Oleg Aleksandrovich Prudius[3] is an Ukrainian professional wrestler who was introduced to WWE by Jerry Jarrett.[2] Prudius is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment and is working on the SmackDown brand as Vladimir Kozlov.[1] He is trained in freestyle wrestling, rugby, American football, sambo, kickboxing, judo, and mixed martial arts.[2]
Prudius has also worked as a stage and screen actor, notably having a very small role in Spike Lee's 25th Hour.[2] Prudius also had an extremely small 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.
Career
Pre-wrestling
Prudius has won numerous achievements, becoming 2005 USA Open Heavyweight Sambo Champion and United States Kickboxing Association (USKBA) International Heavyweight Grappling Champion. He has also played American football for the Ukrainian National Team as well as Santa Barbara College.[1]
World Wrestling Entertainment
Kozlov entering the arena during a dark match on February 25, 2008
On January 17, 2006, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) announced that Prudius had signed a developmental deal and was sent to Deep South Wrestling (DSW).[4] On April 7, 2006, Prudius 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 edition of RAW, Prudius made an appearance as a WWE prospect named Vladimir Kozlov. 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, saying "I could beat both of them." He then was taken off television for over a year while working in the developmental system and participating in a number of dark matches all of which he won.[5]
Ohio Valley Wrestling
On July 28, 2007 in Louisville, Kentucky, he won the OVW Heavyweight Championship by defeating Paul Burchill, but gave the Championship the same night to Michael W. Kruel due to an agreement they made before.
SmackDown
On the April 4, 2008 edition of SmackDown, Kozlov made his official WWE debut as a heel, with the unique quirk of entering to no music, no titantron, and complete darkness except for a solitary spotlight following him to the ring. He defeated Matt Bentley in his first match,[6] and over the following weeks, Kozlov would win a series of squash matches, first against local talent, and then established names including Colin Delaney,[7] Funaki,[8] Nunzio,[9] Shannon Moore,[10] Jimmy Wang Yang,[11] Jamie Noble,[12] and Domino.[13] On the July 11, 2008 airing of SmackDown, Kozlov debuted an entrance theme and titantron video as he defeated Stevie Richards.[14]
On the July 18, 2008 airing of SmackDown, Kozlov had his first non-singles match when he teamed up with MVP, The Great Khali, and Shelton Benjamin against The Big Show. The match ended in a no contest after Khali, Shelton, Kozlov, and MVP were in the ring at the same time fighting Big Show.[15]
On the July 25, 2008 airing of SmackDown, Kozlov defeated Stevie Richards in a rematch. After the match, Kozlov got out of the ring, went over to Jim Ross and Mick Foley at the announce table, said that he is invincible and that he needs a real warrior in Russian, and then said "I want competition."
On the August 8th, 2008 airing of SmackDown, after saying something in Russian, Kozlov said "I am undefeated. I want better competition." Jesse answered the challenge after coming down to the ring with Festus to fight Kozlov, but Kozlov defeated Jesse with a battering ram headbutt after Jesse came off the top rope. After the match, Kozlov got out of the ring, stared Festus down and then left. On the August 15th, 2008 airing of SmackDown, Kozlov defeated Festus to keep his undefeated streak alive.
In wrestling
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Championships and accomplishments
Martial arts
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- USKBA International Heavyweight Grappling Champion (1 time)
Professional wrestling
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Other media
- Television, Film, and Theatre
Prudius has made many television appearances. Prudius appeared on the television drama series The Wire, Roksalana, and It's Not To Easy.[2] In 2002, he appeared in Spike Lee's film 25th Hour as a principal.[2] He appeared in the Russian military theatre play Victory Day and a Ukraine University play Three Musketeers.[2]
Personal life
Prudius is fluent in both Ukrainian and Russian.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d e "WWE: Superstars > SmackDown > Vladimir Kozlov > Bio". WWE. Retrieved on 2008-06-17.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Oleg Prudius resume". Carry Company. Retrieved on 2008-06-16.
- ^ "Oleg Aleksandrovich Prudius". Carry Company. Retrieved on 2008-06-16.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1294376/bio
- ^ Online World of Wrestling
- ^ Passero, Mitch (2008-04-04). "Mixed Emotions". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved on 2008-08-13.
- ^ Passero, Mitch (2008-05-02). "Championship Friday". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved on 2008-08-13.
- ^ Passero, Mitch (2008-05-16). "Fear and loathing in Grand Rapids". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved on 2008-08-13.
- ^ DiFino, Lennie (2008-05-23). "Stood up". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved on 2008-08-13.
- ^ Burdick, Michael (2008-05-30). "The Animal is Running Wild". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved on 2008-08-13.
- ^ Passero, Mitch (2008-06-06). "California dreamin'". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved on 2008-08-13.
- ^ Passero, Mitch (2008-06-20). "Spear of influence". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved on 2008-08-13.
- ^ Rote, Andrew (2008-06-27). "SmackDown goes gold". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved on 2008-08-13.
- ^ DiFinno, Lennie (2008-07-11). "SmackDown: Endless love?". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved on 2008-08-13.
- ^ DiFinno, Lennie (2008-07-18). "Love bites". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved on 2008-08-13.
- ^ Dupree, Jim. "NWA - NATIONAL WRESTLING ALLIANCE NWA OHIO VALLEY WRESTLING HEAVYWEIGHT/OHIO VALLEY WRESTLING HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE HISTORY". Solie. Retrieved on 2008-06-21.
External links
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