Original subtitles

Force, was the very foundation of what I call Iranian nationalism,

Iranian national ethos.

Wrestling was a national obsession.

'Cause physical training was viewed as the foundation of healthy citizenship, healthy state.

Before you got in to the wrestling, you were the bodyguard of Shah of Iran.

Now Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran, weds Farah Diba

The Shah came to power in 1941, after his father was forced out of power,

During the 1940s, early 50s,

ah, he was in a very peculiar position

because of the conflict, international conflict over oil.

He was under a lot of pressure and he was identified with... as an enlightened monarch,

often repressive.

In the 1950s and 60s,

there were two fundamental role models.

One, in Iran, for the Iranians,

was Gholamreza Takhti

and the other one was Muhammad Ali.

And the combination of the two was really great for people who were interested in competitive sports.

Gholamreza Takhti was the icon for lot of Iranians.

He really was the person, who for the first time, in sports,

put Iran on the map.

Hossein Vaziri, the Sheik, had trained with Takhti,

they were hanging around in the same circles.

So, Takhti was a role model for him.

The medals that Takhti won internationally,

now Vaziri could win.

And he was well placed actually, to be the new Takhti.

To have a great deal of international success.

People came to believe that if you are internationally recognized,

if you are very successful, you are going to be eliminated.

The fact that the world champion commit suicide, was unacceptable.

That became the ground for believable conspiracies.

He got off Iran in a hurry, uh, for fear of his own life.

And then he ends up in Minnesota of all places,

as an assistant coach of the United States' Olympic team.

I always felt that was a little ironic.

Ladies and gentlemen, here he is Vern Gagne.

The Iron Sheik starts off training with Verne Gagne.

He was the promoter in Minnesota and Verne Gagne was also an alternate at the 1948 Olympics.

And he picks out real athletes. He's not looking for gimmick guys.

He's looking for pure wrestlers.

I tell you, they initiate every hall with the classic wrestlers' approach.

Verne was old school guy that try to run you off,

you know, if he wanted to see how tough you were, how much you really wanted to be in the business.

And so, it was a unique way of recruiting but it was a tough, tough class.

But you know, what I understand, the guys that were there,

I don't think Khosrow had any issues physically because he was just a machine.

And here was a guy that was smaller in stature, than lot of his contemporaries.

But ten times as tough.

He had the real life ability to actually hurt anybody e really wanted to,

and do anything he wanted to do to them at any given time.

He could beat probably 99% of the guys in the business.

But he just didn't have the heart, he wasn't a bully.

If I did get mad at them, I can suplex them, I can give them damage. I had a bad reputation.

He wrestles as Khosrow Vaziri, full head of black hair, very handsome man,

trim, muscular, and he wears a singlet, with Olympic rings on it

because he had been an assisting coach on the US Olympic team.

So, essentially he starts his career as an all-American.

I met my husband at University of Minnesota.

He was coaching the United States Olypmic wrestling team at the time when we met,

back in 1975.

And I immediately fell in love with him, the moment I saw him.

180 pounds, washboard stomach,

just absolutely drop dead gorgeous.

The hottest thing on two feet.

We wanted to get married but my husband was busy wrestling,

and he worked everyday of the week.

So, we could never get a weekend off to get married.

So, we were married on a Saturday night,

and my husband had gone

to the Minneapolis Auditorium and wrestled that afternoon.

What an air ball drop!

He says USA and put the pooch right to it.

1976, the Sheik once again is an assistant coach for the US Olympic team.

And Verne Gagne, the AWA promoter is there scouring future talent,

And Mary Gagne, Verne's wife is there and she's asking Khosrow,

"Are you happy with your role in professional wrestling?"

He's like, "Well, I kind of like to be little more prominent."

And she goes, "Well, you are a Middle Eastern, why don't you make yourself a Sheik?"

The first time I met the Sheik, I was eight - nine years old, we're in Charlotte, North Carolina.

My dad was wrestling with Sheik.

He was a striking guy with an unforgettable look.

My mom had become friends with Sheik's wife, Caryl

and she had come over to the house many times.

Even had the great displeasure of baby siting me on a few occasions.

Hated it, hated it, hated the mustache,

hated the shaving the head to become the Iron Sheik.

He loves the bad guy, I mean, that was tailor made for him.

Hey, you people, shut up.

Let me, I'll show that punk, who the real wrestler is.

And it gets in his mind to transform himself,

and play off of the core Islamaphobia perhaps

that many Americans unfortunately carry.

Wrestling is funny. Whatever is going in the world,

is magnified 100 times immensely.

On November 4th, Iranian students seize the US embassy and 63 hostages.

1979, Jimmy Carter is our president.

I think Jimmy Carter is a fundamentally decent human being,

but not a very tough president.

As a result, the Ayatollahs are able to hold a group of Americans hostage

and parade them on television every night.

Promoters in America have always been quick to jump on any nationalistic storyline.

Iron Sheik from Iran, from Tehran, Iran, against Mr. USA, Tony Atlas.

Every promoter wants an Iranian villain.

And there is one. Khosrow Vaziri, wrestled for the nation of Iran.

Khosrow Vaziri speaks Parsi.

Everybody call USA, USA.

And I am sick and tired of you and USA.

In the crazy world of professional wrestling,

there are lot of heels and baby faces, good guys and bad guys who kinda play the role, play the part.

...that belongs to Iron Sheik, Iron Sheik is the only man...

You know, at that time I remember watching him,

he did this brilliant interview with Classy Freddie Blassie as his manager.

