Edward George Farhat (June 7, 1926 – January 18, 2003) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name The Sheik (often called The Original Sheik to distinguish him from The Iron Sheik, who debuted in 1972). Farhat is credited as one of the originators of the

hardcore wrestling Hardcore wrestling is a form of professional wrestling where disqualifications, count-outs, and all other different rules do not apply. Taking place in usual or unusual environments, hardcore wrestling matches allow the use of numerous items, inclu ...

style. He was also the promoter of Big Time Wrestling, and the uncle of ECW wrestler Sabu. Farhat promoted his shows at Cobo Hall in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

and was the booker for Frank Tunney's shows at

Maple Leaf Gardens Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was initially constructed in 1931 as an arena to host ice hockey games, though it has sinc ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

from 1971 to 1977.

Early life

Edward George Farhat was born one of ten children in Lansing, Michigan, on June 7, 1926, to Lebanese immigrants. Unlike most of his older brothers, he did not attend college as myth says. His older brother Edmund did, which is where the confusion usually takes place. Edward quit school in the eighth grade and worked during the depression. He falsified his birth certificate in order to join the Army (possibly using his older brother Edmund's birth certificate) but eventually was drafted when he was 18. He proudly served his country and after 18 months of service was honorably discharged in 1946.

Professional wrestling career

Early life and career (1947–1960s)

Farhat's first match was actually as good old Eddie Farhat in January of 1947. It took a few years to start to develop the gimmick he is so fondly remembered by. Farhat started out wrestling in the

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

area as The Sheik of Araby after having served in the U.S. Army, the privileged son of a wealthy, aristocratic Middle Eastern family. He also formed a tag team with

Gypsy Joe Gilberto Meléndez (December 2, 1933 – June 15, 2016) was a Puerto Rican professional wrestler better known under the ring name Gypsy Joe. While attaining much of his United States success in the Tennessee area, Meléndez also gained a following ...

, where they both captured the NWA Midwestern Tag Team Title in 1954, eventually moving to Texas. During his early career, in what could've been his biggest match at the time, the Sheik was set to face

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 i ...

Lou Thesz Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz (April 24, 1916 – April 28, 2002) was an American professional wrestler. He was a three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and held the title for a combined total of 10 years, three months and nine days (3,749 ...

in Chicago for his title, but Thesz had a reputation for embarrassing " gimmick" wrestlers so The Sheik bailed from the ring and hid under a bus. The publicity from the event helped push the Sheik character to a more prominent level. He went to New York for Vincent J. McMahon where he teamed with

Dick The Bruiser William Fritz Afflis (June 27, 1929 – November 10, 1991) was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and former NFL player, better known by his ring name, Dick the Bruiser. During his NFL days he played four seasons with the Green Bay Pac ...

and

Bull Curry Fred Thomas Koury Sr. (May 2, 1913 – March 8, 1985) was an American of Lebanon, Lebanese descent who was best known as a Professional wrestling, professional wrestler under the name ”Wild Bull” Curry. He is recognized as the originator of t ...

in feuds against

Mark Lewin Mark Lewin (born March 16, 1937) is an American retired professional wrestler. Early life Lewin was born in Buffalo, New York. He had two elder brothers, Donn and Ted, both of whom also became professional wrestlers. He attended Lafayette Hi ...

and

Don Curtis Donald B. Curtis (born Donald Beitelman) (May 22, 1927 – March 6, 2008) was an American professional wrestler, best known for being a member of a tag team with Mark Lewin in the 1950s and 1960s. During his partnership with Lewin, they won the ...

as well as the team of Antonino Rocca and Miguel Pérez in Madison Square Garden. On August 18, 1961, The Sheik was defeated by Buddy Rogers in a 2 out of 3 falls match at the Cincinnati Gardens.

The Sheik's gimmick (1949–1980s)

The Sheik's wrestling was centered on his character of a rich wild man from Syria. Clad with his keffiyeh, before each match, he would use stalling tactics as he would kneel on a prayer rug to pray to Allah (in real life Farhat was a

Maronite Christian Lebanese Maronite Christians ( ar, المسيحية المارونية في لبنان; syc, ܡܫܝܚܝ̈ܐ ܡܪ̈ܘܢܝܐ ܕܠܒܢܢ) are adherents of the Maronite Church in Lebanon, which is the largest Christian denomination in the country ...

