That's sort of your baptism of fire when somebody cut you ANTHONY No guy had bigger cojones than him He was walking around at the height of people hating Iranians and walking into stadiums, stadiums with , people that all wanted to kill him I mean, you don't have bigger balls than that SAM When the Iron Sheik won the WWE Championship, I think fans didn't realize that they were seeing the end of an era BRUCE If you want to make a great hero and you're looking for a new hero to lead your company, he has to overcome something big And to beat someone like Bob Backlund that had been a fan favorite for many years, that's not a way to make a hero Because you're beating a hero doing that However, if you have an evil menace like the Iron Sheik come in and beat your All-American hero and make him throw in the towel, then you need a larger-than-life hero to come in and overtake that nemesis HOSSEIN What happened to Bob Backlund? What happened to his arm? What happened to his shoulder? Now they're billing the Hulk Hogan, the biggest American animal SAM When the Iron Sheik won the WWE Championship, it signaled a change in how the business would be presented The Iron Sheik was a supervillain He would go on to be defeated by a superhero, Hulk Hogan And the Hulkamania era would begin COMMENTATOR There he is, Hulkamania COMMENTATOR Take a look at this INTERVIEWER Back here at Madison Square Gardens, history has just been made for the first time in five years, the World Heavyweight Champion, or should I say ex-World Heavyweight Champion, Bob Backlund dethroned by the Iron Sheik KEITH So I'm hanging out in this bar after the match at Madison Square Garden and fans are speculating about what might happen next And one guy who's standing at the bar says, I heard that Hulk Hogan is gonna come in and win the title And I look at my friend and I go, Where's this guy getting his information? Hulk Hogan's working for Verne Gagne in Minnesota Never would happen in a million years JEFF Vince's vision of taking a company national, he had to have a hood ornament He had to have a centerpiece JAKE THE SNAKE Wrestling, when it's at its best, has a good guy and a bad guy HOSSEIN Place hold that, my beautiful Iranian flag JEFF To set that protagonist up, the equal antagonist with the equal protagonist, Hulk versus Sheik, it was a match made in heaven HOSSEIN You gonna bring that animal Hulk Hogan for no reason Because I don't know the guy I never met the guy HULK HOGAN It doesn't get any better than that I mean, that's the perfect storyline, the perfect reality-based storyline And it wasn't something a writer wrote It was really happening KEITH Verne Gagne, in particular, was very resentful of this Because until very recently, Hulk Hogan had been working for him SAM So the story that the Iron Sheik has told, that Verne Gagne called him and said, Sheiky baby, do not lose the title to Hogan Go out there, break his leg, and bring the title back to Minnesota I'll give you $ , HOSSEIN Mr Gagne tell me, Khosrow, don't lose the belt to Hulk Hogan KEITH Now, he had trained Khosrow Vaziri His wife had given Khosrow the Iron Sheik name And so there was this mentality that the Iron Sheik owes us a favor HULK HOGAN Verne got to him and said, If you break Hulk Hogan's leg, I'll give you grand ANNOUNCER This is the main event It is for the World Wrestling Entertainment Heavyweight Championship HULK HOGAN Well, the reaction was insane I came out spinning and turning in different directions And got up on the apron and I pointed at the Sheik The roof blew off the building And I came and I ripped the shirt off It was already there ANNOUNCER Introducing first, the challenger, from Venice Beach, California, the Incredible Hulk Hogan! HULK HOGAN As I'm going through this, I'm going, Oh, my gosh, this is gonna be a huge lightning bolt to ride COMMENTATOR As Hulkamania definitely has hit the Big Apple COMMENTATOR Look how powerful that Hulk Hogan is COMMENTATOR Into the ropes and he nails him right on the chin Look at him go, into the corner, nobody home Sheik now going to work COMMENTATOR The Hulk's gotta come out of it If not, it's over for the Hulk HULK HOGAN It had been so established, the Camel Clutch with the Iron Sheik, that once he put it on you, nobody got out of it COMMENTATOR He's got him No one has been able to escape it HULK HOGAN I knew if I broke the hold, the place would erupt And it was already over Once I got out of the Camel Clutch and backed him into the turnbuckle, the only thing left to do was drop the leg on him COMMENTATOR Look at, he's powering his way up Hulk Hogan now stands up with the Sheik and rams him into the corner turnbuckle And Hulk Hogan, he drops the big leg on him He's down for the count after the leg One, two He got him! DIAMOND You couldn't have had a better person to take the strap off of Bob and then give it to Hulk JERRY It changed the wrestling world, without a doubt I mean, it exploded It just went wild GENE You have arrived, Hulk Hogan HULK HOGAN I've never seen anything as beautiful as this, Mean Gene This belt is part yours, too CARYL The fact that he had to lose the belt to Hulk Hogan, it was like hemorrhaging a blood vessel It was so painful HOSSEIN I'm a real wrestler, not Hulk Hogan, and I should've had the belt longer SAM The Iron Sheik was that key in transitioning from the quote, unquote real athlete to the quote, unquote real superhero And part of that was because the Iron Sheik was both HOSSEIN I make him to be really biggest star Without me, no Hulk Hogan to be a star Hulk Hogan, I'm not done with you I touch you tonight from one of your people and I'm gonna make him suffer so bad JEFF You can say he passed the baton off to Hogan But it was a brand new baton because our industry was about to go down a road that had never been done before And the Sheik and the Hulk were your headliners, the biggest box office attraction that the industry had really ever seen COMMENTATOR Fans, I'm telling you� DIAMOND People