And he goes into,

"Ayatollah tell me Sheik. Bring back world championship belt."

Automatically you think that's not put on, that's a legit accent.

He's the real deal.

...and fighting outside the ring...

When the Iranian hostage crisis hits, and there's genuine heat,

between the United States and Iran, the Iron Sheik character ignites.

The Iron Sheik is just Pearl Harboured.

He presses one, about the same type of attack culminating in the embassy.

Without warning, they struck, a defenseless person at the time...

It was a time in wrestling where a lot of people still believed

that what they saw was real, or reality based.

Wrestlers will tell you, there's good heat and bad heat.

Good heat as Freddie Blassie explained to me, is when the fans boo loudly.

Bad heat is when they want to kill you.

The Iron Shiek had both.

He embraced being a heel.

It takes a certain kind of DNA and a certain kind of guy,

to embrace being a bad guy, to embrace the fact that you're gonna go out there,

and you're gonna get hated, you are gonna get booed.

Kill him! Kill him!

I never had heat like this he got.

This is what we call, change the channel heat.

There's heat, like 'Yes, I wanna pay, I wanna see this guy,

be beaten up by my hero. Then there's change the channel heat, you go 'I don't like that.'

And Sheik had the right heat.

You didn't change the channel when the Iron Sheik was on.

Back in the day when he was just getting this thing rolling, the audience was very violent.

Just shut up! Shut your bloody mouth!

This guy was real.

This guy, he'd push through it, he got the people mad.

And his arrogance shown through too.

Oh, shut up, you! Shut your bloody mouth!

He talked to people, you know, he talked down to people.

He's better than they are. That was the whole thing, man.

"You, arrogant son of a bitch." You know, the fellow Americans.

Deep down, I think he believed that too. "Americans suck!"

Well, I understand that. Jealously is a bitch.

There you see Jerry Usher, the referee kicking it in the dumpster.

If you are going to describe good and bad,

from an American's viewpoint, you have the red, white and blue all American,

and you are going to have a foreign menace.

So, you have the Sheik who embodies everything

that we as Americans hate.

And he exploited it.

Then he got in your face and he told you,

why you were weak and why as an Iranian, he could do everything.

So, he was a perfect bad guy.

Sheik made everybody humble.

'Cause of a man like this, this is why the Iranians,

should not have a nuclear bomb.

He trained me when I was 16 years old.

At my dad's dungeon, taught me at my dad's house.

One of the best we got, one of my heroes.

Where the Sheik at?

Sheik is working out, he's working out with his gloves.

So, Vince walks over and says, "Sheik." "Yes, bubba. Yes, sir."

Stands like that. He says, "You tested positive for cocaine"

"Thank you, thank you very much, thank you."

The Iron Sheik stories are legendary.

The story of his toughness are legendary.

Of his badassery are legendary.

I am siting in the room, drinking some beers, maybe smoking a joint,

and Sheik would be there with everybody else,

having little toke and then he'll start doing squats.

And he'll do hundreds of squats.

Till he is dripping with sweat, I mean dripping.

I mean, he's got the constitution of a rhino.

When he drank, he got all partied up, never start fights or anything.

That was his thing, come let's party, let's have some fun.

He wasn't an asshole when he got wasted, you know what I mean.

Unless he really got trashed and all then, yes, cops were called.

I learnt everything I know from him.

A lot, well not everything but a lot.

You have to hang around this man right here.

Anybody that has never been in this man's company, damn!

The Iron Sheik is probably one of the greatest heels to ever be in the business.

And for so many years when I was a kid,

there was nobody that I hated more than Iron Sheik.

He was just the epitome of what a bad guy should be.

When I was little girl, I was a tomboy, so of course, I dressed like him,

and I used to go to the Metalands every month with my mom and my sister,

and we used to scream and yell at the Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff because I hated them so much.

Come over here.

- How you doing? Hey, baby. - Good to see you.

The Iron Sheik one of the first people I managed in Memphis, Tennesse.

He used to come by my house, remember, and we would drive

and had some great matches down here.

One time on TV, live, one and half hour live,

Iron Sheik and I were doing an interview, a man and a boy in the city,

brought their guns to TV station, they had the police out there, we had to escorted out back,

They were gonna shoot the Sheik and myself. I was like, "Oh, my God."

WWF, well WWW at that time, always looking for fresh faces

to be the new villain.

McMahon had great vision, he saw that, "I have potentially one of the great villains here."

That we can maximize, that we can monetize.

It will make everybody that touches the product, more money.

The key components to successful promotion,

are having villains that people disdain.

I saw him in New York, Sheik was an Iranian there,

who was managed by Freddie Bassie, who was my manager before that,

And Freddie Bassie says, "Nikolai, I have a deal for you and Sheik".

He's from Iran. They have their problems, like tolak bantuan.

You are from Russia. Cold war.

It would be the best tag team of bad guys.

Me and Sheik had so much heat already,

actually we would get more heat just going to the ring than other people had wrestling.

When I was singing my Russian national anthem, I told people to stand up,

that was unbelievable. That was unbelievable.

You know people are waiting for him to fuck him up.

He didn't have to do nothing to go, "Don't say you say 'thoo'" That's it, that was the match.

Sheik would get crowd so irate, they'd be coming over the railings trying to get to him.

Because he was that evil menace.

If we can only get rid of him, that's the tip of the iceberg.

We know, he talk, he par talks to that Khamenei fellow on the phone,

I bet they got his number. He's over here, he's a spy.

Sheik embodied that.

And they wanted to kill him.

Pull it back, this is the best brush in the whole world. Comb your hair back.

