Like many wrestlers, Steve Simpson had aspirations of becoming a professional football player. After playing at Moorhead State University, Simpson considered trying out for the United States Football League (USFL) before he was recruited by Road Warrior Animal into the world of professional wrestling.

   In 1984, Nikita Koloff first appeared in Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) as the nephew of the much hated Russian wrestler Ivan Koloff.  Nikita became one of the most hated heels in professional wrestling as his star rose higher and higher.  He eventually became a babyface before personal tragedy ended his career prematurely.

    At the time of Nikita's debut, Ivan was one half of the NWA World Tag Team Champions with Don Kernodle.  After Kernodle and Koloff lost the belts to Manny Fernandez and Dusty Rhodes, Nikita helped Ivan destroy Kernodle in the ring and draped a Soviet flag over Kernodle's near lifeless body.  Ivan and Nikita then battled Kernodle and his brother Rocky Kernodle (aka Keith Larson) before moving on to the hunt for the NWA World tag titles.

    Nikita and Ivan became a seemingly unstoppable tag team as Ivan continued to train his nephew.  Nikita's clothesline (known as the Russian Sickle) was one of the most devastating moves in professional wrestling and he had few peers when it came to raw power.  With the tough as nails Ivan Koloff sharing his decades of experience with his nephew, it was only a matter of time before Nikita had championship gold.

     On March 18, 1985, Nikita and Ivan defeated Manny Fernandez and Dusty Rhodes for the NWA World Tag Team Championship.  They soon added Krusher Krushchev (a traitorous American wrestler turned Russian sympathizer) to their team and were allowed to defend the NWA tag titles with any combination of the three.  Ivan could team with Nikita or Krusher or any other combination of the three when defending the belts.  The Russians seemed unstoppable.

    During their tag team title reign, Nikita and Ivan began appearing at the matches of NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric "Nature Boy" Flair.  It was obvious that Ivan had his Nikita's sight trained on the world champion.  Just as Ivan had won the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) Heavyweight Championship from Bruno Sammartino, Nikita would win a World Championship for mother Russia and bring the belt to the USSR for good. 

   After weeks of stalking Flair, Ivan and Nikita appeared on television with Ivan asking JCP announcer David Crockett why Flair had not given Nikita a title shot.  Crockett pointed out that Nikita had to earn his title shot like any other contender and soon found himself on the receiving end of a Russian Sickle from Nikita.  Later on during the program, Ric Flair attacked Nikita during his match.  Flair had been close friends with David Crockett for many years and put his title up against Nikita so he could avenge his fallen friend.

   The wrestling world waited for July 6, 1985, the date for the Great American Bash, the wrestling event at which Flair would defend his world championship against Koloff.  Despite his considerable experience and skill, fans wondered if Flair would be any match for Nikita's raw power.  With Uncle Ivan standing in Nikita's corner for the match, Flair was at a distinct disadvantage, despite David Crockett being appointed as special referee.  Nikita used his tremendous power to wear down Flair but in the end, Flair's incredible stamina and tremendous experience allowed him to defeat Nikita.  After the match, Ivan and Nikita attacked Flair.

    Perhaps distracted by the hunt for Flair's title, the Russians lost the tag titles to the Rock and Roll Express on July 9, 1985.  Nikita did not participate in the match and so it was Ivan and Krusher versus the team of Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson.  Despite being outsized and outpowered by the Russians, Morton and Gibson triumphed over the Russians, using their speed and tag team manuveurs.   On October 13, 1985 Nikita teamed with his uncle to defeat Morton and Gibson for the tag team titles.  The Rock-n-Roll Express had the Russians' number though and regained the titles on November 28, 1985 at Starcade.

