The Iron Sheik, an iconic wrestling heel of the 1980s, has died at age 81.

The loss of life of the Iranian wrestler — born Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri — used to be introduced in an announcement on his social media pages.

“Today, we collect with heavy hearts to bid farewell to a actual legend, a pressure of nature, and an iconic parent who left an notable mark on the world of expert wrestling,” the announcement study in part. “It is with exceptional unhappiness that we share the information of the passing of The Iron Sheik, however we additionally take solace in understanding that he departed this world peacefully, leaving in the back of a legacy that will suffer for generations to come.”

RESPECT THE LEGEND FOREVER 😢

The Iron Sheik obtained his begin as a Greco-Roman wrestler, competing for Iran at the1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. He later served as an assistant educate for Team USA at the 1972 Games in Munich.

He made his WWF debut in 1979 and gained the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in 1983, turning into the solely Iranian wrestler ever to do so.

His legendary contention with Hulk Hogan helped make Hogan one of the awesome seasoned wrestling heroes of the 1980s, and his tag crew pairing with Nikolai Volkoff received the WWF Tag Team Championship at the inaugural WrestleMania tournament in 1985.

In 2005, The Iron Sheik used to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. He is survived with the aid of two daughters and 5 grandchildren.