"The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff (born Oreal Perras on August 25, 1942, Montreal, Quebec, Canada)^[1] is a former Canadian professional wrestler who once held the WWF World Heavyweight Championship.

Early life[link]

Perras was raised on a dairy farm in rural Ontario along with his six brothers and three sisters.

Since first watching professional wrestling on TV at the age of eight, he wanted to become a wrestler, and would often wrestle with his brothers growing up. At age 18, he left high school and joined Jack Wentworth's wrestling school in Hamilton, Ontario, where he would lift weights and learn wrestling holds. Ivan stood 5' 7 1/2" tall, and weighed approximately 270 pounds. Towards the end of his career he dropped a considerable amount of weight and was tipping the scale at 205 pounds.

Professional wrestling career[link]

Early career[link]

Perras debuted as an Irish rogue heel character named Red McNulty, billed from Dublin, Ireland and wrestling with an eyepatch.^[1] For the next three years, he wrestled around the Toronto area, eventually quitting his regular job to wrestle in the north-western area of Canada. There, Perras acquired much wrestling experience, and from there he made his first trip to Japan.

The Russian Bear[link]

In 1967, Jim Perras became "The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff, a bearded villainous character billed from the Ukraine, and debuted with the International Wrestling Association in Montreal, Québec. He defeated Johnny Rougeau for the IWA International Heavyweight Title the following year. Ivan Koloff debuted in the World Wide Wrestling Federation in 1970, managed by Capt. Lou Albano.^[3] He soon started a feud with then-WWWF World Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino. On January 18, 1971, "The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff defeated Sammartino in Madison Square Garden for the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship by pinfall after a kneedrop from the top rope, ending Sammartino's seven and two-third years reign on top. Koloff lost the title only 21 days later to Pedro Morales, essentially being used as a "transitional" champion (as he was used to move the title from Sammartino to Morales without having the two faces work against each other), much like Stan Stasiak and the Iron Sheik would be in later years. After the loss, Koloff remained a contender for the title, but never reclaimed it, and left the WWWF in 1972.

During his time in the WWWF, Ivan Koloff wrestled WWWF title matches against Bruno Sammartino, Pedro Morales, Superstar Billy Graham and Bob Backlund, holding the distinction, with fellow villain Stan Stasiak, as one of only two men to challenge all four of these popular champions.

During the 1970s and 80s, Koloff found success in the NWA, winning many regional tag and singles titles in the Georgia, Florida, and Mid-Atlantic territories. In February 1981, he teamed with Ray Stevens to defeat Paul Jones and Masked Superstar and capture the NWA World Tag Team Championship. This would be the first of his four reigns as a World Tag Team champion, later winning the belts with Don Kernodle and twice with his "nephew" (kayfabe), Nikita Koloff as The Russians.

The Russians (which also included Krusher Kruschev) were a top heel stable from 1984 to 1986, and Nikita, under Perras' training and mentoring, and by association, became a hated heel in his own right, and would go on to have a successful singles career of his own. After Nikita turned face on Ivan to join their enemy Dusty Rhodes in 1986, Ivan teamed with Vladimir Petrov and Dick Murdoch to get revenge. Ivan Koloff's biggest NWA feuds were against Rhodes, the Road Warriors, the Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) and Magnum T.A..

Koloff spent time in Paul Jones' stable, the Paul Jones Army in 1988, where he was a "coach" of sorts for the Powers of Pain, The Barbarian and The Warlord. He later split with Jones, reunited with Nikita, and feuded with Jones' team, the Russian Assassins, before leaving Jim Crockett Promotions in January 1989. He also spent time in Eastern Championship Wrestling,^[3] appearing on the very first ECW card in 1992. In 1992, Koloff also wrestled in the first television main event of Jim Cornette's Smoky Mountain Wrestling, beating Bobby Fulton.

Retirement[link]

Currently, Perras lives in Winterville, North Carolina with his wife, Renae and has four adult children. He remains active in various charities. He has written a book, titled Is That Wrestling Fake? The Bear Facts.

Perras became a born again Christian^[1] in 1995. He travels to churches to share his testimony,^[1] and is an ordained minister.

In wrestling[link]

• Finishing moves
  • Bearhug^[4]
  • Russian Sickle (Jumping lariat)

• Signature moves
  • Cobra clutch
  • Backbreaker
  • Diving knee drop

• Nicknames
  • "The Russian Bear"^[1]

• Managers
  • Bert Prentice
  • Freddie Blassie
  • Gary Hart
  • Gene Anderson
  • Johnny Valiant
  • Karl Kovac
  • Kevin Case
  • Lou Albano^[2]
  • Oliver Humperdink^[5][6]
  • Paul Jones
  • The Saint
  • Tony Angelo

• Wrestlers mangaged by Koloff
  • Kid Kash
  • Nikita Koloff

Championships and accomplishments[link]

• Championship Wrestling from Florida
  • NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (5 times) – with Pat Patterson (1), Masa Saito (3), and Nikolai Volkoff (1)
  • NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Florida version) (1 time)

