The Most Famous

WRESTLERS from Ukraine

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This page contains a list of the greatest Ukrainian Wrestlers. The pantheon dataset contains 1,027 Wrestlers, 10 of which were born in Ukraine. This makes Ukraine the birth place of the 18th most number of Wrestlers behind Germany, and Estonia.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Ukrainian Wrestlers of all time. This list of famous Ukrainian Wrestlers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Ukrainian Wrestlers.

Photo of Aleksandr Medved

1. Aleksandr Medved (1937 - 2024)

With an HPI of 56.94, Aleksandr Medved is the most famous Ukrainian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 25 different languages on wikipedia.

Aleksandr Vasilyevich Medved (16 September 1937 – 2 September 2024) was a Ukrainian-born Soviet Belarusian freestyle wrestler of Russian ethnicity who competed for the Soviet Union and was named "one of the greatest wrestlers in history" by FILA, the sport's governing body. Between 1962 and 1972 he won three Olympic gold medals, seven world and three European titles. He served as the Olympic flag bearer for the Soviet Union in 1972, for Belarus in 2004 and recited the Judge's Oath at the Opening Ceremony of the 1980 Olympics.

Photo of Ivan Poddubny

2. Ivan Poddubny (1871 - 1949)

With an HPI of 53.81, Ivan Poddubny is the 2nd most famous Ukrainian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Ivan Maksimovich Poddubny (Russian: Ива́н Максимович Подду́бный; Ukrainian: Іва́н Максимович Підду́бний, romanized: Ivan Maksymovych Piddubnyy; 8 October [O.S. 26 September] 1871 – 8 August 1949) was a professional wrestler from the Russian Empire and Soviet Union.

Photo of Ivan Bohdan

3. Ivan Bohdan (1928 - 2020)

With an HPI of 46.59, Ivan Bohdan is the 3rd most famous Ukrainian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Ivan Havrylovych Bohdan (Ukrainian: Іван Гаврилович Богдан; 29 February 1928 – 25 December 2020) was a Soviet and Ukrainian wrestler. He was born in Dmytro-Bilivka, Ukrainian SSR. He won an Olympic gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling in 1960, competing for the Soviet Union. He won gold medals at the 1958 and 1961 World Wrestling Championships.

Photo of Ilya Mate

4. Ilya Mate (b. 1956)

With an HPI of 38.60, Ilya Mate is the 4th most famous Ukrainian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Illya Fedorovych Mate (spelled Maté, Russian: Илья Фёдорович Мате, IPA: [ɪˈlʲjæ maˈtɛ], born 6 October 1956) is a retired Soviet and Ukrainian freestyle wrestler. He won gold medals at the 1980 Olympics and 1979 and 1982 world championships, finishing third in 1981. Mate was reputed for his deceitfully flabby appearance, which misled his opponents into thinking of him as of an "easy prey," as well as for his springy sudden movements and the mat generalship, avoiding flukes, and providing no "chinks in the armor" for his opponents.

Photo of Mariya Stadnik

5. Mariya Stadnik (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 38.06, Mariya Stadnik is the 5th most famous Ukrainian Wrestler.  Her biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Mariya Stadnik (Ukrainian: Марія Василівна Стадник; Mariya Vasylivna Stadnyk; born 3 December 1988) is a Ukrainian-born Azerbaijani female wrestler who won four Olympic medals, two World Championship and ten European Championship.

Photo of Mikhail Mamiashvili

6. Mikhail Mamiashvili (b. 1963)

With an HPI of 37.92, Mikhail Mamiashvili is the 6th most famous Ukrainian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Mikhail Mamiashvili (born 21 November 1963 in Konotop, Ukrainian SSR) is a Russian former Greco-Roman wrestler of Georgian origin. He won an Olympic gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea, competing for the Soviet Union. After retirement, he has held posts in the Russian Wrestling Federation, currently being its president.

Photo of Vladimir Kozlov

7. Vladimir Kozlov (b. 1979)

With an HPI of 37.59, Vladimir Kozlov is the 7th most famous Ukrainian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Oleg Aleksandrovich Prudius (born April 27, 1969) 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. He is trained in freestyle wrestling, rugby, football, sambo, kickboxing, judo, jujutsu, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and mixed martial arts. 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 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.

Photo of Vyacheslav Oliynyk

8. Vyacheslav Oliynyk (b. 1966)

With an HPI of 36.90, Vyacheslav Oliynyk is the 8th most famous Ukrainian Wrestler.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Vyacheslav Oliynyk (Ukrainian: В'ячеслав Олейник; born April 27, 1966) is a former Ukrainian wrestler and Olympic champion. He won a gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He was born in Zhdanov, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union.

Photo of Zhan Beleniuk

9. Zhan Beleniuk (b. 1991)

With an HPI of 36.84, Zhan Beleniuk is the 9th most famous Ukrainian Wrestler.  Her biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Zhan Vensanovych Beleniuk (Ukrainian: Жан Венсанович Беленюк; born 24 January 1991) is a Ukrainian politician and retired Greco-Roman wrestler. He is a three-time Olympic medalist and won the gold medal in the Greco-Roman 87 kg at the 2020 Summer Olympics, the silver medal in the Greco-Roman 85 kg at the 2016 Summer Olympics and a bronze medal in the Greco-Roman 87 kg at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Beleniuk is also a two-time world champion, a three-time European champion and a European Games champion. In 2019, he became the first black member of the Ukrainian Parliament.

Photo of Daria Bilodid

10. Daria Bilodid (b. 2000)

With an HPI of 36.25, Daria Bilodid is the 10th most famous Ukrainian Wrestler.  Her biography has been translated into 33 different languages.

Daria Hennadiyivna Bilodid (Ukrainian: Дар'я Геннадіївна Білодід; born 10 October 2000) is a Ukrainian judoka. She is a two-time world champion (2018, 2019), a three-time European champion (2017, 2019, 2024) and won a bronze medal in the women's 48 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Bilodid is also a junior world champion (2018) and a junior European champion (2016).

People

Pantheon has 17 people classified as Ukrainian wrestlers born between 1871 and 2000. Of these 17, 14 (82.35%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Ukrainian wrestlers include Ilya Mate, Mariya Stadnik, and Mikhail Mamiashvili. The most famous deceased Ukrainian wrestlers include Aleksandr Medved, Ivan Poddubny, and Ivan Bohdan. As of April 2024, 7 new Ukrainian wrestlers have been added to Pantheon including Ivan Bohdan, Ilya Mate, and Mikhail Mamiashvili.

Living Ukrainian Wrestlers

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Deceased Ukrainian Wrestlers

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Newly Added Ukrainian Wrestlers (2024)

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