WWE Legend, Ivan Koloff has passed away at the age of 74 on February 18, 2017. Many personalities of the same sport posted on social media to remember "The Russian Bear."
Ivan Koloff was diagnosed with liver disease a decade ago. He had recently announced that he had to cancel his appearances due to his health.
As written in Comic Book, Ivan Koloff's real name was Oreal Perras. He was born in Montreal in 1942 and wanted to become a wrestler from an early age.
He started in the business at the age of 19 and he would wrestle throughout Canada and Japan before he settled in the World Wide Wrestling Federation in 1967. He would only hold the WWWF title for 21 days after defeating Sammartino.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Ivan Koloff moved on to the NWA and became a champion many times. He teamed up with his nephew Nikita Koloff and found great success.
Koloff retired from wrestling in 1994 and joined Christian Ministry he started in North Carolina. His fans are disappointed as he was not been inducted into WWE Hall of Fame. It has been a heart breaking week for the fans as George The Animal Steele and Nicole Bass also passed away.
"The Russian Bear" will be missed. Here are some of the tweets collected by Wrestling Inc after Ivan Koloff passed away:
Mick Foley tweeted that Ivan Koloff set a great example for him in the way he treated people. "So sad to lose such a great man. A true legend," he wrote.
Triple H tweeted that RIP to one of the best villains in our business. Ivan Koloff, a fierce competitor in the ring who was able to anger and excite fans worldwide.
"I'm hopeful WWE recognises passing of Ivan Koloff on RAW plus recognition at WWE Hall of Fame feels warranted," Jim Ross tweeted. Also, Sean Waltman tweeted that Ivan Koloff was the nicest man in the world.
Ric Flair posted a photo on Instagram captioned that he was sad to wake up and hear the news of passing his very close friend the Russian Bear Ivan Koloff. That they have been close friends since he started in the business in 1972.
People always loved Ivan Koloff "The Russian Bear". Big names in the industry like Triple H, Mick Foley, Rick Flair and many others remember him through social media.
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