• Georgia Championship Wrestling
  • NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (7 times) – with Ole Anderson (5), and Alexis Smirnoff (2)

• Great Lakes Wrestling Association
  • GLWA United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[7]

• Maple Leaf Wrestling
  • NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship (Toronto version) (1 time)

• Masterz of Mayhem
  • MoM USWA North American Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[7]

• Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling / Jim Crockett Promotions
  • NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship (4 times)
  • NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Don Kernodle
  • NWA Mid-Atlantic Television Championship (2 times)
  • NWA Television Championship (3 times)
  • NWA United States Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Krusher Khruschev (1), Dick Murdoch (1)
  • NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Nikita Koloff and Krusher Khruschev (Baron Von Raschke with Krusher injured) (1), The Barbarian and The Warlord (1)
  • NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (5 times) – with Nikita Koloff (1), Nikita Koloff and Krusher Khruschev (1), Ray Stevens (1), Don Kernodle (1), and Manny Fernandez (1) (substituting for Rick Rude who had left for the WWE(F)

• NWA Charlotte
  • NWA Charlotte Legends Championship (1 time)

• Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
  • (Class of 2011)^[8]

• Southern Championship Wrestling
  • SCW Hall of Fame (Class of 1999)^[9]

• Virginia Wrestling Association
  • VWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[7]

• Western Ohio Wrestling
  • WOW International Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[7]

• World Wide Wrestling Federation
  • WWWF World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• World Wrestling Association
  • WWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• World Wrestling Council
  • WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Other Titles
  • ACW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Vladimir Koloff
  • CREW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • IWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with "Mad Dog" Maurice Vachon
  • IWA (Montreal) International Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Video games[link]

Koloff is featured in:

• Legends of Wrestling
• Legends of Wrestling II
• Showdown: Legends of Wrestling

References[link]

• Wrestling With God by Chad Bonham, 2001, ISBN 1-58919-935-9, pp. 179–197.

External links[link]

Professional wrestling portal

• IvanKoloff.com (Official Website)
• Profile at OWW
• "Is That Wrestling Fake? The Bear Facts" by Ivan Koloff and Scott Teal

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2010)

Nikita Koloff^[1] (born Nelson Scott Simpson on March 9, 1959) is a retired American professional wrestler,.^[2][3][4][5] Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, he wrestled as "The Russian Nightmare" Nikita Koloff, which was a play on the nickname of fan favorite "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes (in fact, it was Rhodes who gave him the nickname).

Nikita was brought into the National Wrestling Alliance by his "Uncle" Ivan to prove Soviet superiority. Their ultimate goal was to dethrone NWA World champion Ric Flair. A physical marvel, Koloff was also hailed as the Russian Road Warrior. He was billed from Moscow in the Soviet Union, and then from Lithuania after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Career[link]

He grew up without knowing his father and aspired to play professional football. He started lifting weights in junior high school and built up a massive body, weighing 275 lb (125 kg) with a 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) frame.

He was a 1977 graduate of Robbinsdale High School where he was an All-conference receiver. Simpson played college football at Golden Valley Lutheran College before transferring to Moorhead State. Simpson suffered an injury playing football but rehabbed to play for Moorhead State University where he suffered another career ending injury.

Jim Crockett Promotions and World Championship Wrestling (1984–1989)[link]

In 1984, Simpson was going to try out for the USFL when Road Warrior Animal, a professional wrestler from the Minnesota area, called him to ask him to become a professional wrestler. Simpson decided to go with wrestling and was told to shave his head bald and to show up. Jim Crockett, Jr., the promoter of the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions, renamed him Nikita Koloff, the Russian Nightmare, and teamed him with "uncle" Ivan Koloff and Don Kernodle, a turncoat American. Koloff debuted in 1984 with barely any training at the time and won his first match in 13 seconds, with the only edict from Crockett being that should Koloff trip on the ropes, he would be fired on the spot.

Koloff wrestled briefly in Puerto Rico for WWC and engaged in some bouts with Hercules Ayala. He returned with Ivan Koloff in 1986 and faced The Invaders 1 and 3 at a big house show at Juan Ramon Loubriel Stadium in Bayamon.

While he learned more about the sport on the road with Ivan and Kernodle, Koloff was booked in very short matches until his skills developed. During television promos, Nikita stood behind Ivan and Kernodle with his arms folded while they took interviews. As his wrestling ability and speaking skills grew, so, too, did the length of his matches and interviews. His improvement negated the need for Kernodle to continue teaming with Ivan and, shortly thereafter, the Russians turned on the American turncoat. Koloff went to great lengths to keep the "Evil Russian" gimmick as realistic as possible. He even learned some Russian and refused to come out of character, even when away from the ring.

With Kernodle out of the picture, Uncle Ivan Koloff introduced a new comrade named Krusher Khruschev. In December 1984, Jim Crockett awarded the Russians with NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship. Three months later, on March 18, 1985, Koloff and Ivan defeated Dusty Rhodes and Manny Fernandez to win the NWA World tag team title. Ivan invoked the Freebird rule which dictated that any two of the three could defend the titles. Ivan and Krusher lost the titles to The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) on July 9.

