“This guy, you know you think about the whole explosion of the business, when Vince took everything national, and the huge part that Kaz had in that,” Prichard continued. “Because it went from Bob Backlund to The Iron Sheik, the [WWF] Champion … and the Sheik then lost that title to Hulk Hogan, and ‘Hulk-A-Mania’ was born. The rest, as they say, is history.” Vaziri went on to compete at multiple WrestleMania events, and was eventually inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

“Because of that, I think Vince always looked at Sheik as [a] top, main event guy. No matter where he was in the card, whether he was opening up or whatever, he was paid as a main eventer and taken care of as a main eventer because he meant so much to the company and meant so much to our business in how he did everything.” Prichard had a number of fond things to say regarding Vaziri beyond just his contributions to the industry.

“Khosrow Vaziri, the Iron Sheik, may he rest in peace,” Prichard concluded. “I thank him for everything he did in this business and for being a friend, and … always looking out for me the way he did. He was a great guy.”