were so happy that that son of a bitch no longer had that world title Taking it from the Sheik, that was huge KEITH Had the Iron Sheik not been generous enough and passed the torch, WWE may have never become the juggernaut we know today COMMENTATOR Now the Iron Sheik's bleeding profusely JERRY With all the heat and mad feelings that the fans had for the Iron Sheik, that just made that win by Hulk Hogan even greater And that's how great of a villain he was that he could pass that torch right on in a way that it made Hulk Hogan the biggest name in wrestling COMMENTATOR Hulkamania is here! DIAMOND I think Sheik gave them maybe the highest element of a heel COMMENTATOR The fans are giving it to him DIAMOND And Hulk gave them the highest element of a baby face at a time where that really worked COMMENTATOR The big leg drop! Look out, Hulk! SAM I think the Iron Sheik fit right in with what the WWE had planned for its brand Was he gonna remain in the main event forever? No But I think that WWE had long-term plans to keep the Iron Sheik character as part of their catalog COMMENTATOR Now ladies and gentlemen, there it is, the submission of the Camel Clutch COMMENTATOR And enough is enough SGT SLAUGHTER Khosrow did the right thing at the right time and became larger than life HOSSEIN Iran number one! Look at USA COMMENTATOR He spit Oh, God, wait a minute! COMMENTATOR Hold on! Hold on! COMMENTATOR Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Sergeant Slaughter just came in! Sergeant Slaughter, oh, he� COMMENTATOR Oh! SGT SLAUGHTER Iron Sheik, I declare war on you COMMENTATOR Oh, my word SGT SLAUGHTER War! COMMENTATOR And we have a new champion! History made in Madison Square Garden as Hulkamania has taken over SAM The thing that made the Sheik so unique is that a loss in a big match wasn't gonna take away his heat COMMENTATOR Okay, the Iron Sheik, he'll head back to the dressing room after taking another vicious pounding SAM After losing the title to Hulk Hogan, while yes, he doesn't maintain in the WWE title picture, that doesn't mean another American hero can't come along KEITH After the Sheik loses the title to Hulk Hogan, he's immediately put into another rivalry with Sergeant Slaughter It's natural, Sergeant Slaughter is a US Marine That's his character And the Iron Sheik is an Iranian terrorist That's the gimmick that he's portraying SGT SLAUGHTER Do I look like a Gomer Pyle? I can't hear you, maggot ANTHONY Sergeant Slaughter was not, like, a good guy He was a bad guy, Sergeant Slaughter He did a lot of bad things to other good wrestlers HOSSEIN He was a bad guy first The only person put in charge to make him good guy then was babyface, was Iron Sheik JAKE THE SNAKE People loved Sergeant Slaughter He was GI Joe And then the Iron Sheik's this evil bastard that has to be beaten COMMENTATOR Listen to them chanting, We want Slaughter COMMENTATOR Everyone wants him but the Iron Sheik SGT SLAUGHTER Vince McMahon Senior invited me out for dinner So I started telling him, Why don't you let Sergeant Slaughter declare war on the Iron Sheik? COMMENTATOR Sergeant Slaughter just came in SGT SLAUGHTER And the people were so happy to see Sergeant Slaughter go against the Iron Sheik Iron Sheik, I declare war on you! SGT SLAUGHTER War! So I declared war on him and off to the races we went COMMENTATOR In a return bout, it will be what they're calling a boot camp match COMMENTATOR Everyone on their feet USA, everyone KEITH Now they're having highly emotional matches They put the Iron Sheik and Sergeant Slaughter in the main event in Madison Square Garden They have this very bloody match called a boot camp match COMMENTATOR Look out, Sergeant's gonna explode COMMENTATOR Oh! Oh! COMMENTATOR Okay! Oh, he rammed his head right into that pointed boot Sarge is bleeding profusely! COMMENTATOR Oh! Oh, no JIAN I'll never forget watching that boot camp match between the Sheik and Slaughter As a kid, I had never seen blood like that COMMENTATOR Suplex! Look at the Sheik fighting now HOSSEIN It was a tough match, hard match, good match And people wanted to see all this bleed COMMENTATOR Oh, a big uppercut sends the Iranian down to the canvas PAGE The Sheik didn't need to win to win He did his job and he created a feeling That's the best win is when you get a reaction And it doesn't matter who comes out on top REFEREE This bout a double disqualification KEITH Because of the rivalry with Sergeant Slaughter, the Iron Sheik was main eventing People wanted the Iron Sheik on every card So the Iron Sheik lost nothing in sacrificing the title to Hulk Hogan HOSSEIN I'm gonna spit to your fat body, American Soldier! FREDDIE JEFF Sheik obviously embraced his heritage And that made him nothing but money But it made him money because of his opponents that were red, white, and blue or stood for everything right in this world And Sheik didn't mind standing for everything wrong in this world COMMENTATOR Oh, he just drove a knee right in the midsection Incredible SAM At this point in time, the Sheik, financially, had to be doing better than he ever thought he would do HULK HOGAN I can't help it if you're too dumb to watch where you're going HOSSEIN That's it That is straw that camel cannot carry From now on, I am through with you Pa-tooey TANYA That cartoon, we thought was so cool I mean, we were really, really enamored by the cartoon HULK HOGAN The cartoon made all us superheroes The cartoon just put extra gas on the fire SAM Anything that had Hulk Hogan or Sergeant Slaughter on it would have to have the Iron Sheik on it The Iron Sheik became a household name HOSSEIN Oh, you make me sick Are you the Hulk Hogan? MAN HOSSEIN Are you really? TV HOST Stay here HOSSEIN You want to be like the Sheik? FREDDIE Get up you coward, you JUMPING JIM BRUNZELL Khosrow made a lot of money on that action figure The very first dolls that came out, one quarter he made $ , BRET I remember he got his check in the dressing room I believe it was $ , check And I remember