Prior to committing themselves with Jim Crocket Promotions, The Koloffs feuded with then AWA World tag team champions the Road Warriors in both the AWA and the NWA in a brutal series during 1985. One of their encounters was voted Match of the Year runner-up by the readers of Pro Wrestling Illustrated. The feud was often fought in steel cage Russia chain matches, with lights-out stipulations. The Russian 'chain match', using thicker chains than normal chain matches, was considered a Nikita Koloff specialty.

Continuing to improve, Koloff became a big enough heel to get a match against NWA World Champion Ric Flair at The Great American Bash 1985 on July 6. Koloff lost to Flair and was even attacked by a fan during the match, but he established himself as a superstar in the wrestling business. It was shortly after Koloff's first main event, which drew tremendous heat, that Vince McMahon first approached with an offer to leave the NWA for the WWF. McMahon promised Koloff an immediate push, suggesting either a program with Tito Santana, during which he would win the Intercontinental Championship, or a program with Hulk Hogan that would culminate the following year at WrestleMania 2. Nikita turned him down, believing the massive push that had been booked for him in the NWA, namely the planned feud with Magnum T.A., would give him greater leverage down the road to secure a more lucrative contract with McMahon.^{[citation needed]}

The Koloffs went on to regain the NWA World Tag Team title from the Rock 'N Roll Express three months later, on October 13, but lost it to the same opponents on November 28 at StarrCade 1985 in a steel cage match.

In spring of 1986, Koloff started one of the biggest, most anticipated feuds in the history of Jim Crockett Promotions when he attacked NWA United States Heavyweight Champion Magnum T.A.. Following an incident where Magnum hit on-screen NWA President Bob Geigel for demanding an apology after T.A. started a brawl with Nikita during a contract signing (which started when the Koloffs berated Magnum's mother, who was present), T.A. was stripped of his title. The two were then booked to in a best-of-seven series, which took place during The Great American Bash 1986 tour. The winner of the series would be declared champion. Koloff and T.A. wrestled all summer, ending up tied after six matches with one no contest. The final match took place on August 17 and featured run-ins by Kruschev and Ivan and several false-finishes. Nikita defeated T.A. to win the title.

The following month, Koloff defeated Wahoo McDaniel to unify his US Title with Wahoo's NWA National Heavyweight Championship on September 28. He was readying to embark on a feud with Ron Garvin that would last through the upcoming Starrcade 1986. The idea of head booker Dusty Rhodes was for Koloff to reignite his feud with Magnum T.A. the following year. The plan called for T.A. to defeat Ric Flair for the NWA World Championship at StarrCade 86; after a short program of rematches with Flair, T.A. would begin a long program with Koloff that ran through The Great American Bash Tour of 1987. As of the beginning of October, Rhodes had not decided whether to give Koloff the title at some point during the feud.

In October 1986, Magnum T.A. was involved in a career-ending car accident. Dusty Rhodes saw an alternate opportunity. The Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev had been growing in popularity throughout the country with his political reform of Glasnost and Perestroika. The era of evil Russian heels was coming to an end. Rhodes decided to strike while the iron was hot, booking Koloff to become a face and his greatest ally against the Four Horsemen. The historic moment took place on October 24 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Rhodes needed a partner to take on Ole Anderson and James J. Dillon in a cage match. The fans in Charlotte erupted when Koloff entered the cage to help Rhodes. This evening established Koloff as one of the top faces in the NWA.

Immediately after his face turn, Koloff resumed his quest for Ric Flair's NWA World Title and came very close to winning it on several occasions. Flair's Four Horsemen comrades bailed him out almost every time. The two fought to a double disqualification at StarrCade '86 on November 26. After StarrCade, Koloff was firmly established as one of the NWA's most popular stars, which made him an even more inviting target for Vince McMahon. His first offer having been rebuked, McMahon made a bid for Koloff's services that dwarfed his earnings from Jim Crockett. This time, however, McMahon could not give him the WWF Intercontinental title (which was already promised to Ricky Steamboat, nor could he give him the WrestleMania III main event with Hulk Hogan (which would be his historic confrontation with André the Giant). Instead McMahon could only offer Koloff a program with Jake "The Snake" Roberts and the promise of a major push. Koloff again declined.^{[citation needed]}

Throughout the early months of 1987, Koloff continued to defend the United States title against members of the Four Horsemen and Paul Jones' Army, which now included "Uncle" Ivan. In March, as part of his ongoing feud with Ivan and Dick Murdoch, Koloff's neck was "injured" by a Murdoch brainbuster on the concrete floor. On April 11, Koloff and Dusty Rhodes won the second-annual Jim Crockett, Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament, defeating the Four Horsemen team of Tully Blanchard and Lex Luger in the finals.

As the 1987 Great American Bash tour got under way, the feud between Koloff, Rhodes, The Road Warriors, and Paul Ellering versus The Four Horsemen and J.J. Dillon was booked as the centerpiece. The tour began and ended with two revolutionary matches created by Rhodes, known as WarGames: The Match Beyond. The team of the Superpowers and The Legion of Doom emerged victorious in both contests.