Comb your hair back. Alexis, come here, baby.

I wanna see your glasses.

Now, feel the papa Sheik.

Let me show you my arm.

And then you tell me, who's bigger.

Papa Sheik won.

- Papa Sheik, yeah. - Papa Sheik won.

Beautiful.

My dad was a wrestler,

and he, um, he was famous,

and we used to see him when he was in between working.

We never really understood that our dad was famous when we were little.

Uh, we knew it was different

because our friend's dads didn't have cartoons on Saturday mornings,

they didn't have dolls of their dad.

So, we knew there was definitely something special about him and what he did.

...see Junkyard Dog back down from the fight. Not this one.

I really didn't realize a lot, I mean, I knew it was very cool,

in school a lot of kids would always ask me wrestling questions,

and I didn't know, you know.

If it's fake, or wasn't fake, I didn't really,

for long I never understood what they meant by "is it fake?".

My husband's career was flourishing.

His role with his daughters was limited because he was gone so much.

But when he was home, he basically,

took advantage of every minute he had.

He would call all the kids over to our house,

and he would train them like they were in Olympics.

And he had them running till they were all red in the face.

But all of our friends and neighbors were used to it,

and they would either not play with us when our dad was in town or just run home.

And we always wanted to do that but we couldn't because our dad was the one making us do it.

I think my mom told me once, when I was born they thought I was gonna be a boy because I kicked a lot.

I guessed he'd asked her if they could take me back because he wanted a boy.

So, growing up, dating was something off-limits until we graduated from college.

He'd scream at us that he didn't have a whore house.

No boy should be calling our house.

So, we would have to sneak to talk to them when he wasn't there.

My sisters would bring boys around and the first thing he would do

is take them outside and show them the Camel Clutch

and show them how much he could bench-press and how much he could lift.

And then ask them to do the same.

And they inevitably never could and he just wanted to let them know how strong he was.

- Okay. - Now, put this in wash.

It's not easy being the wife of a professional athlete.

But then again, too, I have to consider the fact that,

look what he does for us by working and constantly being gone.

Professional wrestling took off

as it had never had before in the 1980s.

Vince McMahon was the promoter,

the one wrestling promoter that had the vision

to see that wrestling wasn't gonna be done

in smoke filled arenas, in little towns any more.

It had to be, like a touring event at the big arenas.

...inside cradle. The JYD showing some wrestling moves. He keeps sayin'...

But Vince McMahon man doesn't want WWF to remain simply in north eastern territory.

Vince McMahon wants WWF, later WWE to be an international brand.

It was a ballsy and gutsy move from Vince McMahon.

At that time, he wanted to completely take over the world of professional wrestling.

And it takes vision and it takes balls.

And you gotta have your hero and you gotta have your villain.

Listen, lady, this is my property.

Now, get out of here, you lazy American!

One! Iran, No. 1. The Sheik, No. 1

Wrestling wasn't gonna cross over

if there weren't celebrities involved.

So Vince McMahon went out, I don't know what the terms

of those deals were but he got celebrities.

He got Cyndi Lauper at the height of her fame involved with the WWF.

The celebrities coming to the garden and coming to you know, the other arenas,

and essentially endorsing what Vince McMahon had created.

Wrestling in the 80s...

It was, it was crazy.

But once you went to WWF...

Fucking couldn't go nowhere.

'Cause you're everywhere.

It was a magical time.

The excitement, the buildings were... All of them were sold out.

The Hulk Hogan era was the most influential.

The most significant of any era in the history of the business.

Hulk Hogan is unique.

Hulk Hogan had already been in Rocky III.

He'd already been on The Tonight Show.

This is an era when nobody paid any attention to wrestling.

But people were beginning to know who Hulk Hogan was.

Vince K McMahon saw that the business was changing and he had a chance for,

to make a change from Backlund to Hogan.

Bob Backlund first won

the WWF ttle, in 1978.

But Bob Backlund doesn't want to loose directly to Hulk Hogan.

He doesn't respect Hulk Hogan as a pure athlete.

Bob Backlund, however will loose the title to The Iron Sheik

because he respects The Iron Sheik as an athlete.

And it doesn't seem far fetched

that somebody with Khosrow Vaziris amateur background could pin Bob Backlund.

You knew what you were gonna do with Backlund.

You were gonna take the championship off of him after six nice years.

And let him recharge his batteries.

You were gonna start a new thing with Hulk Hogan.

The Hoganair with the guy in the middle.

The one that facilitated it, which was our Sheik.

Had to be the right guy.

The set up for success for Hulkamania,

the Iron Sheik was the perfect counterpart to that. Perfect.

Body slam! Elbow!

He made Backlund's loss more bitter.

He made Hogan's victory more sweet.

That was the beginning of it all.

Bob Backlund did a fantastic job

of giving wrestling credibility.

And then, here comes all American, Hulk Hogan.

And drops that leg and beats the Sheik. And Bingo.

Sheik! Sheik!

- I can't believe it's you. - What's up, bro?

I can't believe it. Man!

Man, I love you so much!

Great to see you. Great to see you. How's Melvin?

The Hulkamania thing took off and Vince Junior called me,

and told me he had a great idea for the business. He was gonna take it international.

And they wanted me to come in and they had an idea

to put the gold on me and wrestle the Iron Sheik.

They talked about skyrocketing a guy, um...

It's always the matter of the right person and in the right place

at the right time with the right opponent.

And so Hulk Hogan was put into the right place

at the right time with the perfect opponent.

