WWE Hall of Famer Nikolai Volkoff passed away this morning at 70 years of age.

Despite being portrayed from Russia, Volkoff, real name Josip Nikolai Peruzović, was actually born in Yugoslavia and made his professional wrestling debut in 1967 after competing with the Yugoslavian weightlifting team. He then emigrated to Canada and started wrestling training under fellow Hall of Famer Stu Hart.

Volkoff started working for the WWWF in 1968 where he lasted for three years before returning for another six years in 1974. In 1984, Volkoff returned to work for the younger McMahon and was teamed up with the Iron Sheik, where together they had a memorable run as two of the top heels in the company.

In 1987, Volkoff was teamed up with Boris Zukhov and the two were given the name The Bolsheviks, portraying Russian heels even though Zukhov was actually an American. He turned face in the early 90s after over two decades of playing a heel.

While in the WWE, he held the Tag Team titles once with The Iron Sheik and in 2005 he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

Volkoff was married and had two daughters.