Also during The War Games, Flair and Blanchard reaggravated Koloff's neck injury by delivering two spike piledrivers. The worked injury set up the pretext for dropping the US Title to Lex Luger. On July 11, 1987 Koloff faced Luger in a steel cage match and was defeated after being hit with a chair. This ended Koloff's reign of nearly 11 months, which still stands today as the fourth longest U.S. title reign in the more than 33-year history of the title. Dusty Rhodes booked Koloff to rebound quickly, winning the NWA World Television Championship from Tully Blanchard on August 27.

In the fall of 1987, Jim Crockett Promotions acquired Bill Watts' Universal Wrestling Federation. Dusty Rhodes decided which members of the UWF roster to retain and how best to use the infusion of new talent that he now had access to on an exclusive basis, beginning with a cross-promotional program between NWA Television Champion Koloff and UWF Television Champion, Terry Taylor. The feud began when Taylor, alongside his fellow members of Hot Stuff International, Inc. - Eddie Gilbert and Rick Steiner- attacked Koloff and stole his championship belt. Koloff and Taylor were booked to face each other in a unification bout at StarrCade '87, but Koloff vowed to get his TV belt back before the match. During a TBS World Championship Wrestling broadcast leading up to what would be Jim Crockett's first foray into pay-per-view, Taylor and Gilbert jumped Koloff again, beating him unconscious, and draping his version of the TV title across his limp body. On November 26, Koloff and Taylor battled in what would be the only NWA/UWF unification bout at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago. In front of his first pay-per-view audience, Nikita became the undisputed Television Champion by defeating Taylor on November 26. He still has the UWF belt as a trophy from that night.

Koloff lost the NWA TV Title to Mike Rotunda of the Varsity Club on January 30, 1988. During this period, Koloff had altered his appearance somewhat, dropping some muscle mass (Koloff has admitted to cycling on and off of anabolic steroids during his career) and growing his hair out into a crewcut. He was given the singles main event when he wrestled NWA World Champion Ric Flair at the final Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament. Koloff defeated Flair by disqualification so the title was retained by Flair. He then lost to Barry Windham in the finals of the tournament for the vacant NWA United States Championship, before beginning a feud with Al Perez and teaming with Sting to feud with the Four Horsemen. During the year, he legally changed his name to 'Nikita S. Koloff'.

In the fall of 1988, Koloff was quickly losing interest in professional wrestling due to personal reasons. His wife Mandy was dying from Hodgkins disease, passing away in 1989. After Ivan himself turned face when manager Paul Jones went against him, Koloff helped Ivan briefly against Jones' henchmen, the masked Russian Assassins, and then he took a sabbatical on November 27. A booked showdown at StarrCade '88 in December was to pit Ivan and Koloff against the Russian Assassins. Koloff's departure resulted in the Junkyard Dog substituting for him as Ivan's partner. The Russian Assassins were victorious.

Eventually, Koloff eased back into the business part-time. He returned to WCW/NWA as a special guest referee at WrestleWar '89 in match for the NWA World Tag Team Championship between The Road Warriors and Mike Rotunda and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams. Rotunda & Williams were disqualified for attacking Koloff, and later stripped of the titles.

American Wrestling Association and Universal Wrestling Federation (1989–1990)[link]

In late 1989, Koloff was wrestling for Verne Gagne's AWA in his native Minnesota. The promotion was in its twilight and given Nikita's stature, Gagne positioned Nikita to challenge then AWA World Heavyweight Champion Larry Zbyszko almost immediately. Koloff wrestled in the AWA for the remainder of the year and the first half of 1990, headlining numerous television broadcasts and Twin Wars '90, the last major event for the AWA under Gagne. Koloff also wrestled briefly in Herb Abrams' Universal Wrestling Federation, where he reignited a feud with 'Uncle' Ivan.

World Championship Wrestling (1991–1992)[link]

Koloff returned to WCW on February 24 at WrestleWar 1991 to attack Lex Luger. He claimed that Luger stole the title from him in 1987 and he wanted it back. Luger had stolen the title (he was a heel then), but now Koloff was the heel. He went after Luger for the next couple of months, and at SuperBrawl 1991 on May 19, accidentally hit Sting with a chain during a tagteam match between Luger-Sting and the Steiner Brothers, starting his next feud. Koloff defeated Sting in a Russian Chain match at The Great American Bash on July 14. The feud continued through August, but before the program was finished, Koloff disappeared again to run his gym, "Nikita's Fortress of Fitness," in Concord, North Carolina.

