Thought of another. As a kid, and in to my teen years, I really believed Ivan Koloff was Russian. Of course, we didn't have Wikipedia back then:
"The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff (born Oreal Perras on August 25, 1942)
Early career
Perras debuted as an Irish rogue heel character named Red McNulty, billed from Dublin, Ireland and wrestling with an eyepatch. For the next three years, he wrestled around the Toronto area, eventually quitting his regular job to wrestle in the north-western area of Canada. There, Parris acquired much wrestling experience, and from there he made his first trip to Japan.
The Russian Bear
In 1967, Jim Perras became "The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff, a bearded villainous character billed from Moscow, and debuted with the International Wrestling Association in Montreal, Québec.