). He would lock on choke holds and refuse to break them, and use a camel clutch hold leading to submission. The hold would have him sit over his opponent's back as he applied a chinlock. He used hidden pencils (where he would wrap masking tape around it for better grip) and other "foreign objects" to cut open his opponent's faces. Often, the tactic backfired and the opponent got The Sheik's pencil, leading to the extensive scarring on Farhat's forehead. The other illegal move was his fireball that he threw into his opponents' faces, sometimes burning their face severely (he had pieces of paper soaked in lighter fluid which he quick lit with a cigarette lighter hidden in his trunks). He didn't speak on camera, apart from incomprehensible mutterings. At the start of his career, his wife Joyce played the part of his valet Princess Saleema who would burn incense in the ring. He had three different

managers Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

during his career to cut promos on his behalf. His first manager was Abdullah Farouk but when Farouk managed full-time in the WWF, Eddy Creatchman became his manager. When Creatchman was unable to work with him later in his career, Sheik had Supermouth Dave Drason.

World Wide Wrestling Federation (1965–1969, 1972)

In 1965, the Sheik made his return for the

World Wide Wrestling Federation Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. was an American sports promotion company. It was run by Vincent J. McMahon from 1953 to 1982. Operating as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing ...

. On September 25, 1967, he had a 20-minute draw with

Édouard Carpentier Édouard Ignacz Weiczorkiewicz (russian: Эдуард Виецз; July 17, 1926 – October 30, 2010) was a French-born Canadian professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Édouard Carpentier. Over the course of his career, Carpentier he ...

. In 1968, he was brought into the WWWF for title matches with then-champion

Bruno Sammartino Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino (October 6, 1935 – April 18, 2018) was an Italian-born American professional wrestler, best known for his work with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, now WWE). There, he held the WWWF World Heavywe ...

. They met three times in Madison Square Garden—Sheik won the first via count out on October 28, he was disqualified in the second November 18, and he lost to Bruno in a Texas Death Match via submission when Bruno grabbed a foreign object (pen) and hammered Sheik's arm to a bloody pulp on December 9. Sammartino and Sheik also had a series of matches in Boston in January and February 1969, including one sell out the day after a crippling snow storm, and public transportation not yet restored. They fought in three steel cage matches one in Philadelphia and two in Boston. On November 18, 1972, he lost to WWWF Champion

Pedro Morales Pedro Antonio Morales (October 22, 1942 – February 12, 2019) was a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the United States with Worldwide Wrestling Associates (WWA) and the World Wide Wrestling Federatio ...

by count out at

Boston Garden The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (lat ...

Noteworthy feuds and matches (1960s–1980)

The Sheik's biggest feud was his seemingly career-long conflict with Bobo Brazil in Big Time Wrestling in Detroit. The two feuded over Sheik's version of the United States Championship, frequently selling out Cobo Hall. This is seen briefly on the "documentary" movie, ''I Like to Hurt People.'' The two took the feud to several markets, most notably

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, and

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. His other major opponent in Los Angeles was

Fred Blassie Frederick Kenneth Blassman (February 8, 1918 – June 2, 2003) was an American professional wrestler and manager, known by the ring name "Classy" Freddie Blassie. Renowned as "The Hollywood Fashion Plate","Classy" Freddie Blassie with Keith Elliot ...

. Sheik and Blassie faced off several times, including cage matches in the

Grand Olympic Auditorium The Grand Olympic Auditorium is a former sports venue in southern Downtown Los Angeles, California. The venue was built in 1924 at 1801 South Grand Avenue, now just south of the Santa Monica Freeway. The grand opening of the Olympic Auditorium ...