During their run as a tag team, Ivan and Nikita, fans compared their power to that of the Road Warriors. This was a dream match for the fans as the Koloffs were unquestionably the toughest team in WCW and the Road Warriors seemed like natural opponents.  Although the Warriors wrestled in the same brutal power-based style they had employed as heels, fans cheered them wildly against the much hated Koloffs.  The battles between the Road Warriors and the Koloffs was brutal.  At one point, Paul Ellering sustained a neck injury at the hands of the Koloffs and the Road Warriors injured the Koloffs' partner Krusher Krushchev

   After losing the tag titles, Nikita began training for a run at the United States Heavyweight Championship held by Magnum T.A.  A win by Nikita would be a tremendous propaganda victory for the U.S.S.R., and Koloff trained to no end.  Magnum accepted Nikita's challenge and brought his mother with him to the contract signing.  Things got ugly when Ivan and Nikita insulted Magnum's mother.  Magnum went to attack the Koloffs and NWA President Bob Giegal was struck during the melee.  As a result, Magnum was stripped of his title and a best of seven series was scheduled between Magnum and Nikita to determine the new U.S. champion.  Nikita dominated the series, winning the first three matches of the series.  However Magnum rallied back and managed to tie the series at three wins apiece.  In the seventh match, Nikita scored the deciding win when he wrapped a chain around his arm and clotheslined T.A. while the referee was unconscious.  On August 17, 1986, Nikita became the new U.S. Champion.

  For nearly a year, Koloff maintained a stranglehold on the U.S. championship.  On September 28, 1986, he defeated National Champion Wahoo McDaniel to unify both belts into the U.S. Title.  He feuded with Ronnie Garvin but in many fans' minds, it was only a matter of time before Magnum T.A. would make a run at Nikita's title. However a car accident in October 1986 left Magnum paralyzed and unable to ever wrestle again (he would eventually recover his ability to walk but he never wrestled again).  In the meantime, Nikita had begun to respect Magnum T.A. and he began to rethink his attitude towards wrestling.

     On October 24, 1986, Nikita shocked the world when he appeared as Dusty Rhodes' surprise partner in a cage match against J.J. Dillon and Ole Anderson.  Nikita immediately became a babyface and formed a tag team with Dusty Rhodes known as The Super Powers.  The Super Powers' success peaked on April 11, 1987 when Nikita and Dusty won the Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament. 

     While the fans were delighted with Nikita's change of heart, Uncle Ivan felt otherwise.  Feeling betrayed, Ivan Koloff brought in Vladimir Petrov and Dick Murdoch to end Nikita's career.  Murdoch nearly ended Nikita's career when he piledrived Koloff on the cement but Koloff escaped with just a neck injury.  The neck injury helped Lex Lugar during his bid for the U.S. Title.  On July 11, 1987, Nikita defended his belt against Lugar in a cage.  Wrestling injured, Nikita was unable to stop Lugar and lost the U.S. Title after holding it for nearly a year.

     After losing the U.S. Title, Nikita bounced back and won the World Television Title from Tully Blanchard on August 27, 1987.  Once again, he partcipated in a unification bout, this time defeating Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) Television Champion Terry Taylor to unify the two television titles.  Koloff would hold on to the TV Title until when he dropped the belt to Mike Rotunda on January 30, 1988.  After Paul Jones' Russian Assassins attacked his uncle Ivan, Nikita teamed up again with him to exact revenge.

   While Koloff experienced tremendous success in the ring, his concerns were with his wife Mandy Smithson, who was dying from Hodgkin's Disease.  Koloff's ring appearances became less frequent until finally he announced his retirement from the ring.  His wife passed away in 1989 and Koloff all but disappeared from wrestling with the exception of a very brief appearance in the American Wrestling Association (AWA).

    Koloff returned to WCW at the February 1991 WrestleWar pay-per-view where he attacked Lex Lugar.  The two began feuding over Lugar's U.S. title.  After an unsuccesseful run at the U.S. title, Koloff feuded with Sting before leaving WCW. In August 1991, Koloff turned his attention from wrestling to running gyms (known as "Nikita's Fortress of Fitness"). In April 1992, Koloff was back in WCW, teaming with Sting to battle the Dangerous Alliance, feuding with Rick Rude over the U.S. title, and battling Vader before an in-ring injury ended Nikita's career. 

  A born-again Christian,  Koloff now works as a touring preacher.  He made a brief return to wrestling in Total Nonstop Action (TNA) but has largely remained out of the wrestling spotlight.