by Stephen Von Slagle
Professional wrestling has had many brawling foreigners, but perhaps none as influential and successful as the mighty “Russian Bear” Ivan Koloff. One of the greatest heel personas of the territorial years, he was known throughout his lengthy career as being one of the toughest, best-conditioned wrestlers of his era and his endurance inside the ring was legendary, as was his bone-crushing power. The character he portrayed, that of a bald-headed, goateed Russian juggernaut, was the role model for numerous “Russian” wrestlers that came after him and his wrestling persona was emulated many times over. A veteran of virtually every promotion one can think of, the well-travelled Koloff was unquestionably one of wrestling’s elite attractions for over thirty years.
When Koloff defeated Sammartino on January 18, 1971 — without any cheating tactics or outside interference — the shocked Madison Square Garden crowd famously fell silent with disbelief. The beloved “Living Legend,” who hadn’t lost in nearly 10 years, had just been pinned, cleanly, by the despised communist behemoth and the 22,000 in attendance literally could not believe their eyes. Of the hundreds of men who had tried to dethrone him over Sammartino’s eight year reign, only “The Russian Bear” Ivan Koloff could get the job done. However, Koloff’s victory, impressive and historic as it was, would be short-lived. Three weeks later, on February 8, 1971, the same M.S.G. crowd that had been so silent when Koloff defeated Sammartino erupted in an overwhelming roar as Pedro Morales upended the hated Russian for the WWWF championship.
Whether he was wrestling Morales, Sammartino or Bob Backlund, Ivan Koloff would never be able to regain his WWE title, however, he still had dozens of entries to add to his championship resume. In addition to his WWWF Heavyweight title, Koloff won the WWC (Puerto Rico) Heavyweight championship, the Canadian Heavyweight title, the Mid-Atlantic championship, the IWA International Heavyweight title and WWA World Heavyweight championship. As far as the tag team division went, Koloff was equally, if not more, successful and he captured no less than five NWA World Tag Team championships. He also won the prestigious Georgia tag team title twice (with partners Ole Anderson and Alexis Smirnoff), the Florida tag title (with Mr. Saito), the International tag belts (with Mad Dog Vachon) and two NWA World Six-Man championships.
Following his retirement in 1994, Koloff, who was always a student of the game, opened a wrestling school so that he could pass on his thirty-five years worth of experience and knowledge to the next generation. Perras became a born again Christian in 1995 and he used his time away from the ring to become an ordained minister. Speaking at churches, schools and youth groups, Koloff talked openly about his many years of abusing drugs and alcohol, as well as how his new faith helped him overcome his personal demons. He also penned two books, Is That Wrestling Fake? The Bear Facts and its successor, Life in the Trenches. Eventually, he would return to the ring on a limited, part-time basis during the 2000s before finally wrestling his final match against “Bullet” Bob Armstrong, which Koloff lost, on November 16, 2013 in Rome, Georgia.
A victim of liver cancer, Oreal “Ivan Koloff” Perras passed away on February 18, 2017 at the age of 74.