The Iron Sheik is the ring name of a professional wrestler. Former bodyguard to the Shah, defected after the revolution to America.
Born March 15, 1943 in Tehran, Iran. Olympic Gold Medalist in the Mexico City games of 1968. Third place, World Championships in 1969. Turned pro in 1972. WWF debut in 1979 as The Great Hossein. Won the first ever Battle Royale at the Madison Square Garden, defeating such notables as Gorilla Monsoon, Haystacks Calhoun, Ivan Putski, Tito Santana, Ted DiBiase, Nikolai Volkoff and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He was able to succeed as a heel quite well due to the Iranian hostage incident.
Noted for the many suplex variations he would use during the course of a match, the Iron Sheik's signature move was the camel clutch.
A great supporter of the use of Iranian Clubs for training. These are big bat-looking things that weigh 75 lbs each.
He won the WWF Heavyweight Title from Bob Backlund in December 26, 1983 (using the aforementioned camel clutch), only to lose the title to Hulk Hogan in his very next match. He also held the WWF Tag Title with the Russian, Nikolai Volkoff.
Had a long-running feud with Sgt. Slaughter, fueled nicely by the diplomatic feud between the USA and post-revolution Iran.
The Iron Sheik is still going strong, but not at the high exposure level he previously enjoyed.