Koloff returned to WCW in February 1992, this time as a babyface to save Sting from an attack by the Dangerous Alliance. He explained on WCW's syndicated shows that he saw the error of attacking Sting. He was going after Lex Luger, and Sting accidentally got in the way. Because of the explanation, the fans were happy to see him return. Koloff joined Sting and his team (including Ricky Steamboat, Barry Windham, and Dustin Rhodes) against Rick Rude, Steve Austin, Arn Anderson, Larry Zbyszko, and Bobby Eaton in the WarGames at WrestleWar '92 on May 17. Koloff was booked in a program with Rick Rude for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship. Late 1992 found him feuding with another big man, Big Van Vader, who at Halloween Havoc, ended Koloff's in-ring career with a stiff clothesline to the head. The blow resulted in a herniated disk in Nikita's neck. In addition to the neck injury, Koloff suffered a hernia while attempting to slam Vader.

Retirement[link]

Koloff became a born-again Christian in 1993 and started to travel world wide with his ministry. He also runs his own small wrestling promotion, the Universal Wrestling Alliance UWA as an outreach of his ministry.

He made a few appearances for NWA:TNA in 2003 as a masked man called "Mr. Wrestling IV" who attacked Dusty Rhodes. He finally unmasked but ended up helping Rhodes against the Sports Entertainment Xtreme stable.

On July 15, 2006, Koloff received the Frank Gotch Award from the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame at the International Wrestling Institute and Museum in Newton, Iowa for contributing to the positive public image of wrestling.

On April 24, 2010- Koloff was inducted into the Legends Pro Wrestling "Hall of Fame" by Jack Blaze in Wheeling, WV at their annual "LPW Superbrawl" event.

Other media[link]

Koloff has written two books: Breaking the Chains (ISBN 1-57090-107-4) in 2000, which is a Christian Living guide and Wrestling with Success (ISBN 0-471-48732-5) in 2004 along with Jeffrey Gitomer, which is a guide to positive thinking in life situations. He also wrote a book about Christian Wrestlers: Wrestling with God, 2001, by Chad Bonham. Koloff also appeared on an episode of America's Funniest People in which his daughter won the $10,000 grand prize.

Personal life[link]

Koloff's wife, Mandy, died of cancer in early 1989. At her funeral he met Mandy’s longtime friend and his future wife, Victoria.^{[citation needed]}They married on August 17, 1990. The couple had two daughters together, Kendra, who was born in June 1992, and Kolby, who was born in May 1996, while Victoria had two daughters (Teryn and Tawni) from her previous relationship.^[6] Nikita and Victoria were divorced on April 23, 2007.^{[citation needed]}

Koloff legally changed his name to Nikita Koloff in 1988.^[1]

Nikita is a member of a religious group called Fellowship of the Sword and serves as an East Coast representative.

In wrestling[link]

• Finishing moves
  • Russian Sickle (Lariat)

• Signature moves
  • Bearhug
  • Jaw clutch

• Managers
  • Ivan Koloff
  • Pedro Biaggi
  • Nikita Koloff

• Entrance Music

"In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins (AWA)

Championships and accomplishments[link]

• Legends Pro Wrestling
  • Inducted into the LPW Hall of Fame (4/24/10)

• Jim Crockett Promotions

• NWA National Heavyweight Championship (1 time)¹
• NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ivan Koloff and Krusher Khruschev, then with Koloff and Baron Von Raschke after Kruschev was injured
• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (2 times) – with Ivan Koloff
• NWA World Television Championship (1 time)
• UWF World Television Championship (1 time)²
• Jim Crockett, Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament (1987) with Dusty Rhodes

• National Wrestling Alliance
  • NWA Hall of Fame (Class of 2008)

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• PWI Feud of the Year (1987) with Dusty Rhodes and The Road Warriors vs. The Four Horsemen
• PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (1987)^[7]
• PWI ranked him #17 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 1992^[8]
• PWI ranked him #64 of the 100 best tag teams of the PWI Years with Ivan Koloff in 2003.
• PWI ranked him #113 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003^[9]

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • 5 Star Match (1992) with Dustin Rhodes, Sting, Ricky Steamboat, and Barry Windham vs. Rick Rude, Steve Austin, Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, and Larry Zbyszko (May 17, WarGames match, WrestleWar)

¹Koloff defeated Wahoo McDaniel to unify the title with the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship. The title was also won after Georgia Championship Wrestling was purchased by Jim Crockett Promotions.
²Koloff defeated Terry Taylor to unify the title with the NWA World Television Championship. The title was also won after Bill Watts' Universal Wrestling Federation promotion was purchased by Jim Crockett Promotions.

References[link]

External links[link]

Professional wrestling portal

• NikitaKoloff.com (Official Website)

Angelina Love
Williams at the Big Apple Summer Sizzler in Manhattan, June 13, 2009.
Ring name(s)	Angelina Love[1] Angel Williams[2] Canadian Angel[2]
Billed height	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)[3]
Billed weight	118 lb (54 kg)[3]
Born	(1981-09-13) September 13, 1981 (age 30)[4] Toronto, Ontario, Canada[4]
Resides	Tampa, Florida
Billed from	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Trained by	Rob "El Fuego" Etcheverria[4] Deep South Wrestling
Debut	August 2000[4]

Lauren Williams^[5] (born September 13, 1981)^[4] is a Canadian professional wrestler, who is currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under the ring name Angelina Love.^[1] She is a record-setting five-time TNA Women's Knockout Champion and a former a one-time TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champion with Winter. She works outside of TNA under the ring name Angel Williams.