. In 1967, the Sheik was wrestling a match when a fan pulled a gun and tried to shoot him three times. Fortunately, the gun didn't go off and the fan was arrested; the gun later fired when police tested it at a shooting range. Starting in 1969, he also wrestled regularly in

, where he was undefeated for 127 matches at

. He defeated the likes of Whipper Billy Watson,

Gene Kiniski Eugene Nicholas Kiniski (November 23, 1928 – April 14, 2010) was a Canadian athlete who played football for the Edmonton Eskimos and then became a three-time professional wrestling world heavyweight champion. "Canada's Greatest Athlete", as he b ...

, Ernie Ladd, Chief Jay Strongbow, Tiger Jeet Singh,

Johnny Valentine John Theodore Wisniski (September 22, 1928 – April 24, 2001), better known by his ring name Johnny Valentine, was an American professional wrestler with a career spanning almost three decades. He has been inducted into four halls of fame fo ...

and even

André the Giant André René Roussimoff (; 19 May 1946 – 28 January 1993), better known by his ring name André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. Roussimoff was known for his great size, which was a result of gigantism caused by excess ...

during Andre's first extensive tour of North America in 1974. It was Andre who put an end to the Sheik's Toronto winning streak in August 1974 by disqualification. In 1976, he lost by pinfall to Thunderbolt Patterson and Bobo Brazil. Sheik continued to headline most shows in Toronto until 1977, but business dropped off significantly over the last three years. Few fans were aware of the fact that he was actually the booker within Frank Tunney's promotion following the retirement of Whipper Billy Watson in 1971. He was also the promoter at Cobo Hall in Detroit for many years. As business in Toronto failed, he worked for indy promoter Dave McKigney in Ontario and ran his own Big Time Wrestling promotion out of his home near Lansing, Michigan. Late in his career, Sheik ventured to a promotion in Japan. His run was successful, but management was in financial ruin, so when the company went bankrupt, Sheik jumped to Baba's

All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba ...

. He then jumped a year later to Inoki's

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV ...

, but had a falling out with Inoki, and left Japan to return to wrestling full-time in Detroit. He returned in 1977 for All Japan, teaming, and feuding with, Abdullah the Butcher. He also teamed with Baba,

Ricky Steamboat Richard Henry Blood Sr. (born February 28, 1953), better known by his ring name Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his work with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), Jim Crockett Promot ...

, and

Kintaro Ohki Kim Il (Korean: 김일; Hanja: 金一; February 24, 1929 – October 26, 2006), also known as his ring name Kintarō Ōki (Japanese: 大木金太郎), was a South Korean professional wrestler, and Ssireum (Korean wrestling) player. He spent his ...

. His match with Abdullah the Butcher against Dory Funk, Jr. and

Terry Funk Terrence Funk (born June 30, 1944) is an American retired professional wrestler, rapper, disc jockey and actor. Funk is known for the longevity of his career – which spanned more than 50 years and included multiple short-lived retirements – ...

where Terry fought off Butcher and Sheik with his arm in a sling is credited for turning the foreign Funks into faces in Japan. A match between the two in Birmingham, Alabama, saw them battling out of the Boutwell Auditorium, where they held up traffic until the police broke it up, described as "just classic, bloody mayhem.”

Later career (1980–1998)

In 1980, Big Time Wrestling in Detroit ceased operations. Sheik wrestled for various territories throughout the United States and Japan through the 1980s. It was while in Japan that he suffered his first heart attack while boarding a taxi. From 1991 to 1995, he mainly wrestled in Japan for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling and had various dangerous death matches. On May 6, 1992, The Sheik had a "fire deathmatch" with Sabu against

Atsushi Onita is a Japanese actor, politician, and semi-retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) and is credited with introducing Japan to the deathmatch style of professional wrestling. He founded ...

and

Tarzan Goto , better known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestled on the independent circuit most of his career. He is best known for his exploding steel cage matches against Atsushi Onita in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling ( ...

, where the ring ropes were replaced with flaming barbed wire. Farhat got third-degree burns and went into a coma, nearly dying. In 1994, he had a brief run in

Extreme Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media company that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrest ...

where he teamed with

Pat Tanaka Patrick Tanaka (born August 5, 1963) is an American professional wrestler best known for his work in the American Wrestling Association as one half of Badd Company and the World Wrestling Federation as one half of The Orient Express. He is the s ...

against Kevin Sullivan and The Tazmaniac at

The Night the Line Was Crossed The Night the Line Was Crossed was a professional wrestling live event produced by Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) on February 5, 1994. The event was held in the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. Excerpts from T ...

