Joseph Cabibbo (born May 21, 1974) is an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

currently wrestling under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

s Josef and Josef Samael on the

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective noun, collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor lea ...

and in

Major League Wrestling Major League Wrestling (MLW), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in New Rochelle, New York. The promotion was founded in 2002 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by former WWE writer Court Bauer. The promotion markets its product as ...

(MLW) as a member of

Contra Unit Contra Unit is a Heel (professional wrestling), villainous professional wrestling Stable (professional wrestling), stable in Major League Wrestling (MLW) and Southern Honor Wrestling (SHW). It consists of Ikuro Kwon and Mads Krügger. In SHW (where ...

with

Jacob Fatu Jacob Fatu is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Major League Wrestling. He is a former one-time MLW World Heavyweight Champion and his reign is the longest in the title's history at 819 days. He also performs on the independen ...

Simon Gotch Seth Lesser (born October 18, 1982) is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Simon Gotch. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he held the NXT Tag Team Championship as one-half of The Vaudevillains along with A ...

, and Ikuro Kwon. He is a one-time

NWA World Heavyweight Champion The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is Tyrus, who is in ...

and (Zero1) World Heavyweight Champion, making him an overall two-time

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in major

professional wrestling promotions A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling that has little relationship to the rules of the amateur olympic form. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails manag ...

Professional wrestling career

Full Impact Pro Wrestling (2006–2008)

Cabibbo debuted in

Full Impact Pro Full Impact Pro (FIP) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is currently part of the World Wrestling Network (WWN) along with Shine Wrestling. Sal Hamaoui founded the company and serves as the President while Trevin Adams is the ...

(FIP) as Joey Machete in February 2006, teaming up with Shawn Murphy and losing to Seth Delay and Chasyn Rance. They won their first match against

Tony Mamaluke Charles John Spencer (born July 19, 1977) is a retired American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Tony Marinara and with Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrest ...

and Chad Parham the following day. In April, they won a three-way tag team match, featuring the Heartbreak Express and the Y.R.R. They began a streak of victories and beat the Heartbreak Express to become tag team champions. They lost their titles against the Heartbreak Express. They left the promotion in August 2008, after losing a hardcore match against

The Dark City Fight Club The Dark City Fight Club are a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Jon Davis and Kory Chavis. History In March 2008, Jon Davis teamed with up Kory Chavis as The Dark City Fight Club (DCFC) in Full Impact Pro (FIP). They were revealed ...

Pro Wrestling Fusion (2008–2010)

Cabibbo, working under the ring name The Sheik, has made the Florida promotion Pro Wrestling Fusion his home. Originally going by the new Sheik Ali Azzad, Cabibbo shortened the name, after receiving the blessing of Sabu, the nephew of the original Sheik. He won the NWA Florida Heavyweight Title by defeating Freedom Ryder on the inaugural show on May 3, 2008, in Ft. Pierce Florida. He also developed a feud with Steve Madison, who defeated the Sheik for the NWA Florida Heavyweight Title on February 2, 2009, inside a steel cage. The Sheik regained the NWA Florida Heavyweight Title from Madison on August 1, 2009.

National Wrestling Alliance (2009–2011)

The Sheik debuted in the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...

's NWA Midwest in September 2009, attacking NWA Midwest Heavyweight champion,

Silas Young Caleb DeWall (born August 9, 1979) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Silas Young. He was last contracted for Ring of Honor, where he is a two-time ROH World Television Champion, although he has not appeared on ...

at a RWF (Rebellious Wrestling Federation) show in Ashton IL. He then defeated Silas to win the championship. He was scheduled for a World Title match against

Blue Demon, Jr. Blue Demon Jr. (born July 19, 1966) is a Mexican professional wrestler. He is the adopted son of the original Blue Demon and is the first Mexican and the second masked wrestler to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship thus making him a one-t ...

to be held in

Cicero Stadium Cicero Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Asmara, Eritrea. The stadium was designed by Malaysian architect, Michael KC Cheah, who went onto consult on the construction of Oman's Royal Oman Police Stadium. With a capacity of 6,000, it is current ...

