Vladimir Kozlov/Oleg Prudius makes Impact Wrestling appearance

Oleg Prudius, formerly known as Vladimir Kozlov in WWE, made a surprise appearance on Thursday's Impact Wrestling.

Prudius aligned with Dirty Dango on this week's episode in a match to determine the first and 20th entrants in the Call Your Shot Gauntlet match at Bound for Glory on October 21. 

Prudius attacked Champagne Singh, Eric Young, and Jake Something in aiding Dirty Dango to a victory in a five-way match on Thursday's show that also involved Jordynne Grace. As a result of the match, Dango will enter the Gauntlet 20th, while Something must enter first.

It was the first on-screen appearance for Prudius since a cameo in March of this year. The former WWE star also served as a foreign-language commentator for the company in 2021.

54 years old, Prudius last wrestled in 2012 in a handful of bouts in Japan after being released by WWE in 2011. He was signed to the company in 2006 and spent time in the OVW and DSW developmental territories, also getting main roster house show looks as early as his debut year prior to joining the main roster full time in 2008.

With a legitimate sambo and kickboxing background, Prudius was a highly-touted pro wrestling prospect who was brought to WWE's attention by Jerry Jarrett. 

His most high-profile WWE run came on the SmackDown brand in 2008 where he debuted with a long singles winning streak in squash matches, then was ultimately placed in the WWE Championship picture alongside Triple H and Jeff Hardy. 

His lone WWE title reign came with the company's Tag Team titles from December 2010 to February 2011 with Santino Marella as a comedy duo after he had been phased down as a serious singles competitor.