Al Blake is an American retired

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

, better known by his

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

, Vladimir Petrov. Petrov wrestled in various

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

promotions including

Jim Crockett Promotions Jim Crockett Promotions Inc. is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, restarted by Jim Crockett's son and Jim Crockett Jr's brother, David Crockett. Founded in 1931, the promot ...

and the Universal Wrestling Federation, most notably as a member of

The Russian Team The Russian Team was a professional wrestling team in the 1980s who attempted to prove their Soviet dominance over their opponents. History The Russian Team was formed in December 1984 in the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions. It consisted of NWA W ...

and

Paul Jones' Army Paul Jones' Army was a professional wrestling heel stable in the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions in the mid-1980s led by manager Paul Jones. The group's primary storyline was against "The Boogie Woogie Man" Jimmy Valiant in a long running storylin ...

with

Ivan Koloff Oreal Donald Perras (August 25, 1942 – February 18, 2017) was a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by the ring name "The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff. He was the third wrestler to hold the WWWF Championship. Early life Perras was b ...

during the 1980s.

Professional wrestling career

Jim Crockett Promotions

A former bouncer, Al Blake was brought into the Jim Crockett Promotions in January 1987 as the masked Vladimir Petrov, "The Russian Assassin" after Krusher Khruschev had left for the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

. Although then head booker

Dusty Rhodes Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. (October 11, 1945 – June 11, 2015), better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American professional wrestler, booker, and trainer who most notably worked for the National Wrestling Alliance, Jim Crocket ...

was to originally have brought in

John Nord John Eric Nord (born October 18, 1959) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the American Wrestling Association and World Class Championship Wrestling in the 1980s as Nord the Barbarian and Yukon ...

, he instead had Blake team with Koloff at the last minute. Introduced as a protégé of Ivan Koloff, he had been brought to the United States to help Ivan Koloff in his feud with

Nikita Koloff Nikita Koloff (born Nelson Scott Simpson on March 9, 1959) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with Jim Crockett Promotions and its successor, World Championship Wrestling between 1984 and 1992, where ...

after turning on Ivan Koloff's group. Facing Nikita Koloff in a series of Russian Chain Matches, they eventually

kayfabe In professional wrestling, kayfabe, as a noun, is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically the portrayal of competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants as being genuine and not staged. ...

injured Koloff's neck with the help of

Dick Murdoch Hoyt Richard Murdoch (August 16, 1946 – June 15, 1996) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring names "Dirty" Dick Murdoch and "Captain Redneck". He was best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation and New Jap ...

in April. They also had a series of matches with then-

NWA World Tag Team Champions The NWA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created by the National Wrestling Alliance. From 1948 to 1982, the NWA allowed member promotions to create their own territorial version of the "NWA World ...

the

Rock 'n' Roll Express The Rock 'n' Roll Express is a professional wrestling tag team consisting of professional wrestlers Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton. The duo began teaming together in Memphis in the early 1980s, followed by Mid-South Wrestling (later to be known ...

The Fabulous Freebirds The Fabulous Freebirds were a professional wrestling tag team who attained fame in the 1980s, performing into the 1990s. The team usually consisted of three wrestlers, although in different situations and points in its history, just two performed ...

and

Jimmy Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...

Ron Garvin Roger Barnes (born March 30, 1945) is a Canadian former professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin. He is best known for his appearances with Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federatio ...

. They would again lose to Ron Garvin &

Barry Windham Barry Clinton Windham (born July 4, 1960) is an American retired professional wrestler. The son of wrestler Blackjack Mulligan, he is best known for his appearances with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). ...

in a tournament for the vacant NWA US Tag Team titles and were eliminated in the opening round of the

Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup The Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament (also known simply as the Crockett Cup) is a professional wrestling event produced every April by the professional wrestling promotion, National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The event features a ...

Bob Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places *Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname) ...

& Brad Armstrong.

Universal Wrestling Federation

Petrov also went to the Universal Wrestling Federation briefly to feud with "Dr. Death" Steve Williams over the UWF Title and also teamed with the

Angel of Death Angel of Death may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Aviation *"Angel of Death", AC130 gunship's nickname Fictional characters * Adam or Andrew, in ''Touched by an Angel'' * Azrael, in ''Lucifer'' * Loki, in the film ''Dogma'' * Jaff ...

in a losing effort against the NWA World Tag Team champions The Rock 'n' Roll Express at the Superdome Extravaganza supercard on June 13, 1987. Later during the year, he would wrestle single matches against Barry Windham and

Todd Champion Todd Bradford (born September 2, 1960) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Todd Champion. He competed in the Southeastern United States, winning titles in several promotions, including World Championship ...

during the year before losing to Jim and Ron Garvin in a tag team match with The Barbarian at

The Great American Bash The Great American Bash is a professional wrestling event currently produced by WWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. Created by Dusty Rhodes, the event was established in 1985 and was originally produced by the National Wr ...

on July 4, 1987. Joining

with Ivan Koloff in late 1987, Petrov feuded with Ron Garvin although he would lose that feud too. As Vladimir Petrov, helped Ivan Koloff defend the NWA United States Tag Team titles after Koloff's tag team partner Dick Murdoch was suspended in April.

World Wrestling Federation

In 1991, after his release, Blake began wrestling under his own name in the

. However, he was used mainly as a preliminary wrestler and left the following year retiring to Minnesota.

Personal life

Blake is married to

Karla Nelsen Karla Nelsen (born December 9, 1965) is a former amateur female bodybuilding, female bodybuilder (fbb) from the United States. Nelsen grew up in Pine City, Minnesota. That is where she became involved in the fledgling sport of female bodybuilding, ...

, who was fourth runner up for the NABBA Ms. Universe title in 1994 (losing because the judges felt she was "too muscular"). Together, they made female wrestling videos (starring Karla). Aside from training with his wife at the Twin Cities Gym in Roseville, Minnesota, Blake now resides in

Pine City, Minnesota Pine City is a city in and the county seat of Pine County, in east central Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,130 at the 2020 census. A portion of the city is located on the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation. Founded as a railway town, ...

(an exurb of Minneapolis).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Petrov, Vladmir 1961 births American male professional wrestlers Faux Russian professional wrestlers Living people Masked wrestlers People from Pine City, Minnesota Professional wrestlers from Minneapolis Sportspeople from Minneapolis 20th-century professional wrestlers