Vladimir Kozlov

Oleg Aleksandrovich Prudius (born April 27, 1979) is a Ukrainian American professional wrestler, also known by his ring name Vladimir Kozlov. He is currently signed to Inoki Genome Federation. He also worked for WWE from 2006 to 2011. He is trained in freestyle wrestling, rugby, American football, sambo, kickboxing, judo, and mixed martial arts.

Prudius has also worked as a stage and screen actor, having a small part in Spike Lee's 25th Hour. Kozlov  also had a role in Grindhouse, appearing in the "Werewolf Women of the SS" trailer; he was credited under his real name and his WWE persona for the appearance. He is a former Ohio Valley Wrestling Heavyweight Champion.

On December 8, 2009, Prudius became a United States citizen.

Career

Pre-wrestling 
Prudius has won numerous achievements, becoming the 2005 USA Open Heavyweight Sambo Champion
and a United States Kick-Boxing Association (USKBA) International Heavyweight Grappling Champion. He has also played American football for the Ukrainian National Team as well as Santa Barbara City College.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2005) 
Prudius accompanied Jerry Jarrett to the ring at Slammiversary in 2005.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2006-2011) 

On January 17, 2006, World Wrestling Entertainment announced that Prudius had signed a developmental deal and was sent to Deep South Wrestling. On April 7, 2006 he started wrestling under his real name "Oleg Prudius" and had his first match in DSW against Tommy Suede.

On May 5, 2006, Prudius  had his first untelevised WWE match during a house show in San Jose, California, defeating Rob Conway. The next night, at another house show in Sacramento, California, Matt Striker cut a promo on Prudius, calling him a "filthy immigrant," causing Prudius to attack him. Prudius then picked up the microphone and said he that he is "proud to be in America."

On the December 18, 2006 episode of Raw, Prudius  made an appearance as a WWE prospect named Vladimir Kozlov, which became his ring name. For the next several weeks, Kozlov was interviewed on WWE programming, proclaiming his love for "Double Double E" (WWE), but drawing some heel heat for declaring his superiority over whatever wrestlers were competing at the time.

Ohio Valley Wrestling (2007-2008) 
On July 28, 2007 in Louisville, Kentucky, he won the OVW Heavyweight Championship by defeating Paul Burchill, but gave up the Championship the same night to Michael W. Kruel due to an agreement they made before.

SmackDown (2008-2010) 
On the April 4, 2008 episode of SmackDown, Kozlov made his official WWE debut as a villain, with the unique quirk of having no entrance music and no TitanTron video – his "entrance" consisted of complete darkness except for a spotlight following him to the ring. He defeated Matt Bentley in his first match, and over the following weeks, Kozlov would win a series of matches. On the July 11, 2008 airing of SmackDown, Kozlov debuted an entrance theme and TitanTron video as he defeated Stevie Richards.

In the following weeks, as Kozlov continued to easily win matches, he began demanding "better competition". On the September 12, 2008 edition of SmackDown, he attacked Jeff Hardy. Over the following weeks, Kozlov would continue attacking both Hardy and the WWE Champion Triple H, eventually starting a loose rivalry between the three of them over the WWE title. Kozlov earned a match against Triple H for the WWE Championship at Survivor Series by defeating The Undertaker by disqualification on the November 6 episode of SmackDown. Edge was added to the match while it was in progress, and pinned Triple H to win the match. This is because Jeff Hardy was originally supposed to compete, but was found unconscious in a Boston stairwell. At Armageddon, Kozlov gained his first pay-per-view win by defeating then-ECW Champion Matt Hardy in a non-title match. Kozlov competed in the 2009 Royal Rumble match, entering number 6, but was eliminated by Triple H after eliminating three other superstars including The Great Khali, MVP, and Carlito.

Other media 
Prudius has made many television appearances. He appeared in the second season of the HBO drama series The Wire, as well as Roksalana and It's Not To Easy on Ukrainian TV. In 2002, he appeared in Spike Lee's film 25th Hour, playing a Russian mafia enforcer. He appeared in the Russian military theatre play Victory Day and a Ukraine University play Three Musketeers.

In wrestling 
 Finishing and signature moves
 Backbreaker rack drop – OVW / WWE; 2007–Early 2008
 Battering ram to a charging or diving opponent – WWE
 One–handed chokelift dropped into a kneeling spinebuster – WWE
 Scoop lift dropped into an inverted DDT – WWE
 Fallaway slam
 Fireman's carry takeover
 Kick to the chest of an opponent draped horizontally over the top turnbuckle
 Overhead / Side belly to belly suplex
 Over the shoulder arm drag
 Pushing big boot to the chest of an opponent
 Scoop powerslam
 Single leg Boston crab
 Spinebuster
 Nicknames
 "The Moscow Mauler"
 "The Ruthless Russian"
 "The Russian Wrangler"

Championships and accomplishments

Martial arts 
 Sambo
 USA Open Heavyweight Sambo Champion (2005) 
 United States Kick-Boxing Association
 USKBA International Heavyweight Grappling Champion

Professional wrestling 
 Ohio Valley Wrestling
 OVW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 World Wrestling Entertainment
 Slammy Award for Breakout Star of the Year (2008)
 Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
 Most Overrated (2008)
 Worst Worked Match of the Year (2008) vs. Triple H and Edge at Survivor Series

References

Other websites 

 IGF profile 
 WWE.com Profile
 WWE Universe Profile 
 Gerweck.net Profile 
 onlineworldofwrestling.com Profile

Living people
1979 births
Ukrainian actors
Former WWE wrestlers