he thought it was $ , ANNOUNCER Thumb wrestle anywhere with Hulk and the Iron Sheik HOSSEIN Okay, kids, back to class CHILDREN ANNOUNCER Wrestle anywhere with Wrestling Superstars Thumbwrestlers HOSSEIN Iron Sheik action figure was sold at more than any another action figure BRUCE The rewards were great But the sacrifices sometimes were even greater BRUCE It can be a very glamorous life But it can also be a very lonely and painful life DIAMOND I think one of the hardest things to be is a professional wrestler You're gonna miss birthdays, big holidays, and all that JERRY You're away from your family You're with other wrestlers more than you are your children or your wife CARYL My husband was usually gone like a month or two at a time TANYA You know, when he got home, he didn't want to go out or be much in the public And he was with us all the time CARYL When he came home, they would run and hug and kiss him They adored their dad Nobody could touch their dad NIKKI He was such a great role model and father And all he wanted to do was teach us how to be good people CARYL As a father, he adores his kids He'd give 'em anything, anything in his power that he could HOSSEIN It was really hard for family and myself because I was on the road all the time I didn't see them very often I missed them KEITH The Iron Sheik's family suffered like everybody else's family, except he also was developing a very serious drug problem So in some ways, it can be argued that they even suffered more PAGE The whole package of being a wrestler in that era was pretty dark Outside of the minutes you are in the match and in the ring, you have to live a very lonely life HOSSEIN I have the number one man right here JEFF At times, the industry is our own worst enemy There is that transition from the high of the match to coming back down And when the adrenaline wears off, the pain steps in And the crutch enters the equation And it is a pathway to death ANNOUNCER Ladies and gentlemen, this is a tag team match scheduled for one fall JERRY You know, when I think about the combination of the Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff, oh, my gosh We hated Iranians We hated the country of Iran ANNOUNCER From Tehran, Iran, the Iron Sheik! JERRY And then Nikolai Volkoff, we've always hated Russia How could you pile on any more heat? ANNOUNCER From the Soviet Union, Nikolai Volkoff! SAM The thing about heat in wrestling is that you really have to balance it And the Iron Sheik was at this place where it was maybe time to freshen it up a little bit The Iran hostage crisis was over So what can we do to get the audience mad at the Iron Sheik again? Well, what about the Cold War? COMMENTATOR Look at this power display by the big Russian COMMENTATOR One-armed choke! COMMENTATOR Look at that awesome back breaker SAM What if Russia and Iran combined forces? How much would you hate that? And the answer that the WWE fans gave is a lot HOSSEIN Now you people shut up and don't say USA Iran number one! Russia number one! USA, Canada� NIKOLAI VOLKOFF Sheik was from Tehran and I was from Russia He speak the language, I speak the language We was real, it was no imitation, you know JERRY Naturally, anybody that they thought could wave the American flag in the face of Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik, the fans would go crazy for JIMMY They wanted Nikolai to come out and go, Sheiky, baby, I'm gonna sing the Russian national anthem, , whatever NIKOLAI VOLKOFF I was very happy when I saw all those people there When I start singing it was great, I mean, people hate it BRUCE He came in and sang the Russian national anthem, that actually wasn't the Russian national anthem, but that's okay No one knew that Can you sing the Russian national anthem? No Neither can I, but by God, I can sing Nikolai Volkoff's version of whatever it was he was singing NIKOLAI VOLKOFF PAGE Those two equaled the ultimate heat JIAN You take these two foreign, evil wrestlers, put them in a team together, you know that people are gonna come to see those guys COMMENTATOR What a match up this is gonna be WrestleMania delivering everything it promised to be SAM WrestleMania I was the biggest wrestling show that the United States had ever seen It was before pay-per-view existed HOSSEIN WrestleMania was good for me and I know that was a very big deal, WrestleMania COMMENTATOR And Mike Rotunda picks him up, holds him up and a big body slam COMMENTATOR Now he's going into the Sheik's boot COMMENTATOR Oh! COMMENTATOR Windham off the top with the big elbow Nikolai Volkoff dropped by the Iron Sheik! DIAMOND Both of those guys worked on top So now you put 'em together, and you get a whole 'nother way to market the heat COMMENTATOR And the champions are in trouble COMMENTATOR Oh, sunset flip over the top Got the big guy! COMMENTATOR Look it! Big right hand by Windham, another right, another right, a series of left and rights to the body He's going for the Bulldog COMMENTATOR Oh, he nailed him with it! This could be it And oh, the Sheik comes in PAGE This is another notch for the Sheik Of all these unique moments that he's been in, that proves that you're important in the business when you win the title, especially back then when there's only a handful of titles in the business COMMENTATOR Referee now just admonishing Mike Rotunda Look at this! Oh, he nailed him with a cane! The Iron Sheik got ahold of Blassie's cane He's gonna get counted out here, gents And new champions New champions of the world SGT SLAUGHTER To hold a world title or a tag team world title, you know, it had to make him feel like all this was worth it COMMENTATOR Iron Sheik, you finally have done it You're now World Wrestling Entertainment tag team champions HOSSEIN You know, Gene Mean, our country is the best We come to the America to prove it Look at us! NIKOLAI VOLKOFF Number one! Number one! ALL JUMPING JIM BRUNZELL Those two guys would argue with each other� so much before and after a match, it was