Vladimir Kozlov

This article is about the professional wrestler. For other people, see Vladimir Kozlov (disambiguation).

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Aleksandrovich and the family name is Prudius.
Vladimir Kozlov
Kozlov in 2010
Birth nameOleh Oleksandrovych Prudius
Born (1969-04-27) April 27, 1969 (age 55)[1]
Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Kyiv, Ukraine)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Alexander Kozlov[2]
Oleg Prudius[3]
Vladimir Kozlov[3][4]
Billed height6 ft 8 in (203 cm)[4]
Billed weight302 lb (137 kg)[4]
Billed fromMoscow, Russia[4]
Trained byDeep South Wrestling
Ohio Valley Wrestling
DebutApril 7, 2006[3]

Oleg Aleksandrovich Prudius[a] (born April 27, 1969)[1] better known by his ring name Vladimir Kozlov, is an actor and professional wrestler currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under his real name. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he won the WWE Tag Team Championship once with Santino Marella.[4] He is trained in freestyle wrestling, rugby, football, sambo, kickboxing, judo, jujutsu, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts.[3][5]

Prudius signed a development contract with World Wrestling Entertainment in 2006 and was assigned to WWE's developmental system, Deep South Wrestling. He would later be reassigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling, where he won the OVW Heavyweight Championship. He made his debut on SmackDown as Vladimir Kozlov on April 4, 2008. He was given a big push during his first few months on SmackDown, including a clean victory over The Undertaker. At Survivor Series 2008, Kozlov faced Triple H and Edge for the WWE Championship in a losing effort. At the end of 2008, he received the Slammy Award from WWE as the Breakout Star of the year. However, in the awards voting for the independent Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Kozlov was voted as the Most Overrated Wrestler of the year, and his match at Survivor Series match was voted as the Worst Match of the Year. In 2009, Kozlov was assigned to WWE's third brand, ECW, where he teamed with William Regal and Ezekiel Jackson. After the ECW brand was dissolved, he was assigned to Raw and started a tag team with Santino Marella, winning the WWE Tag Team Championships. Prudius left WWE in 2011.

Prudius has also worked as a stage and screen actor, notably having a small role in Spike Lee's 25th Hour[3][5] and a walk-on role in the second season of the HBO series The Wire. Prudius also had a role in Grindhouse, appearing in the Werewolf Women of the SS trailer; in addition to his credit under his real name and his WWE persona for the appearance as well as being a former Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) Heavyweight Champion, Prudius was the first Ukrainian to ever wrestle for the WWE.[3]

  1. ^ a b "Alexander Kozlov's IGF profile". Archived from the original on May 5, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2012.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference IGFDebut was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Vladimir Kozlov - OWW". Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e "WWE Alumni Bio". WWE. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
  5. ^ a b "Vladimir Kozlov resume" (PDF). Carry Company. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 23, 2004. Retrieved June 16, 2008.


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