Report Last Updated - 6/08 (Spring)
Real Name - Oleg Aleksandrovich Prudius
Birthdate - n/a
6'6" 308 lbs. - Lousville, KY

Aliases -

Athletic background - Sambo [2005 US Champion], Kickboxing [USKBA Grappling Champion], Football [Ukrainian Nat'l Team, Santa Barbara College], Freestyle Wrestling, Judo, Mixed Martial Arts, Rugby

Teachers - Jerry Jarrett; Bill DeMott [DSW Camp]; Al Snow [OVW Camp]

Professional background - DSW(`06-`07), OVW(`07-`08), WWE(`07-)

Groups - Team America

Career Highlights - n/a

Finisher(s) -
- British Fall DDT
- Russian Rack (Kneeling Torture Rack)

Favorites\ -
- Overhead Belly-to-Belly
- Trapped Headbutts
- Headbutt to Chest
- Up Kick to opponent on the corner ropes
- Running Push Kick into corner

Ringwork Rating -
move set - 4
science - 3
aerial - 0
power - 8
strikes - 6

Intangible Rating -
entertainment - 4
selling - 3
bumping - 3
heat - 4
carrying - 3
push - 7
potential - 7

Outlook - Oleg Prudius has an extensive athletic resume that makes him more suited for the UFC than the WWE. However, the giant Russian was brought to the WWE by Jerry Jarrett and signed up before breaking into the growing MMA market. Prudius had no background in pro-wrestling, but his throwing, grappling and striking skills were tools that could be marketed. Training in both Deep South and Ohio Valley, Prudius was renamed "Vladimir Kozlov" and squashed everyone in his way. The steely cold stare, the large stature, the thickly muscled body and his broken English made Kozlov an ideal candidate for a superpush. While his work is seriously lacking, Kozlov has the potential to be more than a stiff, if he can learn. The WWE system has tried MMA-style characters before from the legitimate like Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn and Daniel Puder to the less-than-legit Sylvester Terkay, Boris Alexiev (Santino) and Vito. The trend seems to be that these gimmicks have a limited shelf life, despite their distinction. Kozlov is along that line, but is not as good of a worker as most of those named and has less charisma than most of them as well. What Kozlov does have is the look and size to get opportunity after opportunity in the WWE in spite of his obvious limitations.