Jim Lanning (born October 10, 1960) is an American retired

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 ...

, best known by the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname 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 ...

Soldat Ustinov, who played a fictional

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

character during his career. He competed in North American regional promotions including the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...

(NWA) and the

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The promotion was born out of the Minneapolis ...

(AWA) during the 1980s. Before his professional wrestling career, Jim Lanning was a left offensive tackle known for pass blocking - he signed as a free agent with the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

, and also spent time in the USFL for the San Antonio Gunslingers.

Career

American Wrestling Association (1987 - 1988)

Arriving in the AWA in 1987, he would begin teaming with Boris Zukhov under manager Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie and together would defeat the Midnight Rockers for the AWA World tag team title in

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; Washo language, Washo: ''dáʔaw'') is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the Western United States, straddling the border between California and Nevada. Lying at above sea level, Lake Tahoe is the largest a ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

on May 25, 1987. After defending the titles for almost five months with victories over

Wahoo McDaniel Edward Hugh McDaniel (June 19, 1938 – April 18, 2002) was an American professional football player and professional wrestler better known by his ring name Wahoo McDaniel. He is notable for having held the NWA United States Heavyweight Champio ...

& D.J. Peterson on August 10, Zukhov jumped to the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

in October as part of The Bolsheviks with

Nikolai Volkoff Josip Hrvoje Peruzović (October 14, 1947 – July 29, 2018), better known by his ring name Nikolai Volkoff, was a Croatian-Americans, Croatian-American professional wrestling, professional wrestler from Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, ...

. Replaced by "Pretty Boy" Doug Somers, he and Somers would hold the titles little more than a week before losing them to Jerry "The King" Lawler & "Superstar" Bill Dundee on October 10, 1987. In 1988, Lanning would team with Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie losing to Greg Gagne & "The Crippler" Ray Stevens on January 10 and to Wahoo McDaniel &

Baron von Raschke James Donald Raschke (born October 17, 1940) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Baron von Raschke. Early life Raschke was a three-year letterman with the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Cor ...

on January 17 as well as single matches to

Tom Zenk Thomas Erwin Zenk (November 30, 1958 – December 9, 2017) was an American professional wrestler and bodybuilder. He was a babyface for his entire career and was best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation from 1986 to 1987 ...

and Stevens. Later that year, he feuded with Sgt. Slaughter losing to him by disqualification on September 17 although he and Teijho Khan would defeat Slaughter and Keith Eric by countout in a tag team match the following night. On September 19, Lanning teamed with Khan and

Colonel DeBeers Edward Wiskoski (January 10, 1945 – January 22, 2025) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his appearances in the American Wrestling Association under the ring name Colonel DeBeers from 1985 to 1990. Early life Wiskos ...

in a 6-man tag team match losing to Sgt. Slaughter and

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 a ...

. He and Teijho Khan would later feud with

and The Top Guns (

Ricky Rice Ricky Rice is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearanceas with the Minneapolis-based promotions Pro Wrestling America and the American Wrestling Association. Professional wrestling career Early career Trai ...

& Derrick Dukes) before leaving the promotion by the end of the year.

Championships and accomplishments

AWA World Tag Team Championship The American Wrestling Association (AWA) World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in the American Wrestling Association from 1960 until the promotion folded in 1991. History When the NWA Minneapolis ...

(1 time) with Boris Zhukov and replacement partner Doug Somers *

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The maga ...

**PWI ranked him # 310 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI 500 in 1991

Notes

External links

Profile at Online World of Wrestling
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ustinov, Soldat 1960 births Living people American male professional wrestlers Faux Russian professional wrestlers AWA World Tag Team Champions 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Minneapolis Dallas Cowboys players Players of American football from Minneapolis American football offensive linemen Northern Iowa Panthers football players