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Posted in: Movies, TV | Tagged: ivan koloff, wrasslin, wrestling, wwe
Wrestler Ivan Koloff Succumbs To Liver Disease At 74
Just one day after the world learned of the death of George "The Animal" Steele, another wrestling legend has passed away. Ivan Koloff has died of liver disease after reports earlier this month that his condition had worsened, and he didn't have much time left. Koloff suffered from the disease for years, but his wife said Koloff tried to keep it from the public in order to continue his post-wrestling work as a Born Again Christian minister.
"He didn't want to make it public before now because he wanted to continue to witness about the Lord and help with the Children's Miracle Network and do weddings and fundraisers," she said. "He just wanted to stay active."
Koloff, whose real name was Oreal Perras, was born in Canada, but was most famous for his pro wrestling gimmick as "The Russian Bear." Koloff began wrestling in 1961, adopted his Russian persona in 1967, and wrestled into the 1990s. His most memorable accomplishment was defeating Bruno Sammartino in 1971 for what is now known as the WWE Championship, ending Sammartino's eight year reign, the longest in WWE history. Koloff held numerous regional pro wrestling championships throughout his career, as well as the NWA World Tag Team championship five times. Despite this, Koloff has not yet been inducted into WWE's Hall of Fame.
Koloff was remembered on Twitter by wrestling greats, and it looks like WWE will need to put together two video tributes on Monday.
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