Dark Sheik

Sam Khandaghabadi, better known by her ring name Dark Sheik (sometimes stylised as DARK Sheik) is an American professional wrestler currently working as a freelancer and is best known for her tenure with Game Changer Wrestling, All Pro Wrestling and various other promotions from the American independent scene. She is also the founder of Hoodslam, an avantgarde style promotion based out of Oakland, California.

Professional wrestling career

American independent circuit (2001–present)

Khandaghabadi made her professional wrestling debut in Big Time Wrestling at a house show promoted on September 20, 2005, under the ring name of "Sheik Khan Abadi", where she fell short to Mike Silva in singles competition. She known for her tenures with various promotions from the American independent scene with which she has shared brief or longer stints such as All Pro Wrestling, Devil Mountain Wrestling, North American Wrestling and West Coast Pro Wrestling.

At ''Kitsune Gong!'', the first-ever event promoted by Kitsune Women's Wrestling on October 22, 2023, she competed in a three-way match for the inaugural Kitsune World Championship won by Unagi Sayaka and also involving Tae Honma.

Hoodslam (2010–present)

In 2010, Khandaghabadi founded the Hoodslam promotion as a regular gathering for wrestlers who wanted to perform edgier acts for adults. Hoodslam performances combine the athleticism and tropes of professional wrestling with more bizarre, absurd characters, as well as profanity, sexuality, and public consumption of drugs and alcohol, which are not considered appropriate at mainstream professional wrestling events. As a result, entry to Hoodslam shows is restricted to those aged 21 years or older.

In Hoodslam, she is a former three-time Best Athlete In The East Bay Championship, a former Hoodslam Golden Gig Champion and a former Intergalactic Tag Team Champion, title which she has won on two separate occasions, both alongside Vipress and Anton Voorhees, stablemates of the "Caution" unit.

Game Changer Wrestling (2020–present)

Dark Sheik made her debut in Game Changer Wrestling at ''GCW Effy's Big Gay Brunch 2020'' on October 10, where she fell short to Still Life With Apricots And Pears in singles competition.

Dark Sheik competed in various signature events of the promotion. She made her first appearance at the 2022 edition of the Joey Janela's Spring Break, where she competed in the traditional Clusterfuck Battle Royal won by The Second Gear Crew (AJ Gray, Mance Warner and Matthew Justice) and also involving various notable opponents, both male and female such as Jimmy Wang Yang, Joey Janela, Josh Barnett, Kamikaze, LuFisto, Maven and others. At The Wrld on GCW on January 23, 2022, she competed in a Pabst Blue Ribbon Kickoff Battle Royal won by Big Vin and also involving Psycho Clown, Ruckus, Janai Kai, B-Boy, Thunder Rosa and many others.

Dark Sheik competed for various titles promoted by GCW. At ''GCW The Coldest Winter 2'' on February 3, 2024, she unsuccessfully challenged Blake Christian for the GCW World Championship. At ''GCW Ashes To Ashes 2024'' on March 9, she teamed up with Sawyer Wreck as "Xunt" and unsuccessfully challenged Violence Is Forever (Dominic Garrini and Kevin Ku) for the GCW Tag Team Championship.

At ''GCW Vs. DDT'', an event co-promoted alongside DDT Pro-Wrestling on March 31, 2023, Dark Sheik defeated Saki Akai.

Personal life

Khandaghabadi came out publicly as a trans woman during a Hoodslam show in 2019. She was born in Alpharetta, Georgia, in an Iranian-American family and has an older brother. Her mother passed away of cancer in 1994. Along with her professional wrestling life, Khandaghabadi said she had also trained in martial arts and participated in the adult film industry.

Championships and accomplishments

*Devil Mountain Wrestling
**DMW Championship (4 times)
**DMW Triple X Championship (1 time)
**ACE Unified Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Alexis Darevko
* Hoodslam
** Best Athlete In The East Bay Championship (2 times)
** Hoodslam Golden Gig Championship (1 time)
** Intergalactic Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Vipress (1), Juice Lee (1) and Anton Voorhees (1)
*North American Wrestling
**NAW American Championship (2 times)
**NAW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Alexis Darevko
*Paris Is Bumping
**Paris Is Bumping Grand Prize Championship (1 time)
*Piledriver Pro Wrestling
**PPW Golden State Championship (1 time)
* '' Pro Wrestling Illustrated''
**Ranked No. 184 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the '' PWI 500'' of 2023
**Ranked No. 116 of the top 150 female singles wrestlers in the '' PWI Women's 150'' in 2021
*Wrestling Pro Wrestling
**WPW Midcard Championship (1 time)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheik, Dark
1985 births
21st-century female professional wrestlers
American female professional wrestlers
American people of Iranian descent
21st-century American sportswomen
LGBT professional wrestlers
Living people
People from Alpharetta, Georgia
Sportspeople from Alpharetta, Georgia
Transgender sportswomen
American transgender sportspeople
LGBT people from Georgia (U.S. state)
Professional wrestlers from Georgia (U.S. state)