Victor Dzantemirovich Zangiev (, ; born 26 May 1962) is a retired

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n freestyle wrestler of Ossetian origin, who wrestled professionally in Japan, where he became the cultural inspiration for the Zangief character of the ''

Street Fighter is a Media mix, Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting games developed and published by Capcom. Street Fighter 1, The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by List of Street Fighter video games, six other ma ...

'' series.

Amateur wrestling career

Victor Zangiev was an amateur wrestler from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. In 1981, he reversed the first seat in the 100 kg class for the Junior World Championships in freestyle wrestling. In 1985, he won two major amateur wrestling titles, the U.S.-Soviet Cup Championships and the World Cup Championships. In 1988, Zangiev won the Soviet Championships. After retirement, worked as a children's freestyle wrestling coach in Aleksin, Tula Region. As of 2022, he coaches children in

Vladikavkaz Vladikavkaz, formerly known as Ordzhonikidze () or Dzaudzhikau (), is the capital city of North Ossetia–Alania, Russia. It is located in the southeast of the republic at the foothills of the Caucasus, situated on the Terek (river), Terek River. ...

Professional wrestling career

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1989–1990)

In 1989, Zangiev, along with several other amateurs, were invited by Antonio Inoki to train in his dojo and wrestle professionally in his promotion,

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 ...

. Debuting on 22 February at Sumo Hall, Zangiev wrestled two exhibition matches, first against Salman Hashimikov (which ended in a time-limit draw), then against Osamu Matsuda, whom he defeated. In April 1989, he participated in a tournament to determine the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion at New Japan's first show at the

Tokyo Dome is an indoor stadium in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a baseball stadium following its predecessor, Korakuen Stadium (whose former site is now occupied by the Tokyo Dome Hotel and a plaza for this stadium). In Japan, it is often us ...

; he defeated Buzz Sawyer in the quarterfinals, but lost to

Shinya Hashimoto was a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter and actor. Along with Masahiro Chono and Keiji Mutoh, Hashimoto was dubbed one of the " Three Musketeers" that began competing in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in the mid-1980s and dominated the p ...

in the semifinals. Zangiev would continue wrestling in the mid-card, before leaving at the tail end of 1990.

World Championship Wrestling (1990)

Before their departure, he and Hashimikov were chosen to represent the Soviet Union for the Pat O'Connor International Tag Team Tournament at Starrcade '90: Collision Course for

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...

; they defeated the Canadian team of Danny Johnson and Troy Montour in the quarterfinals, but lost to Masa Saito and The Great Muta in the semifinals.

UWF International (1994)

In April 1994, Zangiev returned to Japan, this time with the shoot-style UWF International. Like in NJPW, he didn't compete for championships; instead, he mainly wrestled in mid-card single and tag team matches. In October 1994, he left UWFi and retired from professional wrestling.

Independent Wrestling Federation (2022)

On November 20, Zangiev was a guest on the Independent Wrestling Federation's "20 Years of Pro-Wrestling in Russia" anniversary show. Zangiev interfered in the main event of the show and held Ronnie Crimson a belly-to-belly suplex and then locked him in a knee backbreaker lock.

Other media

In 2022 Victor Zangiev starred in the music video of Miyagi & Endshpil for the song "Silhouette", filmed in the mountains of Ossetia.

Championships and accomplishments

*''

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 #71 of the best 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1991

References

External links

Cagematch Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zangiev, Victor Russian male professional wrestlers Russian male sport wrestlers 1962 births Living people Ossetian freestyle wrestlers Soviet male sport wrestlers Expatriate professional wrestlers in Japan Kazakhstani male professional wrestlers Kazakhstani male sport wrestlers 20th-century Russian sportsmen Soviet professional wrestlers