. On May 5, 1995, he defeated

Damián 666 Leonardo Carrera Gómez (born July 9, 1961) is a Mexican professional wrestler best known under the name Damián 666. He has worked for World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW), Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CM ...

for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling's 6th Anniversary show in a brief match, which ended up being his last. When Sabu joined WCW in 1995, Farhat joined him as his manager. During a match with

Jerry Lynn Jeremy Lynn (born June 12, 1963), better known by the ring name Jerry Lynn, is an American retired professional wrestler currently signed with All Elite Wrestling as a producer and coach. He has worked for promotions such as World Championship ...

, who was wrestling as "Mr. JL" at the time, Farhat's leg was broken by the wrestlers during a spot he was previously unaware of, forcing him to cease in-ring competition. In 1998, FMW held his official retirement ceremony in Japan which drew 56,000 people, when he was age 72, then retiring to his estate.

Death

Farhat died of heart failure around 3:15 AM at a Williamston, Michigan, hospital on January 18, 2003, having been admitted to that hospital earlier that year after a short illness. He was 76 years old, and at the time of his death was at the midst of writing his autobiography. Several publications, including ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', noted that Farhat was 78 years old at the time of his passing. He is buried at the Mount Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Williamston, Michigan.

Legacy

In his later years, Farhat provided extensive interviews to his biographer with the intent of publishing a book on his life. These interviews provided a highly explosive look into the world of wrestling, especially on the early days of the WWWF/WWF and Japanese wrestling organizations. As a result, the interviews and draft book were sealed at the time of his death. The book titled Blood And Fire by Brian A Solomon was released in April 2022 by ECW Press. It is full of information on Farhat`s life and career. TheSheik1972Cropped

The Sheik was seen as one of professional wrestling's biggest box office attractions, and as a pioneer of "

" which became a major part of professional wrestling in the 1990s. On March 31, 2007, The Sheik was posthumously inducted into the

WWE Hall of Fame The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which honors professional wrestlers and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE. Originally known as the "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when André the Giant was posthumously i ...

by his nephew, Sabu, and

Rob Van Dam Robert Alexander Szatkowski (born December 18, 1970) is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (frequently abbreviated to RVD). He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling ...

, who he had trained. Most notably, he and Freddie Blassie trained boxer Muhammad Ali before Ali's famous "boxer vs wrestler match" with Antonio Inoki in 1976 in Tokyo. He also trained Greg Valentine and

Scott Steiner Scott Rechsteiner (born July 29, 1962), better known by the ring name Scott Steiner, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Steiner is perhaps best known for his time in World Championshi ...

, including independent stars such as "Machine Gun" Mike Kelly. Farhat was also known for short-changing wrestlers and employees on pay-outs, but he would also be a benefactor to a friend in need; according to Harley Race, after his wife died in an automobile accident and he was forced to take time off early in his career, The Sheik mailed him a check every week for a year until he could return to work. Farhat also had a reputation for living his gimmick everywhere; he didn't answer promoter phone calls for "Ed", not even for potential booking, telling the promoters "no Ed lives here". His wife, and former valet, Joyce, died on November 27, 2013, in Michigan, after being ill for some time. They are buried at Mount Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Williamston, Michigan. He was also the uncle of Michael Farhat, who worked as Mike Thomas in Detroit. Thomas committed suicide in 1978 at age 27. The Sheik's son Tom died on October 2, 2020, from kidney cancer at 57, and his eldest son Ed Farhat, Jr. - who wrestled under the name "Captain Ed George" - died from complications of COVID-19 on March 22, 2021, at the age of 70.

Championships and accomplishments

50th State Big Time Wrestling 50th State Big Time Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Hawaii or Mid-Pacific Promotions) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Ha ...

NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship The NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and is defended in the US state of Hawaii. The title, which is still currently defended, began in 1935. From February ...