Professional wrestling career[link]

Williams debuted in wrestling in 2000, working independent promotions around Canada under the ring name Angel Williams. Her all-time favorite wrestler Shawn Michaels was her inspiration to get into wrestling. She was first a valet for various wrestlers such as Chris Sabin and Eric Young and then began to train under Rob Fuego to become a wrestler, as well.^[4] Williams briefly worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in 2004, mainly wrestling on TNA Xplosion against Trinity.^[6]

World Wrestling Entertainment (2004–2007)[link]

She was working for promotions around America when World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) spotted her, and invited her to a tryout in June 2004.^[6] In November she trained at Ohio Valley Wrestling, and WWE signed her to a developmental contract in late 2004.^[2][6] She was assigned to wrestle and train in Deep South Wrestling (DSW), one of WWE's developmental territories. Williams began managing Johnny Parisi in the summer of 2005.^[2] On September 8, 2005, Williams won her first match in Deep South by defeating Michelle McCool.^[2] On September 22, Williams was scheduled to wrestle against McCool, but Michelle never showed up.^[2] Instead Daisy Mae came out and challenged Williams.^[2] Williams was injured at the February 9, 2006 DSW TV Tapings, but she still managed to participate in the first ever Bikini Contest in DSW. She did not reveal her bikini because Palmer Cannon interrupted, which led to a match that featured him and Tommy Dreamer. During the match she could not physically get involved, so she walked backstage.^[2] On February 28, 2006, she underwent knee surgery in Birmingham, Alabama to repair her torn ACL.^[7] After almost seven months of rehab, she stepped back into the ring at a DSW TV taping.^[2] At the beginning of November 2006, Williams started managing The Gymini, but The Gymini were released from their contracts in January 2007.^[2] Williams then got in a feud with General Manager of DSW, Krissy Vaine, after she made Williams lose her matches due to distractions by other Deep South Divas.^[2] At one point Williams had enough and even attacked Vaine in her office. At the March 15, 2007 Deep South TV Tapings Williams aligned herself again with Vaine and was promoted the Co-GM of Deep South Wrestling.

When Deep South Wrestling shut down in April, Williams was moved to Ohio Valley Wrestling. Williams made her Ohio Valley Wrestling debut in a dark match at the May 16, 2007 television taping in Louisville, Kentucky, defeating Serena.^[8] She was released from her developmental contract one day later.

Independent circuit (2007)[link]

After being let go from her WWE developmental contract in May 2007, Williams resurfaced in Mexico's Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) promotion under the name Canadian Angel on June 10, 2007.^[9] She also appeared for independent promotions such as NWA: Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling and Full Throttle Wrestling.

Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (2007, 2011)[link]

In June 2007 Williams made several appearances for Mexican promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) as a member of La Legión Extranjera (Foreign Legion) under the ring name Canadian Angel.^[2] She returned to the promotion on June 18, 2011, at TripleManía XIX, where she teamed with Mickie James, Sexy Star and Velvet Sky to defeat Cynthia Moreno, Faby Apache, Mari Apache and Lolita in an eight woman tag team match.^[10]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2007–2009)[link]

In September 2007, she was contacted again by TNA to appear at their annual pay-per-view Bound for Glory, which was confirmed on the October 9 episode of TNA Today where she was interviewed by Jeremy Borash. At Bound For Glory, Williams participated in a 10 Knockout Gauntlet to crown the first TNA Women's Champion.^[11] During the match, she was eliminated by Gail Kim and O.D.B., and the match was won in the end by Kim.^[11] At Genesis, Williams competed in a four-way match for the championship with Gail Kim retaining her title.^[12]

Angelina Love at a TNA show in April 2009.

Williams soon began competing under the ring name "Angelina Love" and formed a partnership with Velvet Sky, calling themselves "Velvet-Love Entertainment", later changed to "The Beautiful People". The duo defeated ODB and Roxxi Laveaux at Turning Point in a Knockouts Tag Team match.^[13] Love and Sky became villains on the March 13 episode of Impact by attacking Laveaux. Love also participated at Lockdown in the first ever "Queen of the Cage" match but was pinned by Laveaux.^[14]

Love was the runner-up in the Make Over battle royal-ladder match at Sacrifice.^[15] Love then cost Gail Kim a match against Awesome Kong, costing her the chance of winning the Knockout Title. The Beautiful People hired Moose to join their team to face off with the team of Laveaux, ODB and Kim at Slammiversary, but lost.^[16] Love then lost to Gail Kim at Victory Road in a singles match. At Hard Justice she teamed with Velvet Sky and Awesome Kong in a losing effort against Gail Kim, ODB and Taylor Wilde then unsuccessfully challenged Wilde at No Surrender for the Women's Knockout Championship.^[17][18] In August 2008 and February 2009 Cute Kip and Madison Rayne joined Love and Sky as members of the Beautiful People.^[19][20]

Angelina Love giving Awesome Kong a makeover.

