The Iron Sheik's Tragic Story Explained

Aside from being consistently awesome as a wrestler, the Iron Sheik is also one of the sport's more tragic figures — so much so that it's almost a miracle he's still alive. From personal tragedy, to bad decisions, to flat out pure pain, the Iron Sheik has lived a rough life.

The Iron Sheik, birth name Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri, was born in Iran in 1942. He grew up poor, with much of his family's meager income coming from his father's business growing pistachios.

Like many young Iranians of his generation, the Iron Sheik's hero growing up was Olympic wrestler Gholamreza Takhti. A four-time Olympian and three-time medalist, including a gold medal at the 1956 summer games in Melbourne, he inspired the Sheik to take up wrestling. Sheik recalled to Bidoun magazine that at age 15,

"I wanted to show my parents I could be big just like him."

In 1968, Takhti was found dead in a hotel room. His death was officially ruled a suicide, but many believe that he was killed by the Iranian government for his work against the existing regime. The death served as a wake-up call for the Sheik, who later recalled,

"I knew I had to leave. If Iran was not good for Takhti, it was not good for me."

Keep watching to see The Iron Sheik's Tragic Story Explained.

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A childhood hero | 0:00
His beef with Hogan | 1:07
A convincing character | 2:20
Heel to face | 3:07
Too much charm | 4:09
A tragic loss | 4:57
Thirst for vengeance | 5:30
Addicted to drugs | 6:16
Enough was enough | 7:18
A 'political football' | 8:03
Battered and bruised | 9:25

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