( 1 time) *

**World's Strongest Tag Determination League Outstanding Performance Award (1978) – with Abdullah the Butcher & Tor Kamata **World's Strongest Tag Determination League Exciting Award (1981) – with

* Big Time Wrestling ** NWA United States Heavyweight Championship ''(Detroit version)'' ( 12 times) *

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 Abra ...

**Other honoree (

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

) * Central States Wrestling ** NWA United States Heavyweight Championship ''(Central States version)'' ( 1 time) *

Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989, by Atsushi Onita as (FMW). The promotion specializes in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fire. They held their f ...

** WWA World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) *

International Championship Wrestling International Championship Wrestling was an independent professional wrestling promotion based in Lexington, Kentucky that operated from 1978 until 1984. It was run by Angelo Poffo, the father of Randy Savage and "The Genius" Lanny Poffo. Thro ...

** ICW United States Heavyweight Championship ( 2 times) *

Japan Wrestling Association The was the first professional wrestling promotion to be based in Japan. It operated from 1953 to 1973. History JWA under Rikidōzan (1953–1963) Rikidōzan, a former ''rikishi'' ( sumo wrestling practitioner) who had debuted as a Western-s ...

** NWA United National Championship ( 1 time) *International Wrestling Association (Montreal) **

IWA International Heavyweight Championship The MAC World / International Heavyweight Championship was a Canadian professional wrestling championship created and sanctioned by the Montreal Athletic Commission (MAC). While the Commission sanctioned the title, it did not promote the events in ...

(3 times) *

Maple Leaf Wrestling Maple Leaf Wrestling was the unofficial name in the 1970s and 1980s of the professional wrestling promotion run by Frank Tunney in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. History Queensbury Athletic Club The promotion, initially known as the Queensbury Athl ...

** NWA United States Heavyweight Championship ''(Toronto version)'' (

4 times "4 Times" (stylized as "4 TIMES") is the 50th single by pop/ R&B singer Koda Kumi. It was released on August 17, 2011 and debuted at No. 6, remaining on the Oricon charts for nine consecutive weeks. In commemoration of it being the fiftieth singl ...

) * National Wrestling Alliance ** NWA Hall of Fame (Class of 2010) * NWA Hollywood Wrestling **

NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship The NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship was the top singles championship in the National Wrestling Alliance's Los Angeles territory, known officially as NWA Hollywood Wrestling, from 1968 until the promotion closed in 1982. The title was first es ...

( 2 times) *

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 Publi ...

PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year This is a list of both active and inactive ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' awards which are voted on by ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') readers every year from 1972 onwards, expanding to more categories in later years. Unlike other wrestling ...

(1972) **PWI ranked him #368 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the " PWI Years" in 2003 * Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum **Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (Class of 2011) *

World Class Championship Wrestling World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), later known as the World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA) (1986–1991) was an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed ...

NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship The NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling title that has existed since the 1930s. Though its exact date of creation isn't known, it is among the oldest championships used in professional wrestling today. The title has us ...

( 1 time)* * World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment ** WWWF United States Heavyweight Championship ( 2 times) **

(Class of 2007) *

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four W ...

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame The Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON) Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling and mixed martial arts hall of fame that recognizes people who make significant contributions to their professions. It was founded in 1996 by Dave Meltzer, editor of t ...

(Class of 1996)

References

Sources

*Birthday https://wrestlerdeaths.com/the-sheik-death *Tributes II by

Dave Meltzer David Allen Meltzer (born October 24, 1959) is an American journalist who reports on professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Since 1983, he has been the publisher and editor of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON''). He has als ...

, 2004, , pp 83–93

External links

WWE Hall of Fame Profile of The SheikThe Sheik at Find a Grave
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheik, The 1926 births 2003 deaths 20th-century professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers American people of Lebanese descent Big Time Wrestling (Detroit) Sportspeople from Lansing, Michigan Professional wrestlers from Michigan Professional wrestling managers and valets Professional wrestling trainers Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum Professional wrestling promoters People from Williamston, Michigan Sportspeople of Lebanese descent WWE Hall of Fame inductees FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champions NWA United States Heavyweight Champions (Toronto version) NWA Americas Heavyweight Champions NWA United National Champions