After the Iron Sheik had lost the WWF World Championship to Hulk Hogan, and Nikolai Volkoff, who had left the WWF after previously being billed as Bepo Mongol as part of a tag team called The Mongols and had since returned in July 1984, they were soon teamed up, where they became one of the most hated tag teams in WWF history. The team became managed by "Classy" Freddie Blassie, and they won the WWF Tag Team Championship from The U.S. Express (Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda) at the first WrestleMania when Sheik had knocked out Windham from behind with Blassie's cane.
Part of the pair's regular entrance consisted of waving the flags of Iran and the Soviet Union, then demanding that the crowd be quiet and "show respect" while Volkoff sang a throaty version of the Soviet national anthem, a demand that usually only attracted boos from the usually pro-American crowds. Sheik then usually grabbed the mic and said "Iran number 1, Russia number 1, USA - HACK-POOIE!" (which was then followed by a simulated spitting act). On May 11, 1985, at the first Saturday Night's Main Event, Sheik, Volkoff, and George Steele would be defeated by the team of Windham, Rotunda, and Ricky Steamboat. Windham and Rotunda would win back the belts from Sheik and Volkoff.
Volkoff and Sheik both wrestled at WrestleMania 2, but not as a team, as Volkoff wrestled and lost to Corporal Kirchner in a flag match in the Chicago part of the event, and Sheik competed in the 20-man invitational battle royal, also in the Chicago portion of the event, which saw fourteen WWF superstars in the ring with six National Football League players. Sheik was the thirteenth participant eliminated, by Bruno Sammartino, where the battle royal was won by André the Giant. In 1986, Sheik and Volkoff would wrestle against and defeat The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart) in a heel versus heel match. In late 1986, Blassie, who retired, sold their contacts to Slick.
Sheik and Volkoff had feuds with and wrestled against many top tag teams such as The Can-Am Connection (Rick Martel and Tom Zenk), The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and the Dynamite Kid), The Islanders (Haku and Tama) The Young Stallions (Jim Powers and Paul Roma) and The Killer Bees ("Jumpin" Jim Brunzell and B. Brian Blair), and would also often team with Butch Reed and Hercules, who Slick was also managing in six-man tag team matches. On March 27, 1987, at WrestleMania III in Pontiac, Michigan, Sheik and Volkoff would again compete as a team when they wrestled The Killer Bees. At the beginning of the match, when Volkoff began to sing the Russian national anthem, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, who had just joined the WWF, came down to the ring and cleared the ring of Volkoff, Sheik, and Slick after chasing them out with his 2×4. Sheik and Volkoff won the match by disqualification when Duggan interfered, due to the cheating of Slick, Sheik, and Volkoff. After Windham and Rotunda had lost the tag titles to The Dream Team (Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine, who were managed by "Luscious" Johnny Valiant), Sheik and Volkoff would challenge The Dream Team for the titles, but would not regain the belts, as both teams were disqualified.
After WrestleMania III, Sheik and Volkoff began a feud with Duggan, who would often run down to the ring and attack Volkoff and Sheik. Memorable matches this occurred at was on episode eleven of Saturday Night's Main Event, when The Can-Am Connection wrestled and defeated Sheik and Volkoff after Duggan, who was sitting in the front row of the audience, interfered due to the cheating of Sheik, Volkoff, and Slick; and on the April 25, 1987 episode of WWF Superstars of Wrestling when Sheik, Volkoff, and Reed, who teamed up and defeated The Islanders and Siva Afi. The team ended once Sheik was released by the WWF not long after.
Sheik and Volkoff appeared together when they were into inducted the WWE Hall of Fame on April 2, 2005 in Los Angeles, California. However, they were inducted separately, not as a tag team.
On the March 10, 2008 edition of WWE Raw, which featured rematches from previous WrestleManias, Sheik appeared along with Volkoff to face off against Windham and Rotunda in a rematch from the first WrestleMania. However, the match never got started as Jillian Hall came out to interrupt Volkoff's singing so she could sing herself
On the November 15, 2010 edition of Raw, as part of the Old School theme, Volkoff again appeared with Sheik and Slick, and they sung the Soviet national anthem before being interrupted by Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov, the latter of whom then sung a duet with Volkoff of the Russian national anthem.