Wrestler Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri, known to generations of fans as the colorful character The Iron Sheik, has passed.
The Iron Sheik was representative of WWF/ WWE's early smash success via playing out America's psychoses via avatars of various concepts in the zeitgeist appearing in the ring, often to battle the heroes of the WWF. The Iron Sheik was, of course, the threat Americans saw of the Middle East and Saudi Arabia in the post-gas-crisis world.
Vaziri was not, however, actually Saudi. He was from Iran, and I have a very hard time figuring out when and how he came to the States, but it was in the early 70's and tied originally to Olympic wrestling. I think. That he would choose not to villainize Iran in his heel-turn of the 1980s is not a shock.
Like many kids of my generation, I liked the villains as much as the heroes of the WWE, and The Iron Sheik was a favorite. With social media, he resurfaced, pounding out tweets in the broken dialect he employed as his character to cutting and hilarious effect. I think I saw him tweeting just last week, so his passing is a bit of a surprise.
I'm aware of the brow-furrowing concern that media cops have put on wrestling then and now. I get it. But if I may... not once did I think The Iron Sheik was representative of anything but silliness and sweet wrestling moves, and while not fitting a rubric of acceptable, he's still a beloved figure of a certain era of my life.
Godspeed, you maniac.