unbelievable It was amazing that they could still remain tag team partners because they were saying, You dumb son of a gun And, You're dumb JAKE THE SNAKE They were always butting heads And if something happened in the ring, they'd blame each other and it was hilarious COMMENTATOR They're all on their feet, I guarantee you that, all , SAM WrestleMania I was a huge success And public awareness for WWE only grew and grew and grew And the biggest example of that is probably two years after the first WrestleMania, when WrestleMania III happens in front of , people in Pontiac, Michigan, for a show like nobody in wrestling has seen before HOSSEIN Number one! ANNOUNCER Here are the Killer Bees! NIKOLAI VOLKOFF BRUCE WrestleMania III was nothing more than a background for the debut of Hacksaw Jim Duggan COMMENTATOR Hacksaw Jim Duggan and his x enter into the ring HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN You're not singing that Russian national anthem because this is the land of the free and the home of the brave! JUMPING JIM BRUNZELL The finish of our match incorporated a young Jim Duggan Jim Duggan comes running in and takes his x and he's wailing on Khosrow And we get disqualified COMMENTATOR This match is over right now JUMPING JIM BRUNZELL Needless to say, that spun a program between Jim Duggan and Khosrow ALL USA! USA! USA! USA! HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN You can only imagine, a relatively young guy, I got my x with a flag on it I go running out Whack, I hit Nikolai Whack, I hit the Sheik I chase everybody out of the ring I'm standing in front of , people with a flag and x overhead Hair's standing up now, brother, it's a moment I'll remember my whole life, it really was COMMENTATOR Slams him down to the canvas Hacksaw coming off and rams the knee right into the midsection HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN JUMPING JIM BRUNZELL At this time in the ' s, the use of cocaine was prevalent in all areas of our society Entertainers, athletes, you name it HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN It's a rock-and-roll lifestyle, brother I mean, there's a lot of drugs and a lot of women A lot of people got caught up in that lifestyle And I can't throw no stones NEWS REPORTER The number of people snorting cocaine is rising steadily despite the steep price It is also increasingly popular with adults, especially among the Sheik SAM Apparently, the Sheik liked his medicine, and it was wrestling, drinking, drugs, wrestling JUMPING JIM BRUNZELL He was devout Muslim when he was first, you know, in amateur wrestling And he didn't drink, he didn't smoke But the problem is that pro wrestling offered so many doggone things to him that he--you know, he got lost JERRY Vince came in one day and said, Sheik, I need to talk to you He said, You took the drug test, right? Oh, yes, boss, I took the drug test I took it He said, Well, you came back positive Oh, yes, sir I'm positive, boss I'm always positive HULK HOGAN You know, he tested positive for substances Oh, I can't believe Very good, right? Right? I said, No, bro, you tested positive That is very bad JEFF You know, Sheik made headlines for a lot of the right reasons through his career And then there were times during his career he made them for the wrong reason NEWS ANCHOR They are known to wrestling fans as the Iron Sheik and Hacksaw Now, instead of battling opponents, they are fighting drug charges together HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN I'm here to tell you right now I'm holding that Iranian Sheik hostage SAM So right around this time, the Iron Sheik's new American hero foe is Hacksaw Jim Duggan HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN Everything, I'm on top of the world Things are going so good for me, I cannot believe it You know, and now we're--I'm getting ready, we're wrestling in Asbury Park, New Jersey SAM And the Iron Sheik and Hacksaw fly into Newark Airport And the Iron Sheik sees Hacksaw there and he says, If you're gonna rent a car, why don't I ride to the show with you? HOSSEIN I was just stuck I didn't have a ride to go I said, I come with you, it's okay? He said, Yeah No problem KEITH The Sheik and Duggan were supposed to hate each other One guy is the flag-waving All-American, the other one is the Iranian terrorist And here they were in a car together doing illegal things JUMPING JIM BRUNZELL The worst thing about it is, they were gonna wrestle each other that night So any way you looked at it, it wasn't good SAM Hacksaw Jim Duggan and the Iron Sheik get in the car together They stop at a liquor store along the way They get some beers for the road They keep driving They get pulled over They've got drugs along with the alcohol in the car HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN They got the Sheik out and he carried a purse And they opened up the purse, boom, right on top, a gram of cocaine Now they got the Sheik hooked up Now the police car, vroom, vroom, there's eight or ten police cars People are driving by, they're going, Hey, there's Hacksaw Jim and the Iron Sheik? SAM They got out of jail, by the way, in time to make the show and still wrestle each other that night HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN We worked together that night in Asbury Park We didn't tell anybody So we got to the hotel that night I called my wife, I'm like, Honey, I said, We got popped but nobody knows about it She calls me about the next morning--everybody knows! NEWS ANCHOR Police say marijuana was found in the ashtray and they also found cocaine in some luggage By the way, Duggan and the Iron Sheik are supposed to be bitter rivals JIAN We went to our parents and we're like, Mom, did you see this? And she was like, I can't believe it I'm so disgusted And we're like, Us too What were they doing together in the same car, Mom? JEFF So the arrest of Sheik and Duggan pulled the curtain back on our industry in a way that had never really