In the case of Hulkamania, not only was the Iron Sheik an integral part of that,

it couldn't have happened without the Iron Sheik.

Without Hulkamania, there's no Wrestlemania.

There's probably no WWE as we know it today.

And without the Iron Sheik, there's no Hulkamania.

The fans are going wild and I'm so excited to be here.

When Vince was looking to make Hulk

he had the idea of how you made Hulk

you make a real American, a great American

by being the worst foreign menace you can think of.

And Sheik came in and did that.

Sheik had a lot of offers. Sheik had a lot of people in his ears,

"Snap Hogan's leg. Don't do this. "

You know, uh... "Screw Vince over. Beat him up."

"Torture him. Don't do business."

He's gonna reach down inside, for that little bit of something more...

I think it would have helped wrestling if he broke his leg because...

I'm just a crude bastard. I like heat.

You know, I think the bad guys have to come up every now and then.

And the whole thing about Hulkamania was...

You know, you wrestled him one time, man. You're done.

And that's how they built the Hulk.

They fed him every great piece of talent,

the world ever knew.

What if...

The Sheik decided to take Verne Gagne's offer

and break Hulk Hogan's leg?

If he had done that, had he double crossed Hulk Hogan

broken his leg and taken the Championship belt and brought it to Minneapolis,

that would have been the end of this whole roll that WWF was on.

His word, by the way was important.

Gave his word to Vince McMahon, he gave his word to Hulk Hogan.

And Sheik went out and put Hogan over like a million bucks.

Not a lot of guys would have done that.

A lot of-Especially with Sheik's credentials.

If Sheik wanted to, he could tie Hogan up in a knot.

But he didn't.

He did business. He did the right thing.

And they wanted me to come in and they had an idea

to put the gold on me and wrestle the Iron Sheik.

And at one end, it was crazy that night.

The Iron Sheik was the ultimate heel.

He had more heat than anybody I had ever seen.

And he was the real deal, you know.

So I went in there and the Iron Sheik graciously passed the torch to me.

And we had a bunch of great matches.

That was really, really where my career got launched,

because once the Iron Sheik put me over, the whole community thing was unstoppable.

Victory! We have a new champion!

...Hulk Hogan blowing the horn on the Iron Sheik.

History has been made at Madison Square Garden.

The match winner. Wrestlemania is here!

Wrestling didn't deviate from society in the 80s.

If you look at the National Football League

or Baseball or NBA, NHL or Hollywood,

it was a very decadent decade of the 80s.

It wasn't that wrestling had the exclusive

on people making bad decisions.

Drug possession charges in the New Jersey Courtroom today.

The Sheik's fans were on hand to wish him luck outside the Middletown's Municipal Court.

The Sheik was arrested with fellow wrestler, Jim Duggan

and charged with possession of marijuana and cocaine

as they drove along the Garden State Parkway.

I was relatively new to WWF back then.

I came in for Wrestlemania III where I hit the Sheik.

I had 93,000 people in the Pontiac Silverdome

standing up cheering, "USA! USA!"

The place was rocking.

I was getting the big push from the company.

And everything looked really rosy.

Fly to Newark airport, there's the Iron Sheik. He came up to me and said,

"I have no credit card. Maybe you give me ride to show."

We get to rent a car and start heading out of the Newark airport.

The Sheik says, "Uh, maybe we stop

"and get some St. Pauli Girl beer."

Keeps drinking those cold St. Pauli Girl beers.

"Okay, Sheik. Hell, I'll have a beer."

No sooner do I take the hit of a beer,

Jersey State troops like, went by me.

He's signaling and I'm like, I didn't see him.

And the Sheik's like, "He wants you to pull over."

And I'm like, "No. I don't think so."

The trooper leaned over the car and said, "Step out of the car."

They'll take us in. Now they gotta search us.

They went through my stuff. I was cool.

And Sheik, they opened up his wallet.

Boom! Two more grams of cocaine in two separate containers.

And they took him in front of a judge.

Finally, they brought him back. He got bonded out. He got a bail bond.

So we drove to Asbury Park and we're like,

"Well, maybe nobody knows."

So we actually wrestled that night in Asbury park.

And didn't tell nobody.

So I called my wife. I said, "Honey, I got popped."

But I don't think anybody knows about it."

My wife calls me at 7:30, the next morning,

"Everybody knows."

New York daily news had made the back page...

Big picture of the Sheik. Big picture of me.

It was like, "Boozing Bozos" was the headlines, you know.

And God, it was brutal.

Duggan and Sheik had started a program.

Duggun was this big all American just starting at WWF.

And Sheik was this horrible heel, this Iranian heel that everyone hated.

And the fact that they're riding together and doing drugs...

Smoking marijuana... Oh my God!

"Hacksaw, say it ain't so!"

"We can believe the Sheik does it. He's Iranian. He's a foreigner.

Yeah well, of course. They all do that. They're damn foreigners."

But Duggan, "Oh my God!"

Oh yeah. It was a little taboo. It was not good.

My next call was to Vince McMahon.

And I remember verbatim what he said to me.

He says, "Jim, what have you done to us?"

And there was a lot of fear that people would stop watching wrestling.

Because up until this point,

the common consensus was,

if the fans find out that it's a work,

that the matches are pre-determined, the whole thing is gonna go away.

But it was one of those last things that finally knocked down the whole curtain.

The idea that pro wrestling was on the up and out. And it wasn't too much later,

that the McMahons are testifying in front of the New Jersey Court saying,

"What we do is entertainment. We want to be taxed.

"like entertainment not like a sporting entity."

