Salman Alkhazurovich Hashimikov (), also spelled Hasimikov or Khasimikov (4 May 1952 – 28 May 2025), was a Soviet

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

wrestler Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves diffe ...

. A Chechen from Russia, he won two European and four World Championship gold medals in

freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling. It is one of two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games, along with Greco-Roman wrestling, Greco-Roman. scholastic wrestling, High school wrestling and men's collegiate wrestling in the U ...

(1979, 1981, 1982, 1983). He had also won European and World gold as a Junior in 1970–71. After an unsuccessful business career, Salman spent five years as a

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

in Japan at

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...

(NJPW). There he won the

IWGP Heavyweight Championship The was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion. "IWGP" is the acronym of NJPW's governing body, the . The title was introduced on June 12, 1987, in the final of an IW ...

from

Big Van Vader Leon Allen White (May 14, 1955 – June 18, 2018), better known by his ring names Big Van Vader or simply Vader, was an American professional wrestler and professional American football, football player. During his career, he performed for New J ...

in May 1989.

Professional wrestling career

New Japan (1989–1990)

After a long career as an amateur wrestler Hashimikov and Victor Zangiev travelled to Japan training for a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

career in the

NJPW Dojo (NJPW) is a Japanese professional-wrestling promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV Asahi and Amuse Inc. owning minority shares ...

, specifically by NJPW founder

Antonio Inoki (born ; 20 February 1943 – 1 October 2022) was a Japanese professional wrestler, Glossary of professional wrestling terms#school, professional wrestling trainer, martial arts, martial artist, politician, and Promoter (entertainment), promot ...

. Hashimikov made his debut against his friend Zangiev on 22 February 1989, in a five-minute exhibition match that ended in a draw between the two former amateur world champions, then he defeated Hiro Saito. On 25 May of that year Hashimikov defeated

to become the first European to hold the

. His reign was short lived as he lost the championship in his first defense only 48 days later, to

Riki Choshu , better known by his ring name , is a South Korean-Japanese retirement, retired Puroresu, professional wrestler who is best known for his longtime work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as both a wrestler and a Booker (professional wrestling), bo ...

. Hashimikov was the first actual Russian-born to win a professional wrestling title in the capitalist countries before the Cold War ended, at the time most "Russians" in North America and Japan were in fact characters played by either Russian descendants or wrestlers with no Russian connection.

World Championship Wrestling (1990)

In December 1990 Hashimikov and Zangiev travelled to the United States for their first, and only wrestling show, the 1990

Starrcade Starrcade was a recurring professional wrestling event, originally broadcast via closed-circuit television and eventually broadcast via pay-per-view. It was originally held from 1983 to 2000, first by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) from ...

. At Starrcade they participated in the Pat O'Connor memorial tag team tournament. In the first round they defeated the team of Danny Johnson and Troy Montour representing Canada. In the second round the Russian team lost to NJPW representatives Mr. Saito and

The Great Muta is a Japanese professional wrestling executive, actor and retired professional wrestler. He is known for his work under his real name and as his alter ego in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), as well as World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and duri ...

. After WCW, Hashimikov took a hiatus from wrestling.

UWFI Japan (1993–1994)

Upon his return to Japan, Hashimikov began working for

UWF International Union of Wrestling Forces International, better known as UWF International, U-Inter, or simply UWFi, was a shoot style professional wrestling promotion in Japan from 1991 to 1996. The UWF international was the successor to the ''Newborn UWF'' th ...

in 1993 where he teamed with fellow Kazakhstani, Vladimir Berkovich. Also he reunited with Victor Zangiev. He lost to

Nobuhiko Takada Nobuhiko Takada (, ring name: ) (born April 12, 1962) is a Japanese former mixed martial artist, retired professional wrestler, actor, and writer. He competed in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) and the Uni ...

on 18 July. On 3 April 1994, he lost to

. Later that year he retired from wrestling.

Legacy and death

In 2018, in the village of Staraya Sunzha, Leninsky District of

Grozny Grozny (, ; ) is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 328,533 — up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Russian Census, 2002 ce ...

, Lenin Street was ceremoniously renamed after him. On May 28, 2025, Hashimikov died from heart failure at a Moscow hospital, at the age of 73.Ушел из жизни Салман Хасимиков…

Championships and accomplishments

( 1 time)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hashimikov, Salman 1952 births 2025 deaths IWGP Heavyweight champions Expatriate professional wrestlers in Japan Russian people of Chechen descent Soviet professional wrestlers World Wrestling Champions World Wrestling Championships medalists European Wrestling Champions European Wrestling Championships medalists