been pulled back ANNOUNCER Weighing pounds, Hacksaw Jim Duggan! HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN Hooo! KEITH Up until this stage, even fans who knew that things were predetermined could live in denial Once these mortal enemies were arrested in each other's company, it was pretty hard to delude yourself like that HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN It killed kayfabe Kayfabe is the good guy versus bad guy It was always never supposed to be together You're never supposed to ride together HULK HOGAN That's the first no-no in the wrestling business The good guys don't ride with the bad guys SAM You can't have the Ninja Turtles and Shredder in the same car driving to the show together HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN Turn on the TV set and all I see is this Iranian over here, this Russian over here, yelling and jawing at the mouth Well, Hacksaw Jim Duggan's here to take on any man, one on one BRUCE Great American hero, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, who swore that he would defeat his enemy, that Iranian Iron Sheik, but yet they're really friends in real life? JEFF Kind of--the curtain was pulled back Well, I'll say this, I think the curtain was yanked back KEITH And now everybody knew it was all a show JIMMY All of a sudden, that's when it became entertainment And it really became bigger since that happened We told everybody, Hey, it's entertainment, you know? That old story, for those who believe, no explanation is necessary, you know what I mean? NEWS ANCHOR And news today that professional wrestler Iron Sheik has escaped the hold of some recent drug charges The judge in Freehold yesterday dropped the charges, providing he complete a year's probation and submit to drug testing in the future SAM You know, I think the WWE still valued the Iron Sheik and more importantly valued him as a human being So they did send him to rehab at this point JIAN We know it was a pretty low period for him He really didn't have much going on in terms of bookings And he would just take whatever he could CARYL He lost his job He came home He was miserable and sulking And he started working for independent promoters KEITH The Sheik ended up going to WCW But he never really picked up traction over there He was a long way from headlining Madison Square Garden and it was a little sad USA! HOSSEIN Hey, Madison Park It was a small building, small money HOST Well, he may be an Iranian champion, but he's not too smart And we'll be right back KEITH For whatever reason, Vince McMahon always had a soft spot for the Iron Sheik HOSSEIN I wanna show something to the people BRUCE In comes the Iron Sheik--another chance Because Vince just had a soft spot for the Iron Sheik, and that Iron Sheik didn't take Verne Gagne's blood money, if you will, and break Hulk Hogan's leg And there was a loyalty there SAM What was going on then was the Gulf War So we don't need an Iranian sympathizer anymore We need an Iraqi sympathizer SAM And that's where Sergeant Slaughter, of all people, comes back into the story BRUCE We took the All-American hero, Sergeant Slaughter, and made Sergeant Slaughter an Iraqi sympathizer SGT SLAUGHTER Got a little snake bit SAM He had a manager named Colonel Adnan And then the Iron Sheik would be brought back in, but this time as Colonel Mustafa, who would be part of Sergeant Slaughter's faction, the Triangle of Terror COMMENTATOR Twirl that mustache Get everything looking pretty COMMENTATOR I don't know what it is about this guy that's so revolting But let's look at him in action there SGT SLAUGHTER He was the thimble there He kind of helped put it all together The Triangle of Terror was really a great entity BRUCE When we did that, it was the emergence of Saddam Hussein in Iraq This was before we declared war on Iraq SAM When we actually went to war, the WWE was too deep into the story to kind of turn back So we actually had somebody on television sympathizing with the enemy's side in a war that we were actively in, creating what I would call nuclear heat COMMENTATOR And now the Colonel goes to work COMMENTATOR He may be even dirtier than Sergeant Slaughter HOSSEIN SGT SLAUGHTER And so we're shooting for SummerSlam ' Gonna be Hulk Hogan, the Ultimate Warrior, against the Triangle of Terror SummerSlam is going to be a match made in hell SAM We go back to Madison Square Garden, and WWE puts on SummerSlam COMMENTATOR We're ready to go here The bell has sounded We're underway SGT SLAUGHTER Slaughter is a traitor And he can't get enough tonight, in my mind COMMENTATOR Oh, it's reversal! COMMENTATOR Oh! COMMENTATOR Oh! SAM It was Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior, at that time, two iconic heroes in WWE, facing the entire Triangle of Terror COMMENTATOR Warrior chasing Adnan and Mustafa all the way back to the locker room COMMENTATOR What did Hogan use there? One time and the count� COMMENTATOR A little bit of powder and a one, two, three COMMENTATOR And it's all over HOSSEIN Remember, Allah always help Khosrow Vaziri Wrestling was good to me, but I didn't have a choice Too much injury in my body KEITH In the mid ' s, Vince McMahon once again finds it in his heart to bring the Iron Sheik back This time he's not being brought in as a wrestler anymore, those days are over He's brought in as a co-manager with his old enemy, Bob Backlund The two managed a new not-quite-discernible foreign menace named the Sultan COMMENTATOR Camel Clutch! COMMENTATOR Pull, Sheik, pull! KEITH The Sultan doesn't resonate with s COMMENTATOR The Sheik is begging for mercy KEITH Fan attention goes elsewhere and the Sheik doesn't last that long COMMENTATOR Booyah! [RESONANT MUSIC] KEITH The Sheik is really down and out at this point And he's struggling financially CARYL He wasn't making money, and it was rough And we lost our house, we lost our condo KEITH And at one point, he's on the road, working in some small building And someone turns him onto crack