Love earned another shot at the Women's Knockout Championship at Lockdown, in a 3-Way Dance with Awesome Kong and Wilde. She won the match and the title after pinning Wilde. During the match she suffered a concussion while receiving a crossbody from Wilde.^[21] The following week, Awesome Kong interrupted her title celebration.^[2] In the following weeks, Kong destroyed Madison Rayne, Velvet Sky, and Cute Kip in Stretcher matches.^[2] At Sacrifice, Love retained her championship against Kong, and on the May 28 episode of Impact! she successfully defended her title against Sojournor Bolt.^[2] After the match she officially kicked Kip from the Beautiful People and was then assaulted by the debuting Tara.^[2] At Slammiversary Love successfully defended her title against Tara, before losing the title to her on the July 9, 2009 episode of Impact!.^[2] At Victory Road, however, Love controversially defeated Tara to win back the title, when Tara's foot was on the bottom rope, which was unnoticed by ref Slick Johnson.^[2] At Hard Justice Love lost the Knockout title to ODB after Cody Deaner pinned Velvet Sky in a tag team match between the four.^[2] After the match, Love left the ring without Sky or Rayne, however in the following weeks, her relationship with Sky remained intact, with the duo cutting Rayne loose.^[2] On September 3, 2009, Williams was released from TNA due to visa issues, while still a top draw in the women's division.^[22] However on September 7, 2009, Williams posted a blog entry on her MySpace account stating that she would return to TNA Wrestling once the issues with her visa were sorted out.^[23] She continued appearing on Impact! for two more weeks due to the tapings being held before her release. In the episodes she and Velvet Sky advanced to the finals of the tournament for the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship with help from Madison Rayne, whom they afterwards welcomed to return to the Beautiful People.^[24] Rayne would go on to replace Love in the finals for the Knockouts Tag Team Championship.^[25]

Women Superstars Uncensored (2009–2010)[link]

After her release from TNA, Williams began working for Women Superstars Uncensored (WSU), where she performed under her TNA ring name of Angelina Love. On November 14, 2009, she unsuccessfully challenged Mercedes Martinez for the WSU Championship.^[26] On December 12 she teamed with Jennifer Cruz to defeat Jana and Rick Cataldo in a tag team match.^[27] After returning to TNA, Williams made one more appearance for WSU, defeating Sassy Stephie at the 3rd Anniversary Show on March 6, 2010.^[2]

Return to TNA Wrestling[link]

Feud with The Beautiful People (2010)[link]

Love upon her return to TNA, wearing an anti-Beautiful People t-shirt.

On January 2, 2010, it was reported that Williams had re-signed with TNA.^[28] Williams, as Angelina Love, made her return on the January 14 episode of Impact!, appearing in the crowd and hugging Velvet Sky and Madison Rayne prior to their match with Awesome Kong and Hamada. However, after the match, Love turned face by attacking her former partners and Lacey Von Erich, her replacement in the group, seemingly angry about being replaced.^[29] She made her in-ring return the following week by defeating Rayne, however after the match she was triple teamed by the Beautiful People.^[30] On the February 4 episode of Impact! she was unsuccessful in her attempt to regain the Knockout Championship from Tara.^[31] On the March 8 episode of Impact! Love and Tara teamed up to challenge for the vacant Knockouts Tag Team Championship, but were defeated by Rayne and Sky, after interference from Daffney, with whom Tara was involved in a feud.^[32] On the April 5 episode of Impact!, Love teamed with Tara, ODB, and Hamada to face the Beautiful People and Daffney in the first ever Lockbox elimination match, contested for four keys to four boxes containing prizes. Love won a key by eliminating Lacey Von Erich, and it was later revealed that her key opened the box, which contained the Knockout Championship, making her a three-time champion.^[33] At Lockdown Love lost the Knockout Championship to Madison Rayne, after she pinned Tara in a tag team steel cage match, where Love and Tara faced Rayne and Velvet Sky for both the Women's Knockout Championship and the Knockouts Tag Team Championship.^[34] After the match, Tara turned heel by attacking Love.^[34] At the April 20 tapings of Impact!, Williams partially tore her biceps and suffered ligament damage in her arm and was expected to be out of action until May.^[35] On May 26 it was announced that Williams had been cleared to return to wrestling.^[36] When Love returned from her injury on the June 17 episode of Impact!, she vowed to reclaim the Knockouts title and stated that she would go through each member of the Beautiful People to do it. That night she faced Von Erich and got disqualified after dropping her with a DDT on a steel chair.^[37] The following week her match with Velvet Sky ended in similar fashion.^[38] On July 11 at Victory Road, Love defeated Rayne via disqualification in a Title vs. Career match to win the Women's Knockout Championship for the fourth time. Prior to the match it was announced that the title would change hands via disqualification, if either Velvet Sky or Lacey Von Erich interfered in the match.^[39] However, the title was returned to Rayne on the July 22 episode of Impact!, when it was declared that there was no proof that the person who had interfered in the match was either Sky or Von Erich.^[40][41] The following week Love defeated Sarita to once again become the number one contender to Rayne's title.^[42] Two weeks later Love defeated Rayne, after a distraction from Velvet Sky, to win the Women's Knockout Championship for the fifth time.^[43]

Love and Winter as the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champions.