Chicago Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, but Blue Demon backed out of the match. Silas Young, on the other hand, did sign up to wrestle the Sheik and defeated him in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on December 4, 2009, at ACW Homecoming. Sheik defeated Young to become a two time NWA Midwest Heavyweight Champion on December 5, 2009. On January 30, 2010, The Sheik defeated "El Gran" Apollo to become the new NWA North American Heavyweight Champion. On April 23, 2011, he defeated

Colt Cabana Scott Colton (born May 6, 1980), better known by the ring name Colt Cabana, is an American professional wrestler, color commentator, and podcaster. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a wrestler and as a coach, and he performs the same d ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

to become the 44th officially recognized

. He was stripped of the title on July 11, 2011. Officially, the NWA announced that Sheik had refused to defend the title on July 31, 2011, in Ohio, however Sheik's camp says he was never scheduled for the title defense.

Pro Wrestling Zero1 (2011–2012)

On May 23, 2011, The Sheik made his debut in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

for

Pro Wrestling Zero1 (stylized as Pro Wrestling ZERO1), formerly known as Pro Wrestling Zero-One and Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max (stylised in all capital letters) and often referred to simply as Zero1, is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded in 2001. I ...

. He returned to the promotion on July 3, defeating

Ryouji Sai (born Choi Young-ii June 3, 1980) is a Japanese professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and promoter who currently owns and operates Pro Wrestling Land's End, where he is a former All Asia Heavyweight Champion. He is best known for working fo ...

in a match, where both his NWA World Heavyweight Championship and Sai's World Heavyweight Championship were on the line, to become the new World Heavyweight Champion. He would go on to lose the title to

Kohei Sato is a Japanese professional wrestler contracted with Pro Wrestling Zero1. Sato is also a former mixed martial artist. Career A former judoka and amateur wrestler, Sato made his transition to mixed martial arts after meeting Kazunari Murakami a ...

on November 6, 2011.

Independent circuit (2013–present)

Sheik only wrestled about a dozen matches between 2013 and the end of 2015. Starting in January 2016 he started wrestling frequently for a newly founded Southern California promotion

PCW Ultra PCW Ultra is an American independent professional wrestling promotion based in Los Angeles, California. The company predominantly features several different styles of professional wrestling such as hardcore wrestling, lucha libre, and catch wres ...

. His first matches for the promotion involved a feud between himself and

Montel Vontavious Porter Hassan Hamin Assad (born Alvin Antonio Burke Jr.; October 28, 1973) is an American professional wrestler and manager currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name MVP (standing for Montel Vontavious Porter) and ...

. On January 20, 2017, his newly formed team

Warbeast Rigor Mortis was an American thrash/speed metal band that formed in 1983 in the Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas metroplex. History Two schoolmates, Harden Harrison (drums) and Casey Orr (bass), formed the band when they met Mike Scaccia (guitar ...

, with

won the PCW Tag Team Championship. The faction would grow to include

Brody King Nathan Troy Blauvelt (born March 17, 1987), better known by his ring name Brody King, is an American professional wrestler and musician signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The House of Black. King was previously signed t ...

and they would defend them under Freebirds rules. King has since left the promotion, signing with

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was so ...

in 2019, but Fatu and Sheik still hold the tag titles to this day.

Major League Wrestling (2019–present)

Sheik debuted for

(MLW) under the name Josef Samael, in February 2019 at ''SuperFight'', alongside his frequent tag team partner

. However, this match would not be aired on ''

MLW Fusion ''MLW Fusion'' is a professional wrestling television program produced by Major League Wrestling (MLW) that originally premiered on April 20, 2018 on beIN Sports USA. On November 10, 2022, the series began streaming on Pro Wrestling TV. A thir ...

''. The duo of Fatu and Josef would make their debut appearance on ''Fusion'' on March 2, 2019, forming the heel stable Contra Unit with

. They debuted by attacking

MLW World Heavyweight Champion The MLW World Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by Major League Wrestling (MLW). It is the promotion's principal championship. The championship was established on September 26, 2002 during the MLW Re ...

Tom Lawlor Thomas Joseph Lawlor (born May 15, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, retired mixed martial artist and podcast host. He is best known for his time in Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he was a former one-time MLW World Heavyweight Cham ...

following his cage match against

Low Ki Brandon Silvestry (born September 6, 1979) is an American professional wrestler of Italian and Puerto Rican descent, better known by his ring name Low Ki. He is known for his time with Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor and Major League Wrestlin ...