cocaine And this commences a very sad stage in the Iron Sheik's life TANYA He would go on a binge for like five, six days, not sleep JIAN He would go on binges for nights upon nights And he wouldn't return home His family was in the crossfires of this era And the Sheik really--he wasn't himself He wasn't the guy that he was proud of KEITH His drug use was a real problem It was a real issue SGT SLAUGHTER The next time I ran into Khosrow was at the Gimmick Battle Royal in Houston, Texas JIAN It was a big moment for him because he was really feeling down He was in a really dark period And that match kind of gave him a boost SAM WrestleMania X-Seven, the Gimmick Battle Royal, they bring all of their best gimmicks back and put them all in the ring for an over-the-top rope contest SGT SLAUGHTER We had Khosrow introduced early because it was a long walk down to the ring BRUCE It was probably about a -yard walk to the ring And it took Sheik forever And so Bobby Heenan made the comment, he goes� COMMENTATOR By the time the Iron Sheik gets to the ring, it'll be WrestleMania SGT SLAUGHTER Just as I was to go out, I got grabbed And Vince McMahon said to me, Uh, we got a little problem BRUCE The Sheik had put on an awful lot of weight and was very fragile So it was like, well, who the hell's gonna get him up over the top rope? And then if they do, what's that gonna look like? And it was decided upon that Sheik would win the thing SAM The reason that the Iron Sheik was declared the victor of the match was because his knees were shot and so he couldn't take an over-the-top rope fall So in order to avoid throwing the Iron Sheik over the top rope, they just had him win COMMENTATOR Watch this! Watch this! The Iron Sheik wins it! The Iron Sheik wins it! CARYL They were kind enough to let him win It meant the world to him HOSSEIN My life had many turn, some good, some bad JIAN There is no moment more impactful on the Sheik's life than the loss of his daughter, Marissa KEITH This is undoubtedly the most painful part of the Iron Sheik story He had three daughters, Tanya, Nikki, and Marissa Marissa was a beautiful -year-old woman Somewhere along the line, Marissa had found a boyfriend who, from what I heard, was taking more than he was giving CARYL We weren't impressed We thought, Marissa, you're so beautiful What are you doing with this guy? KEITH And she was resolved to end the relationship And apparently, when she informed him of this, he strangled her to death CARYL Marissa was strangulated by this gentleman, Charles Reynolds KEITH And then he put her body underneath a blanket and brought the covers up to her chin and called his minister and admitted his crime CARYL Khos went crazy when he found out He screamed He howled He cried It was just the worst time of our life HOSSEIN I cried for her so much I miss her so much And it break my heart CARYL It was like, why would God do this? And we really don't know why this guy crossed into her life I mean, after two weeks It was crazy KEITH This is a man in severe pain who also blamed himself largely for what happened to his daughter Because he felt that if he'd been a better role model, his daughter might have made better choices And all he was doing was punishing himself JIAN This was his biggest loss And there was nothing he could do about it And that was the most frustrating thing for him And so he kept on going to a darker place through this era KEITH There was an incident where the daughter's killer was in court And the Sheik put a razor blade in his mouth and he was planning to go up to the front of the courtroom and cut the man's throat HOSSEIN Yeah, my plan, I kill him and I take his head off, but if I kill the guy still my daughter's gone anyway KEITH He was ready to go to prison for the rest of his life to get revenge And fortunately, his family physically leaned their bodies against him to prevent him from doing that CARYL They said, No, Daddy, I can't lose you, I just lost my sister I can't lose my dad TANYA I think that that resonated with him And that's why he didn't, at that moment, you know, come at him KEITH The man was not attacked He went back to his cell And the Sheik's surviving children still had their father KEITH After the Iron Sheik's daughter died, there wasn't much positivity in the Iron Sheik's life He really was a lost soul And he didn't have a lot to look forward to And then , WWE decides to induct the major stars of WrestleMania I into the Hall of Fame, including the Iron Sheik GENE I can stand up here for many, many hours talking about the Iron Sheik HULK HOGAN It's a real life It's a real life story And the Hall of Fame means everything to us because it means we're recognized by our business and by our peers HOSSEIN Oh, to the Hall of Fame was great feeling And people was, they like it They go--they was so excited, very happy to see me HOSSEIN Thank you Thank you Thank you NIKKI It really meant a lot to him And even to this day, that is something he absolutely cherishes TANYA Like, I think that that was the highlight of his life And he just let everything out on all the hardships he had endured over the years to get to that point HOSSEIN I used to drive the truck, put on the ring, pick up the ring--yeah! And I was referee I paid my dues! BRUCE You know, it was Sheik's moment in the sun And Sheik got exactly what he deserved PAGE I mean, he stole the show that night HOSSEIN I was pound, but I was so much fall in love with wrestling KEITH He tells a story He stops He starts again Everyone applauds HOSSEIN I made it to the Hall of Fame! Yeah! KEITH They think his story is over He tells another story He thanks everybody Everyone applauds And then he tells another story HOSSEIN So I want to say again� HOSSEIN I want to say again� SGT SLAUGHTER It's probably one of the greatest induction speeches of all time HOSSEIN And a special thanks to Mr Sergeant Slaughter and all WWE JAKE THE SNAKE It meant the world to him Why wouldn't it? My God, man, you sacrificed