I do remember Vince saying on TV,

"The Iron Sheik and Jim Duggan

will never work for the WWF again."

Still making his way to ring.

He has for several eras

and 315 pounds.

The Former World's Heavy Weight Champion...

It was an absolute devastating situation.

We all but lost our house.

He was so ashamed.

So embarrassed.

Just felt like his life was over.

He ended up on the independent circuit.

Two hundred, five hundred people.

The Mighty Maccabee, The Iron Sheik.

The Maccabee heavyweight title.

It sucks, man when you gotta do independents.

And these independents are high school gyms again, man.

Really, you know? And it's not fun.

But you still do, 'cause you gotta provide, man.

Maccabee's got the Sheik. He misses...

And so he had to take all these little bookings.

And it wasn't a real happy life.

One, two, three!

I was waiting for the bus one day after school

and I seen a flier on the bus stop saying,

"Live Wrestling featuring the Iron Sheik and Abdul the Butcher."

Yeah!

We started like, looking into it and we went to this event.

And it was about ten years since we saw the Sheik.

Went to this place. It's a small bar.

In a bad part of town.

And there's about a 110 people there.

There was live wrestling matches with guys who I never heard of.

And we spoke to the Sheik who was so happy to see us.

He gave us hugs and treated us like we was family.

As if you know, time

you know, was never slipped away.

- Hi Sheik? - Yeah.

It's Jian. Jian Magen.

Oh yes. Jian Magen. How are you?

Good. How are you? Long time no speak.

My first introduction with the Iron Sheik,

I remember very, uh vividly.

My brother and I were three years old or so.

Look at me.

I remember sitting in front of my television

and a man screaming in Farsi.

And I remember my mom like, dropping a pot

and running into the family room

and screaming, "That's your dad's friend."

"That's your daddy's friend."

There's lots of it in here.

- Where do I put this? - Is that a pot?

I was athlete. International table tennis player at the arena in Iran.

And back home, we were in High School.

So finally I got a hold of him and he was so proud.

He just says right away, "Come and pick me up.

I'm at hotel here, Maple Leaf Garden."

Proved to be one of the most exciting bouts in the history of professional wrestling...

[] My dad would start driving usto Maple Leaf Garden.

And we would go to the show with the wrestlers.

The drug abuse tore our family apart.

It made us want to be strangers to each other.

No more effort in here no more. Rather they know I can't do that now.

I'm too fucking old for that bullshit.

This death, this slow death

of someone you love right in front of your eyes...

It hasn't happened yet.

But you know it's going to.

Just right around the corner.

We had realized at that time that

if we don't do something about this like, right now,

the Sheik will be just like every other wrestler

who's fallen off the map and from his generation.

And at that time I decided I wanted to go to Atlanta

and just be there for the Sheik because it was really getting out of control.

- Jian Magen! - Good to see you.

- Oh Sheik, you look amazing. - Thank you.

You look like a million bucks.

And...

It's a poem in...

Some sort of... Serenaded by angels in memory of Marissa Vaziri.

Oh boy!

Growing up he would always protect us.

And tell us that if anybody ever touched his girls, he would kill them.

And it was very difficult for him.

I remember Marissa, um...

She had this idea. She wanted to be a female wrestler.

And she wanted my dad to train her.

And wanted me to train her

and she wanted to be one of the ladies or whatever.

You know, we never were into it very much.

We never watched it. It wasn't our thing.

We were very girly, interesting and kind of funny that...

And my dad seemed happy about it.

He'll say, "I'll train you, you know, if you want." And um...

It was very neat that she had that dream.

She met a guy that she had only known for about a month.

And we did not know

that he was a bad guy.

And I think she was trying to break up with him

the night it happened and that's why he went crazy.

And something just snapped in him and he strangled her.

Nicky pulled up with her roommate.

And I guess that's when they told my husband

out in the garage before they came in the house.

Khos was crying.

And shrieking outside.

And just going crazy.

It was very difficult for my father

having lost Marissa.

Our father was always such a fighter

and protector of his family and girls.

And the fact that somebody took her,

took his daughter away from him was very difficult.

This 2000-

I love you baby.

Rest in peace. I miss you.

Sheik took it very hard. That fills his heart.

It's hard to come back to here.

It was in his mind. He almost didn't have a reason to live any more.

And that was a very, very bad thing to happen to him.

He wasn't the same any more, brother.

And that's sad to see that.

I mean to feel like that. That was...

It was his daughter, man.

He's gotten worse since my sister died, I think.

That has affected him.

Usually, he's you know, he's just worse on drugs.

He doesn't seem to care and does a lot.

It's like the main thing that he hates

about her.

Yeah.

The death of his daughter was the beginning of the end for the Sheik.

It was his lowest point.

And he didn't even know how to communicate with anybody.

He would just go out into the streets and pick fights.

And turn to drugs.

And just really, just be very, very, very uncontrollable.

Sure.

- Darius, you gotta drive. - All right. All right. I know.

- What do you mean? - He has to drive.

- Who? - Darius.

Don't worry about him!

Are you the man or he's the man?

Who is the older?

Is the man? Is he Iranian?

Mind this man here and he know how to drive.

If you make a joke, don't insult the Mr. Darius.

- Say you're sorry. - No.

I'm sorry but you know where I'm coming from.

I don't give a fuck where you come from.

But you never insult a legend.

I pushed him over the edge to drugs.

That's all we all did, man. We medicate.

If that hurts so bad

then why do something about it?

Get medicated Don't feel it no more.

Blocks it.

He'll probably buy bourbon.

