WWE Wrestlers Brian Christopher Lawler and Nikolai Volkoff died within a 24-hour span over the weekend. A third famed wrestler, Frederick Seawright, better known as "Brickhouse Brown," has also died.
Josip Nikolai Peruzovic, 70, better known to fans as the Soviet-praising Nikolai Volkoff, died Sunday, according to WWE.
Brian Christopher Lawler, aka Grandmaster Sexay, died Sunday after an apparent suicide attempt in a jail cell in Memphis, Tennessee, the day before. Lawler, 46, came from wrestling stock as the son of longtime wrestler and now commentator Jerry Lawler.
Peruzovic gained legendary status for his portrayal of a Soviet villain over four decades, His wife, Lynn, found Peruzovic unresponsive on Sunday when she went to give him medicine, according to ESPN. He had been battling heart ailments.
Peruzovic played off the U.S.-Soviet Cold War, riling up audiences by his all-red Soviet garb, waving the Soviet flag and singing the Soviet anthem, often after insisting that the crowd stand up for the anthem.
However, Peruzovic was actually born in an area of Yugoslavia that is now part of Croatia.
"As one of the greatest villains sports-entertainment had ever seen, Volkoff's infamous rendition of the Soviet National Anthem before his matches made him an instant icon in the eyes of the WWE Universe as a Superstar they truly loved to hate," according to a statement by WWE.
Brian Christopher Lawler was no stranger to legal problems. Earlier this month, he was jailed on DUI charges. He apparently had tried to hang himself in his cell before he died later at a hospital.
"RIP Brian Christopher," WWE star Zack Ryder wrote. "I think I had every piece of Too Cool merch in 2000."
Too Cool was the name of Lawler's tag team, which also included Scotty 2 Hotty. After some three decades of wrestling, Lawler had made his final WWE appearance in 2014.
Reports that Brown, 57, had died July 20 proved premature. He had been battling cancer at a Mississippi hospice.
Brown's wrestling career dated to the early 1980s, perhaps best known in the South as a headliner at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis. He joined the WWE ranks in 1995.
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