your whole life and your family to get a friggin' ring? Hell, that's not it It's the fact that I got one and you don't HOSSEIN God bless you guys Peace! Yeah! JAKE THE SNAKE Sheik, you got a telephone call KEITH After years of watching the Iron Sheik struggle, after years of financial insecurity, after heartbreak, after one rehab stint after another, his wife Caryl just had to leave him She was just fed up CARYL I found out he was using crack cocaine with another one of his fellow wrestlers and got to the point where we couldn't stand him around We never knew what kind of personality he would have HOWARD You say the Iron Sheik is a heavy drug addict? MAN At--at home Here, when he's with me, he's perfect HOWARD Right What's going on, Sheik? I'm worried about you HOSSEIN I don't like to hear Come tell me I spent the money for the crack or coke or marijuana MAN Are we lying? HOSSEIN Bullshit MAN Are we lying? HOWARD Is he doing coke? HOSSEIN You're lying! MAN I'm not lying HOWARD Who lying? Me? TANYA I remember thinking at the time I didn't feel like there was any way he would come back from where he had gone to, as far as how far gone he had gone on the drugs NIKKI The best thing to ever happen was my mom leaving him CARYL When I finally left him, that's when he stopped drinking, smoking, all drugs, everything NIKKI Despite many trips to rehab, it was that woman that cleaned him up And he did it for her and his kids And it brought back the dad we knew as little girls, the sweet, drug-free, alcohol-free man who loved and worshiped his wife and daughters KEITH He went back to being the man he was meant to be, the man who his parents named Khosrow of the Immortal Soul ANNOUNCER From Tehran, Iran, the Iron Sheik COMMENTATOR Devastating suplex Oh, and a boot RIKISHI Sheik's legacy, an icon, a legend JEFF It's like a book of fiction The odds of a kid from Iran being a household name in American pop culture It's really hard to wrap your head around that HOSSEIN To come from Iran to America and travel like that And be all over the world a and be Iron Sheik Hell of a surprise And you people shut up and don't come USA! USA is a sick country! TANYA I've always felt like he completely defines the American dream ANTHONY As far as Iranians and Iranian Americans and how the diaspora of Iranians in this country have found their way, part of that gateway was the Iron Sheik WRESTLER COMMENTATOR Perhaps one of the most sadistic men in professional wrestling today COMMENTATOR He nailed him with a cane KEITH To this day, he's probably one of the biggest heroes in our business HOSSEIN You gonna bring that animal, Hulk Hogan, for no reason SAM You could make the argument, and I would, that without the Iron Sheik, Hulk Hogan's Hulkamania launch would not have been as effective COMMENTATOR He's got him! SAM And if it hadn't been as effective, who knows if WWE or pro wrestling as we know it would look anything like it does today? HULK HOGAN I think he's made his mark in history as one of the innovators, one of the legit bad guys that people love to hate COMMENTATOR Capacity on the case of the Iron Sheik HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN He was one of the best and again, one of the top heels ever JOHN Man, he embodies what it means to be like a perfect villain HOSSEIN I'm gonna spit to your fat body, you American COMMENTATOR Oh, disgusting JAKE THE SNAKE He's a bad guy, but I love him There's a lot of you out there that do, too DIAMOND Like, all of us love him And now, today, he's so respected MICK To this day, you see the Iron Sheik, and there's no one like him Yeah, he was iconic COMMENTATOR Here is the winner, the Iron Sheik! HOSSEIN I lobe wrestling and if I was in good shape and healthy, I'd do it again JIMMY People always remember the Iron Sheik, you know, standing up there calling everybody a jabroni Nikolai, you jabroni! You know, and his little cliches that he'd always do PAGE The word jabroni that is now in the dictionary, okay, because it came from the Iron Sheik's mouth HOSSEIN Mr Gagne told me, Break that jabroni's leg Take the belt to Minnesota! JIMMY And the explanation I found on Wikipedia was it comes from the name jobber, day jobber So the day jobbers in wrestling are the guys who get, like, the leotard or whatever, you know, they get the tank top They don't have a character They're not the Sheik, they're not Hulk Hogan They're not Andre the Giant They're the ones who get beaten up So you're a day jobber You're nothing but a day jobber You're just a jobber You're a jabroni TANYA But jabroni, he's used our entire life He's called anybody and everybody it ANNOUNCER It is Billy Burger TANYA Sometimes it's in a loving way, and sometimes it's in, you know, a rude way It's all with the tone that it's given But it's definitely a daily word in his vocabulary and has been probably our whole life HOSSEIN Iron Sheik is not jabroni I call him, he's just a jabroni COMMENTATOR squaring off against the Arabian Here we go HOSSEIN He's just a job boy You go in the ring, beat him up, and pin him because that's his job He's a jabroni, job man DIAMOND That's what it was just called, bad guys who did, you know, the favor or the job JIMMY And somebody that you might think's a little lesser than you, too, you know what I mean? Like, who you fighting tonight? I'm fighting this jabroni, meaning somebody who doesn't win a lot of matches You've got to have a jabroni, a baby face to put you over sometimes because that's the only way you're gonna make people believe that you're really great, you know? RIKISHI Anybody that's a wrestler, when you hear that word, jabroni, anybody speaks, if you're from the old school, you knew who own that, who was the first one that came out with that And it was so popular through the boys that Rock took it and took it to another level THE ROCK I am the jabroni-beating, pie-eating, trailblazing eyebrow-raising, talking is done, you're out of your class, no sleep till Brooklyn, the Rock