High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Josip Nikolai Peruzovi?
(born October 14, 1947), better known by his ring name of Nikolai
Volkoff, is a professional wrestler who is best known for his
performances for the World Wrestling Federation. Although the
Volkoff character is portrayed as Russian, Peruzovi? actually
originated from Croatia and had a mixed background that was not
entirely Russian.Peruzovi? grew up in the Socialist Republic of
Croatia, which was then part of the former Yugoslavia, a Communist
country. His mother is Russian and his father was Croatian and
Italian. He was on the Yugoslavian weightlifting team until 1967,
when he defected to Canada while at a weightlifting tournament in
Vienna, Austria. He received training in Calgary from the legendary
Stu Hart, followed by his arrival in the United States in 1970.
