Former WWE team champion Nikolai Volkoff dies at 70

PW Insider reports that former WWE team champion Nikolai Volkoff died at the age of 70. Volkoff was recently released from a Maryland hospital where he was admitted for dehydration and other undisclosed problems

. Volkoff, whose real name is Josip Peruzovic, began his wrestling career in 1967. Peruzovic started in Canada with Stampede Wrestling before leaving for the NWA

He made his WWWF debut in 1968 as Bepol Mongol, where he became half of the team champions of WWWF International. It was only around 1970 that it became Nikolai Volkoff

. Volkoff spent some time in the AWA as well as in the Mid-South territory, but his best race came in the mid-1980s in the WWF. Volkoff was part of the colorful cast of Vince McMahon and eventually passed from a sneaky heel to something of a comic act.

We may remember to have sung the Russian national anthem before his matches, and to have teamed up with the Iron Sheik. Volkoff then worked with Boris Zukhov as the Bolsheviks before becoming a babyface who loved America.

Volkoff joined the WWE's Hall of Fame class in 2005 and will always be one of the most entertaining heels in the history of pro wrestling.

The Floor Seat extends his thoughts and prayers to Peruzovic's family and friends.