whoops your ass! RIKISHI Now everybody's a jabroni all around the world If you ain't down with it, you a jabroni DIAMOND As a matter of fact, the Rock, from what I've learned, was actually--had been babysat by the Sheik So if anybody could take jabroni, it's the Rock THE ROCK How about the Rock interview you? How about that, jabroni? How about that? HOSSEIN Everybody know I was the first to teach the Rock about jabroni He's the jabroni And everybody--and he know himself he learn it from Iron Sheik to tell somebody else he's a jabroni JIAN For a guy who barely can read and write in English, you know, who grew up watching Sesame Street in the U S to learn how to speak English, then to come up with his own word that then goes into the dictionary, you know, what a remarkable thing BRUCE Originally, Sheik went around and worked under his real name, Khosrow Vaziri And he was much smaller, very, very lean, and an incredible specimen But he was boring KEITH For some reason, Vince and James McMahon decided to give Khos a different identity ANNOUNCER Here is the great Hussein Arab! KEITH For a period, he was known as Hussein Arab He was not Iranian He was a generic Arab wrestler COMMENTATOR So Fred Blassie's great Hussein chalked up victory after victory thus far in the World Wrestling Entertainment HOSSEIN KEITH Mary Gagne said, You're a really good wrestler, but the people don't have a reason to watch you So you should play up your Iranian ancestry and become a sheik He goes, But there's already a sheik There's a sheik in Detroit, Ed Farhat And the original sheik--he had a gimmick that was basically mimeographed by the Iron Sheik HOSSEIN He told me, You are really from our country You speak the language No problem for you And he was a good man KEITH When the Iron Sheik met the original Sheik, the original Sheik endorsed the character because he said, You are a real wrestler, and you are worthy of playing this role COMMENTATOR This guy is truly a great wrestler He's got tremendous wrestling skills He just doesn't care to use that He just cares to be the sadistic man that he has been week after week after week HOSSEIN Remember, Allah always help Khosrow Vaziri I'm from Iran--I missed wrestling But I didn't have a choice Too much injury in my body KEITH In the mid ' s, Vince McMahon once again finds it in his heart to bring the Iron Sheik back This time, he's not being brought in as a wrestler anymore Those days are over SAM Obviously, he's in no condition to wrestle anymore But the WWE still recognized the heat that the Iron Sheik could bring HOSSEIN Pleasure to come back to the number one wrestling federation in the world, from oldest country And I bring Iran Middle East KEITH He's brought in as a co-manager with his old enemy Bob Backlund, whose persona has changed from being the clean-living, collegiate champion to being kind of a crazy, judgmental nut BOB BACKLUND All I've gotta do is lift 'em up, and I can look you directly in the face SAM The two managed a new, not quite discernible foreign menace that had come to the WWE named the Sultan COMMENTATOR Tensions are heating up right now over in the Middle East with a dispute between the United States and Iraq And legend has it that the Sultan was captured once and held hostage And when he wouldn't talk, they cut his tongue out COMMENTATOR What? COMMENTATOR That's right RIKISHI When the Sultan and Iron Sheik was born together, it was--you know, it's a reality TV show JAKE THE SNAKE COMMENTATOR The Sheik is hot But you look in the Sultan's eyes, he didn't even know what was going on COMMENTATOR Distracting Jake The Snake Roberts, and here comes the Camel Clutch HOSSEIN And you shut up and know that Iran number one! And you shut your mouth! COMMENTATOR And Rocky Maivia watching the action Forget about it That's a trap! KEITH Undoubtedly, the high point of the Iron Sheik's tenure with the Sultan occurred at WrestleMania At that show, the Sultan was matched up against a kid by the name of Rocky Maivia COMMENTATOR Yes, the first third generation WWE superstar in Rocky Maivia SAM Rocky Maivia had grown up around the Iron Sheik And that's because Rocky Maivia was the son of wrestler Rocky Johnson and would later become Dwayne The Rock Johnson COMMENTATOR That's it Give it to him Give him some more! Get in there, Sheik! Get it, Backlund! Yes! COMMENTATOR Yeah! Camel Clutch! COMMENTATOR Pull it! Pull, Sheik, pull! COMMENTATOR Stretch him, Sheik! COMMENTATOR And Sheik is trying to humiliate him COMMENTATOR That's Rocky Johnson! KEITH The Sultan doesn't resonate with s And as amusing as Backlund and the Sheik are together� COMMENTATOR The Sheik is begging for mercy KEITH Fan attention goes elsewhere, and the Sheik doesn't last that long COMMENTATOR Booyah! KEITH Vince McMahon needed to get the Championship off Bob Backlund And that traditional champion ended up being the Iron Sheik COMMENTATOR Represented his country in the Olympics, a great amateur wrestler, and now the greatest pro wrestler, many say RICKY I think the Sheik was the WWE Champion for a short run, maybe days SAM I don't think that, long term, having somebody sympathetic to the Iranians in the middle of a giant political conflict is the best for business COMMENTATOR World's Heavyweight Champion SAM I think the Iron Sheik being what's called in wrestling a transitional champion was exactly what the Iron Sheik character needed to be RIKISHI In the industry, a person like that, you want to put him in that right position if you're gonna go with that golden goose to take that goose to the next level And Sheik was the one He was already putting asses in the seats COMMENTATOR Coming our way! COMMENTATOR Iron Sheik, right over the top rope to the arena floor [END OF TAPE] Cutdown Preferences/Suggested Cuts for IRON SHEIK CUT IN for cut After Greg Gagne says �Alan was the one who asked Verne if he could take Kosrow� OUT for cut Save CUT IN for cut OUT for cut Save TOTAL Seconds BIOGRAPHY WWE LEGENDS IRON SHEIK - 6