Ivan Koloff " The Russian Bear " Ivan Koloff ( August 25 , 1942 – February 18 , 2017 ) was a Canadian former professional wrestler who once held the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship . Early life . Perras was born in Montreal , Quebec , Canada and 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 . He 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 . Early career . Perras debuted as an Irish rogue villain character named Red McNulty , billed from Dublin , Ireland and wrestling with an eyepatch . 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 . In 1967 , 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 Championship the following year . Koloff debuted in the World Wide Wrestling Federation in late 1969 , managed by " Captain " Lou Albano . He soon started a rivalry with then - WWWF World Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino . On January 18 , 1971 , Koloff defeated Sammartino in Madison Square Garden for the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship by pinfall after a knee drop from the top rope , ending Sammartino ' s seven and two - third years reign . Koloff lost the championship 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 fan favorite 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 1971 . During his time in the WWWF , Koloff wrestled WWWF World Heavyweight Championship title matches against Sammartino , 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 fan favorite champions . Koloff would also be the first opponent to ever challenge for the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship in a steel cage match in a rematch loss against Sammartino . He fought in the WWWF from 1975 – 1976 , 1978 – 1979 and 1983 . During the 1970s and 1980s , Koloff found success in the National Wrestling Alliance , winning many regional tag team 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 to capture the NWA World Tag Team Championship . This would be the first of his four reigns as NWA 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 villainous group from 1984 to 1986 , and Nikita , under Perras ' training and mentoring , and by association , became a hated villain in his own right , and would go on to have a successful singles career of his own . After Nikita turned on Ivan to join their enemy Dusty Rhodes in 1986 , the latter teamed with Vladimir Petrov and Dick Murdoch to get revenge . 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 . . In 1988 , Koloff spent time in Paul Jones ' faction , The Paul Jones Army , 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 , 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 . 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 in 1995 . He travels to churches to share his testimony , and is an ordained minister . Koloff spoke openly and candidly of his conversion to Christianity and struggles with alcohol and drugs and the crazy days of wrestling in the recent book , " Life in the Trenches . " Perras was named as a defendant in a 2015 lawsuit filed by WWE after they received a letter from him indicating that he intended to sue them for concussion - based injuries sustained during his tenure with them . He is represented by attorney Konstantine Kyros , who is involved in several other lawsuits involving former WWE wrestlers .