. The following week, Contra Unit attacked

Ace Romero Justin Romero (born May 1, 1990) is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Ace Romero. He is best known for his tenure with Impact Wrestling, where he performed under the ring name Acey Romero. He has previously wrestled ...

during his match with Gotch. After that, they had various feuds, but suddenly disappeared before War Chamber, not witnessing the end of his stable.

Championships and accomplishments

All Pro Wrestling All Pro Wrestling is an American professional wrestling promotion and training school, based in Hayward, California. The company was founded by Roland Alexander and managed by him until his death on November 5, 2013. It is located 45 miles so ...

APW Tag Team Championship The APW Tag Team Championships were introduced on November 20, 1996, when Michael Modest and Steve Rizzono became the first to win the titles. They defeated Frank Dalton and Joe Applebaumer in the finals of an eight team tournament to win the tit ...

(1 time, current) - with Jacob Fatu *American Wrestling Federation ** AWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Shawn Murphy *

Cauliflower Alley Club The Cauliflower Alley Club is a non-profit fraternal organization, which includes a newsletter and website, comprising both retired and active professional wrestlers and boxers in North America. Established in 1965 by Mike Mazurki and Art Abram ...

**Men's Wrestling Award (2015) *Coastal Championship Wrestling ** CCW South Eastern Championship (1 time) ** CCW Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Shawn Murphy *DEFY Wrestling ** DEFY Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Jacob Fatu *Florida Alliance Wrestling ** FWA Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Shawn Murphy *Four Star Championship Wrestling ** FSCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Shawn Murphy *

FIP Tag Team Championship The FIP World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship owned by the independent professional wrestling promotion Full Impact Pro (FIP). It was created and debuted on April 22, 2005, at FIP's The Usual Suspects ...

( 1 time) - with Shawn Murphy *

Future of Wrestling Future of Wrestling was an American independent wrestling promotion based in southern Florida starting during the late 1990s. Founded by Bobby Rogers, the promotion was a predecessor of Full Impact Pro, Independent Pro Wrestling and NWA Florida a ...

** FOW Tag Team Championship ( 3 times) - with Shawn Murphy **

FOW Heavyweight Championship The FOW Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling title in American independent promotion Future of Wrestling. The title was created when "Ram Man" Johnny Evans won the title in Miami, Florida on May 1, 1998. It was defended throughout ...

( 1 time) *Intense Florida Wrestling ** IFW Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Shawn Murphy *Maximum Xtreme Pro Wrestling ** MXPW Television Championship (1 time) ** MXPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Shawn Murphy *

NWA Florida Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it closed down. It is also referred to as ...

NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship The NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship was a major title in Championship Wrestling from Florida, USA and is now the major title in NWA Florida Wrestling Alliance. It started in 1937 and was abandoned in 1949. It was picked back up in 1966 by C ...

(

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) **

NWA Florida Tag Team Championship The NWA Florida Tag Team Championship is the primary tag team title in NWA Florida Underground Wrestling. It started out in 1968 as the main tag team title in Championship Wrestling from Florida Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was ...

( 1 time) - with Christopher Gray *

NWA Midwest The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA began as a governing body for a g ...

** NWA Midwest Heavyweight Championship (

) *PCW Ultra **PCW Ultra Tag Team Championship (1 time, current) - with Jacob Fatu *Pro Wrestling Fusion **

NWA North American Heavyweight Championship The NWA North American Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship created by the National Wrestling Alliance in 1994 after World Championship Wrestling withdrew from the NWA. There were various regional versions of the Nort ...

( 1 time) **

NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is Tyrus, who is in ...

( 1 time) *

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publish ...

**PWI ranked him #103 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishi ...

in 2011 *

** World Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) **

( 1 time) *Pro Wrestling Zero1 USA **NWA/AWA/Zero1 USA Unified Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *United States Xtreme Wrestling ** USXW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Shawn Murphy

References

External links

Cagematch profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samael, Josef 1974 births American male professional wrestlers Living people NWA World Heavyweight Champions NWA Florida Heavyweight Champions 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers NWA North American Heavyweight Champions