No.

I remember a wrestler telling me that

it made him sick at himself.

That he's the one that turned Sheik on the cocaine.

And he hated himself for it.

'Cause Sheik like myself,

we liked that shit.

And if I like it, I'm gonna fucking have it.

It had ruined my life

And it didn't help Sheik too.

He's only half existing, basically.

He's so caught up with smoking dope

and grabbing a few beers.

I mean, that's his whole existence.

He used to be an alcoholic.

But, then he quit that and then he basically went to the...

crack and cocaine and then the marijuana.

All set.

And now, it's pretty much, I think,

the crack and the marijuana.

And, he's always, always, everyday looking for money.

Yeah, I got it.

- You ready to go? - Ready.

Let's go.

Your ankle... You keep...

You keep on leaning on your ankle.

I'm... I'm okay.

So, I go to Atlanta, about two or three years after the death of Marissa.

Not knowing what to expect.

In my head, I thought I was going to see a...

destitute Sheik.

I thought the Sheik was broke because he would always call me...

asking me for money.

And I would send it to him because...

Forty or fifty dollars...

wasn't a big deal for me, especially, when my childhood hero is asking me for it.

And when I get there...

It was kind of a... A bit of a...

shock. I... I didn't realize that...

The Sheik's got this beautiful family.

Of... loving children and a loving wife.

The reality is...

they've been living with... a crazed wrestler for the past twenty, thirty years.

You're still... You're still solid.

You're gonna... You wanna walk in as the champion?

You wanna walk in as the iron Sheik.

No matter where you are, you want everyone to know you're the Sheik.

- The kids at the window are looking. - Yeah.

Next time, change your shoes, man.

I know, at one point, The Sheik, in his desperation to make money...

would sit in the Ramada, in Mavi, and he would wait for fans to come by and recognize him,

which they invariably did.

And when they did recognize him,

he would sell them an eight by ten glossy, an autographed picture for ten bucks.

Which, from what I understand,

would then be used to subsidize his drug habit.

God.

God.

No one can control him.

Believe me.

No one.

Tuesday.

I would talk to his friends, when they were alive.

And, they would try. Didn't work.

So, I'm in the Vaziri house.

And... I'm trying to figure it out, as I go, because...

I was expecting something completely different, than what I was seeing.

And, here you have Caryl, who is very aware of what's going on.

She's very in tune with The Sheik and his mannerisms.

She knows the real Sheik and she knows...

Khosrow Vaziri. That's the man that she married.

And so... I was learning all this as I was going along.

And I really wanted her to know that...

we care for her and we have her back.

And, how can we do this together? How can we help you guys...

get The Sheik off of the drugs?

And, what do we have to do? Where is our place in this?

We were about to fall asleep.

If it's so important, where have you been?

There's no fighting.

Uh uh.

We're just talking.

When are you gonna answer my question?

It was five minutes ago, before you got off on your tirade.

I asked you if you were gonna pray to God and ask him for help...

in getting yourself straightened out and off of all the drugs.

A simple yes or no will suffice.

Okay, that's my answer.

Can't you get that feeling some other way?

There are ways to get rid of that.

Don't give me "come on"!

It kills. It kills the way you function. It kills... It kills your emotions.

And it... and it... and it completely...

It makes you less than, of... of what you once were.

So, how're you gonna change your future?

Why're you yellin'?

I'm asking you, how're you gonna change your future?

I told you hundred times, you're the man. Why're you yellin' at me?

No, that's drugs.

Then, so, why would you yell at me?

You're the legend. Your time has passed. You'll always be a legend.

And no one can take that away from you.

So, maybe... if you know I care about you, you know I love you,

and you know that I'm only thinking about your best interest.

Well, why don't you listen to what I'm saying?

Some of this is getting a little bit outta hand.

Like...

I'm going to hate him. I guess he just needs it.

Guess, he just needs it.

I think, there's no way around it if he's working.

He needs it.

Sheik got lucky, because,

he did enough drugs...

Er...

at one time that would have killed a normal man.

At this stage of his life, he said, I've...

I've had enough. I'm done. I'm done with that.

Baby, you don't need that.

Take that one off. You don't need that.

It's probably the hardest thing a person can do.

Is to quit drugs.

The Sheik's family couldn't really abide by his habit.

And his wife left.

And you work with people who are sick

or you get them help.

And that's what we've always done.

And he ended up in a little apartment, not far from his daughter.

Hoping to reconcile with his wife.

And hoping for acceptance from his two surviving daughters.

But, they had conditions.

The most, a preeminent one...

was that he cease and desist his crack use.

Okay.

And put that fan a little bit down.

We're moving forward.

It's getting better.

There's bad days, there's good days.

But, there's more good days than bad days.

He has managed to...

conquer his drug addiction and I truly believe...

that's a permanent victory.

I think he values his family too much to risk losing them again.

Let me translate for you.

I think, going to Atlanta was the defining moment...

Er, of our relationship.

The Sheik was one of the most untapped talents out there.

A lot of these wrestlers were just wavering around in dependence.

And The Sheik had this...

untapped gold, that was just waiting to be developed.

Youtube was just starting.

The timing was, was when Michael Richards, Kramer...

from Seinfeld...

er, was on stage at a comedy club in Los Angeles.

And he...

dropped the "N" bomb...

on someone in the crowd.

And I go, Sheik, I want you to watch this.

I want you to watch this and then I'm gonna film you...

I want you to tell me what your thoughts were on this.

And we posted it.

And within, like, four days we had, like, a half a million views.

We got freaked out. We were like, holy shit! Like...