On the August 19 episode of Impact!, Love reunited with Velvet Sky, who accompanied her to the ring, when she successfully defended her Women's Knockout Championship in a rematch against Rayne, who was with the mysterious biker woman. After the match Love and Sky were attacked by Rayne and the biker.^[44] Rayne's mysterious ally was finally unmasked as Tara on the September 2 episode of Impact!, when the two of them defeated Love and Sky in their first match together in a year.^[45] Lacey Von Erich would join Love and Sky in the Beautiful People, after being saved by them from Rayne and Tara on the September 16 episode of Impact!.^[46] She, however, would leave the promotion two months later on November 11.^[47] On October 10 at Bound for Glory Love lost the Women's Knockout Championship to Tara in a Four Corners match, which also included Velvet Sky and Madison Rayne and was refereed by Mickie James.^[48]

Storyline with Winter (2010–present)[link]

On the October 21 episode of Impact! Love entered a storyline where a woman named Winter started appearing in mirrors, claiming to be her fan, though only Love was able to see her.^[49] After weeks of appearing only in front of Love, Winter was for the first time seen by the other people on the November 25 episode of Impact!, when she saved Love during a large backstage brawl.^[50] On the December 9 episode of Impact! Love and Sky entered a four–team tournament for the vacated Knockouts Tag Team Championship, defeating Sarita and Daffney in their first round match.^[51] On the December 23 episode of Impact!, Winter replaced an injured Velvet Sky, who had been attacked by Sarita, in the tournament final and teamed with Love to defeat Madison Rayne and Tara for the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship.^[52][53]

On March 13, 2011, at Victory Road, Love and Winter lost the Knockouts Tag Team Championship to Sarita and Rosita, after an interference by Velvet Sky backfired.^[54] On the March 24 episode of Impact!, Winter, seemingly having control over Love's actions, prevented her from saving Sky from a beatdown at the hands of Sarita and Rosita.^[55] Love was kept under Winter's spell with drinks of what she described as her medicine.^[56] On the April 7 episode of Impact!, Love turned on Sky during a Knockouts Tag Team Championship match against Sarita and Rosita and left her to be pinned by the champions.^[56] On the April 28 episode of Impact!, Love defeated Sky via submission in a singles match, no-selling all of her opponent's offense during the match.^[57] On the May 5 episode of Impact!, Sky gained a measure of revenge on her former partner, when she teamed with Kurt Angle in a handicap mixed tag team match, where they defeated Love, Winter and Jeff Jarrett.^[58] The feud between the former Beautiful People partners seemingly ended on the May 19 episode of Impact Wrestling, with Sky defeating Love and Winter in a handicap match.^[59] The following week Love attacked Mickie James, after she had defeated Winter in a singles match, setting up a match between the two for the TNA Women's Knockout Championship at Slammiversary IX.^[60] Prior to the match at the pay-per-view, Love declined to take her medicine, saying that she no longer needed it as she now understood Winter. After failing in her attempt to win the title, both Love and Winter attacked James.^[61][62] On the June 23 episode of Impact Wrestling, Love helped Winter defeat James in a non-title Street Fight.^[63] On August 7 at Hardcore Justice, Love again helped Winter defeat James, this time to become the new Women's Knockout Champion.^[64] On the September 15 episode of Impact Wrestling, Love failed to earn a shot at the title as she was defeated by Velvet Sky in a qualifying match.^[65] After being inactive for two months, Love returned on the January 19 episode of Impact Wrestling, challenging Eric Young to a match. Young won the match via disqualification, after Love kicked him in the groin.^[66] On the January 26 episode of Impact Wrestling, Love and Winter lost to ODB and Eric Young in a tag team match.^[67]

Personal life[link]

In late 2007, she began dating Jared Weeks, the lead singer of the band Saving Abel,^[68] but as of August 2008, the couple decided to split.^[69] Williams has also dated fellow wrestlers Eric Young and Paul London.^[2]

Other media[link]

Williams appeared on an episode of The Jenny Jones Show about former geeks turned into physical competitors.^[7] She also made an appearance on Kenny vs Spenny in the "Who is the Strongest" episode (alongside fellow TNA Knockout Traci Brooks).^[7] Williams had a role in the indie film entitled Good Intentions starring country music star LeAnn Rimes and Luke Perry.^[70] She was also featured on MTV's Made alongside A.J. Styles, Taylor Wilde, and Velvet Sky.^[71] On January 24, 2009, she appeared as a soccerette on British television program Soccer AM, wearing a Leeds United replica shirt, along with Velvet Sky.^[72] In November 2010 she was a contestant on an all TNA week of Family Feud, teaming with Christy Hemme, Lacey Von Erich, Tara and Velvet Sky against Jay Lethal, Matt Morgan, Mick Foley, Mr. Anderson and Rob Van Dam.^[73]