Hank Sokolov

Formerly a circus strongman in the Russian Federation, Andrei “Hank” Sokolov joined Next Generation Wrestling as a jobber at the behest of his brother Frank Sokolov, who also worked as a jobber within nGw.

Despite his minimal wrestling skill and ungainliness, some wrestlers had difficulty fighting Hank due to his sheer size and power. Hank the jobber found himself winning matches surprisingly often, and even learned a few wrestling moves himself, but found battle against unarmed mortals and involving himself in their politics to be dissatisfying. He wanted greater enemies and yearned for simpler times when he could simply crush all in his path. After his contract with nGw expired, Hank declined to renew it and joined the mongolian horde known as the Altan Ord, led by the fearsome warlord The Grand Duck. He vanished from the public eye, instead causing destruction and chaos with the Altan Ord, until that day his country might call upon his talents once more. To find him, one only needs to follow the trail of broken, mangled leg-dropped bodies littering his wake... 

Due to his immense size and endurance, Hank is almost invulnerable to all forms of attack save wrestling, which is particularly effective against him. Glass, knives, bricks, even firearms, on the other hand, might not do enough to save his foes. Hank is also generally oblivious except when fools need a smacking down. Once a fight rages and he finds his focus, however, he isn’t nearly as slow upstairs as he is downstairs, however, and care should be taken when assuming he’s just another wall of muscle in the way of victory.

Five Favorite Signature Moves:  

1. THE LENIN LEG- Much like the daring leap of the October Revolution, Hank hits the opponent with a double leg drop from the top rope 

2. THE STALIN STAMP- The oppressive policies of Stalin are channeled into a body avalance to knock the opponent down, then stomping them while they’re down.

3. THE KHRUSCHEV KHRUSH- The semi-conciliatory but firm stance of Khruschev is symbolized in a bear hug that transitions to a belly-to-belly suplex. 

4. THE BREHZNEV BREAK- Recalling the stubborn militance of the Brehznev era, Hank hits them with a single knee facebreaker, then repeats with the other knee. 

5. THE GORBACHEV GORE- A devastating four-step attack- a heavy haymaker representing glasnost (opening them up for attack), a gorilla press gutbuster representing perestroika, (restructuring the opponent’s innards) and an atomic drop representing uskoreniye (accelerating them onto the mat). Finally, Hank appeals to the audience in a decisive display of demokratizatsiya and if the people will it, follows up with a big splash to the cheers of the crowd. 

Finishing Move: SOKOLOV SALTO- Hank memorializes the fall of the Soviet Union by lifting  and bodily throwing the opponent high into the air, and raises a fist so that their stomach lands on it. Then he lets them slide off onto the mat and falls on top of them, and pins them.