The Sheik's really popular. This is crazy.

Yeah, but, you have to tell me that too many... too much...

They look perfect on you.

I don't give a fuck. I have to let you know about future.

Yo, man, chill out, man.

Fuck you! Take a walk! Don't worry about that.

Some of those things are embarrassing, beyond belief.

But, I think, the reason he does it is to just get the publicity.

Camel Clutch!

Holy Shit!

Camel Clutch!

Don't fucking tell me again sorry!

So, I try and explain to Caryl that...

there's this movement coming along and...

everything is going online and...

The Sheik doesn't necessarily need to go and wrestle any more, in order to get a payday.

This is on the news.

We made the World News.

Er, here he is.

The Iron Sheik.

There he is. Wonderful to see you, Iron Sheik.

Wonderful. What an honor. What an honor. What an honor.

This is a wrestler. He was just signed to the WWE.

He calls himself, Iron Sheik Junior.

I am the real Iron Sheik. You are fagot!

Come over here. I suplex you. I fuck your ass.

I make you humble. You hear me?

That was really when it started kicking in, because...

The Sheik was out of control...

but he was channeling it...

to the biggest audience in the world.

Chael Sonnen, you talk and you walk.

That's why I respect you.

But a still, Iron Sheik have AAU champion.

And a Hall of Fame and gold medal.

You will some day had it.

But I respect you and have a good day.

I concede. I concede to you, Sheik.

Enjoy yourself. Have fun my friends.

Thank you, sir.

At a time mankind has been forced to compete for survival.

Oh, my God!

- Sheik. - Yes, sir.

World champion, Iron Sheik.

He, er, was very popular.

He was being referenced...

in different situations on television.

Er, he got cameos for movies.

Elvis! I'm gonna find you!

And I'm gonna...

...your ass!

So, we started getting a world of phone calls and a world of...

different inquiries that were...

all... "not wrestling".

Aaaah! You dumb son of a bitch!

And Twitter came along.

Some people, around the world, come to social media, specifically

to The Iron Sheik's Twitter page...

to see who he calls a tic tac dick.

Or, a grasshopper balls.

Something like that.

It's off the charts...

er, crazy, in terms of the things that he comes up with.

Er, which I tip my hat to that.

Because, I love a great trash talker.

And... And Sheik is the best.

It's time to play Iron Sheik, the Real or Jabroni.

If you're not following The Iron Sheik on Twitter, then you hate awesome things, because...

The Iron Sheik, alternatively, praises

and attacks people on Twitter.

And it's, it's very clear which one he's doing.

I'm going to name something, or, someone and for 250 points you have to tell me if The Sheik likes it...

by saying, Real, or, hates it, by saying, Jabroni.

Okay, you guys ready?

You guys ready? Here's the first one.

Ray J, Ray J. Real or Jabroni?

Yes, Judd?

- Jabroni. - No, real, he likes Ray J.

Ray J... that cheeseburger ass penguin Kim K he deserve gold medal.

Wow!

I follow Sheik on Twitter.

And I know a lot of people who do. And I...

always go check a lot of his stuff.

Because it's like, you know...

You wonder sometimes, you know...

Did he really come up with that? Or...

you know, er, is he serious?

We know he's not serious.

But he's, er, he's funny. He's funny. He...

And it's pretty good that you can be funny in 140 characters.

So, when I read them, I hear him talking.

And, to me, that's...

That's pretty authentic. That's pretty good.

We try and keep the tweets as...

precise as possible.

The Sheik, his English is bad, and so...

all we're doing is taking his words and putting them on...

to the computer.

How he articulates it... that's Sheik.

And then a Twitter conference came and we got there and...

the guy working there was, like, holy shit! You're The Iron Sheik.

I'm like, yes, he is.

You have something you wanna say?

Sheik, Sheik. That's great.

Hulk Hogan was the best of all time.

At this very moment, The Sheik is a social media phenomenon.

You better believe it, brother.

What's Hitler going to do, when these 24 pythons come for you?

Hogan!

I know nothing!

The idea to put him on Robot Chicken probably never would have happened if we hadn't...

er, seen him on Twitter. But we'd been following him on Twitter for a year.

Um...

So, there was this great two pack of...

er, action figures, with The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff.

I took a picture of them and I, I tweeted it.

I said, um, look who stopped by...

er, the Robot Chicken writer's room today.

And I said, guys, we're gettin' The Sheik on the show this year.

We have this rope, those flashlights, the fake passports, Playboys and, er, this.

Oh, yeah!

Slabber doo, a Slim Jim!

Holy... A Slim Jim! I just love Slim Jims!

I follow The Sheik on Twitter.

Yeah, he always, er...

He's a different kind of fashion police.

Like, Joan Rivers will speak her mind, but, The Iron Sheik will tell it like it is.

Sheik's a cult figure.

When people see The Iron Sheik...

they react.

They are celebrities.

They're people in the hip hop world.

They're people who consider themselves hipsters.

They are people in the art world.

I just want to, er...

I want to bring out someone who has been a...

inspiration to me. A childhood hero of mine.

Er, he wants to say a few words about hating.

We would go to these events.

In which...

the biggest celebrities in the world were there.

And, they all knew The Iron Sheik.

They all loved The Iron Sheik.

I fear him.

I respect him.

And I love him.

I love you.

Looking back...

as a 33 year old, or, a 30 year old, or, a four year old...

they were watching wrestling in 1985.

They were watching...

Hulk Hogan and The Iron Sheik.

They remember the match.

