Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri is being pushed out of the W Hotel in Times Square in a wheelchair with his championship belt slung across his shoulder and signature checkered headdress.
A policewoman in her late 20s stops to greet Vaziri — better known as ’80s pro-wrestling villain the Iron Sheik — with a reverent “Hello, Sheik,” while a group of 40-something guys touch his championship belt like he’s a Mafia don.
“I love New York,” says the Sheik in his broken English. “Any time I come to New York, people see me and they recognize me, they come talk to me and take a picture.”
At 73, Iranian-born Vaziri makes a slightly less dramatic entrance than during his WWF heyday, when the mustachioed strongman would storm the ring to a soundtrack of thunderous boos. He’d take the microphone, spit on the USA and proclaim, “Iran No. 1.”
Today, there’s nothing but love for the former antihero, now as relevant — and as unhinged — as ever. His hilarious Twitter account (@the_ironsheik), in which he praises the “legends” and blasts the biggest boldface “jabronis” (Justin Bieber, for one) in his politically incorrect “Sheik-speak,” has 420,000 followers.
And a new documentary, “The Sheik,” about his turbulent life, is downloadable at sheikmovie.com starting Wednesday. It chronicles his life, from his escape from Iran in 1969 to his rise in the WWF to his spiral into crack addiction and the tragic 2003 murder of his daughter.
“This is a chance to help our childhood hero,” says Page Magen, who with his twin brother, Jian, manages the Sheik. “In real life, he’s shy about his success and his accolades. He’s normally in character, so he can’t tell you the things he’s gone through.”
The Magen brothers hope their film raises enough money to help the married grandfather of five grow comfortably into his old age.
“His upper body is built like a truck,” says Jian. “But the lower body needs to go to the mechanic.”
As for the Sheik?
“I hope people get to see the real me,” says Vaziri. “I want the young generation to learn from the Iron Sheik mistake and that way they don’t do it. And that it’s the best movie. No. 1.”