- Yo, it's The Iron Sheik - Yeah, brother.

This side, this side, this side, this side.

And it took people...

out of their celebrity bubble.

And into this...

innocent, human...

place that they felt connected to...

that they wanted to share.

Oh, my God!

The Sheik!

The Sheik! The Sheik!

The King is here!

When I came to this country...

you know, I had nothing. And all of a sudden...

The WWF was in my life.

Because that's, that was like the biggest thing that we had as kids, was watching the WWF.

We were so happy to have somebody represent us.

And, at one point, he held the belt.

Do you remember that? He had the belt.

We just... just think that was the biggest thing in our lives.

And he had the belt. He was the champion of the world.

And...

It made me feel...

empowered, as a kid.

One...

Two... three!

Okay.

What do you think about wearing this tonight?

What's wrong with it?

Toronto mayor, Rob Ford, seems to be in a little bit of trouble because a video is being shopped around

that purports to show him smoking crack.

Our job is to expose him and put him out there.

And get him... some attention.

All the media, CNN, NBC, ABC, they're all there.

Right.

You are gonna go interrupt the mayor and say...

that's not the mayor, I'm the new mayor of the Toronto.

Can we talk to him, right here?

It's tough for these wrestlers whose lives, kind of...

are dependent on their...

abilities in the ring.

When those abilities go away...

they are not left with much more.

This is for...

the most offensive man.

Did I get this for a reason?

And the winner is...

The Iron Sheik.

Hey, Toronto! Please put your hands together for The Iron Sheik!

We worked hard to establish his...

social media presence. And...

it's a daily grind, every day, we do...

er, whatever we can to get The Iron Sheik noticed, online.

And, we're having a good time doing it.

It's a lot of fun and it feels good.

Especially, knowing that...

He's our childhood hero.

And we have his back and he has ours.

Gimme a hell yeah!

Hell Yeah!

His impact on my career, er, has really been profound.

Wrestling business has always been a cutthroat business.

There weren't always a lot of guys, at that time, who took the time...

to...

bring me under their wings and share their insight and wisdom with me.

I was...

humbled that he took such great time...

and care to...

in many ways, mentor me.

And, in his way, that was very, um...

He was a hard ass.

But, but I appreciate that and, at that time...

as a rookie, I needed that.

This and this...

And change. That...

He was in a position where

he didn't have to give me that much time and I just wanted to be a sponge and pick his brain.

And I'll never forget, I'll never, ever forget...

It was a very long flight and he, he's like...

Bubba, let me tell you...

He said...

He said, you go into the locker room.

You sit down.

You keep a your mouth shut.

You open your ears and you just listen to everybody, okay?

Don't be the Jabroni and talk a lot.

Let your talent...

and your ability a speak for itself.

That's, that's a smart. Don't be the Jabroni

I want you to show me how much you have a balls or guts...

till you can take down each other...

or, pin each other.

Double leg, take him down, go for a pin.

Show me.

And you are taller and bigger...

Uh uh uh uh... Show me your...

Excellent! Beautiful!

Let me tell you something about the word, Jabroni.

So...

I was very lucky and fortunate to have...

coined the word, Jabroni...

publicly, on TV.

Utilize it as part of my Rock speak.

And had it become part of, um...

pop culture.

You know, The Rock says...

This Jabroni needs to go down, blah, blah, blah, you know. I'd say things like that and...

It doesn't matter, Jabroni.

It was Jabroni, Jabroni, Jabroni.

And now, the word, Jabroni, is connected...

Er, to me. When A lot of people think, oh, Jabroni, oh, yeah, yeah. It's The Rock's word.

No, no, no, no.

It's not my word. It's The Iron Sheik's word.

Iron Sheik was the one who...

would use the word, Jabroni backstage.

And it became this legendary...

Iron Sheik speak.

It was always...

you tell the Jabroni.

Let me tell you, Jabroni.

It was Jabroni, Jabroni, Jabroni.

I give The Iron Sheik...

all the credit...

in the world, for the word...

Jabroni.

Jabroni, especially when he told me, don't be the Jabroni.

Keep your mouth shut.

This is the man that made my career, right here.

I think, er, fans remember him as, as one of the classic heels of his...

of his generation.

And one of those guys who, er, you know...

who will always be recognizable.

There's not a guy who walks in and doesn't instantly recognize The Sheik.

You know, he's, er, he's iconic.

The man from Tehran... Iran.

With his Persian clubs...

Er, and his incredible wrestling background and soldier's mentality,

represented how...

there is no success, without struggle. He represented that hard work pays off.

He was all things that make America great.

My papa, Sheik, was a wrestler.

My papa Sheik was a wrestler.

And he was a champion, you said it.

He is strong and he works out a lot to get strong.

Our dad was, was portrayed as the Iranian villain, I think, it was...

In his wrestling career.

But it was...

extremely ironic, because...

I've never met another individual in my life, who

embraced this country more than our dad.

America has always been the land of opportunity.

And he came here with nothing.

And he's had a...

forty plus year career.

Living here in this country.

Raising a family.

So, I don't know how we could argue the fact that

Khosrow hasn't achieved the American dream.

He's a hero to many, many people everywhere, all throughout the world.

And rightfully so.

Sheik! Sheik! Sheik! Sheik!

Ach thoo! Iron Sheik, Number 1.

Cameraman, zoom it.

Brother Sheik, number 1.

Iron Sheik, number 1.

Iron Sheik, number 1.

Iron Sheik, number 1.

Number 1, hack ptoeey!

Iron Sheik, number 1.

From Tehran, Iran.