Ed Farhat

At 78 years old, Ed Farhat has this physical status:

Edward George Farhat (June 7, 1926-2003) was a professional wrestler best known for his ring name The Sheik (occasionally referred to him as The Original Sheik, which refers to him from The Iron Sheik, who debuted in 1972).

He is also one of the pioneers of the hardcore wrestling style, as the promoter of Big Time Wrestling, and Sabu's uncle are both wrestling wrestlers.

Early life

Edward George Farhat was born one of ten children in Lansing, Michigan, on June 7, 1926, to Lebanese immigrants. He did not attend college, unlike some of his older brothers, according to the legend. Edmund, his older brother, did, which is where the confusion usually takes place. Edward left school in the eighth grade and spent time in the midst of depression. He falsified his birth certificate in order to join the Army (possibly using his older brother Edmund's birth certificate), but he was not admitted until he was 18 years old. He proudly served his country, and was honorably discharged in 1946 after 18 months of service.

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Professional wrestling career

Farhat's first match was actually as good as old Eddie Farhat in January of 1947. After starting in the US Army, Farhat began to wrestle in the Chicago area as The Sheik of Araby, the privileged son of a wealthy, aristocratic Middle Eastern family. He also formed a tag team with Gypsy Joe, where they both won the NWA Midwestern Tag Team Championship in 1954, eventually moving to Texas. The Sheik had a reputation for obnoxious "gimmick" wrestlers when he first appeared in Chicago, but the Sheik had bailed out of the arena and hid under a bus, but the Sheik bailed from the match and hid under a bus. The event's buzz helped bring the Sheik name to a new degree. He travelled to New York for Vincent J. McMahon, where he collaborated with Dick The Bruiser and Bull Curry in rivalry against Mark Lewin and Don Curtis, as well as Antonino Rocca and Miguel Pérez's team in Madison Square Garden. Buddy Rogers defeated the Sheik in a 2 out of 3 falls match at the Cincinnati Gardens on August 18, 1961.

The Sheik's wrestling revolved around his reputation as a wealthy wild man from Syria. In real life Farhat was a Maronite Christian). He would use stalling tactics before each match, as he kneels on a prayer rug to chant to Allah. He'll lock on choke holds and refuse to break them, and instead use a camel clutch hold that leads to submission. If he used a chinlock, he'd be forced to wait over his opponent's back. To crack open his opponents' faces, he used hidden pencils (where he'll wrap masking tape around it for improved control) and other "foreign objects" to cut open his opponent's faces. Farhat's forehead was swollen by the tactic's backlash and his opponent got The Sheik's pencil. The other unlawful move was his fireball that he hurled into his opponents' faces, sometimes causing their face to be charred (he had paper cut with lighter fluid soaked in lighter fluid that he quickly lit with a cigarette lighter hidden in his trunks). Except for incomprehensible mutterings, he didn't talk on camera. Joyce's wife, Joyce, appeared in the role of his vain princess Saleema, who would scream incense in the ring at the start of his career. During his career, he had three different bosses cut promotions on his behalf. Abdullah Farouk was his first manager, but Eddy Creatchman became his boss when Farouk worked full time in the WWF. Sheik had Supermouth Dave Drason when Creatchman was unable to work with him later in his career.

The Sheik made his World Wide Wrestling Federation's return to 1965. He had a 20-minute draw with Édouard Carpentier on September 25, 1967. With then-champion Bruno Sammartino, he was welcomed into the WWF in 1968 for championship matches. Sheik won the first via count out in November 28, and he lost to Bruno in a Texas Death Match by submission on December 9, a bloody mess. In January and February 1969, Sammartino and Sheik had a series of matches, one sellout the day after a crippling snow storm, and public transport was not yet restored. They competed in three steel cage matches, one in Philadelphia and two in Boston. He lost to WWF Champion Pedro Morales by counting out at Boston Garden on November 18, 1972.

In Big Time Wrestling in Detroit, the Sheik's biggest rivalry was his apparent 30-year feud with Bobo Brazil. The two rivals feuded over Sheik's version of the United States Championship, with Cobo Hall regularly selling out Cobo Hall. This is a preview of what I like to Hurt People, a "documentary" film. The two groups fought in multiple markets, most prominent Memphis, Tennessee, and Los Angeles, California. Fred Blassie, his other significant rival in Los Angeles, was his sister. In the Grand Olympic Auditorium, Sheik and Blassie met several times, even in cage matches. The Sheik was playing a match when a fan pulled a gun and shot him three times. Fortunately, the gun did not go off and the fan was arrested; the gun was fired later in the shooting range when police checked it.

He began wrestling in 1969 and was undefeated in 127 matches at Maple Leaf Gardens, where he was undefeated for 129 matches. During Andre's first extensive tour of North America in 1974, he defeated Whipper Billy Watson, Lou Thesz, Gene Kiniski, Bruno Sammartino, Ernie Laddd, Chief Jay Strongbow, Ernie Ladd, Ernie Ladd, Ernie Ladd, Ernie Ladd, Ernie Ladd, Chief Jeet Singh, Johnny Valentine, and even André the Giant. Andre put an Ende to Sheik's winning streak in August 1974 by disqualification. In 1976, he lost by pinfall to Thunderbolt Patterson and Bobo Brazil. Sheik appeared on televisions until 1977, but her company has dropped sharply in the last three years. Following Whipper Billy Watson's demise in 1971, few fans were aware that he was actually the booker in Frank Tunney's role. He served as the promoter at Cobo Hall in Detroit for many years. Dave McKenney, an indy promoter who lived in Toronto, and he operated his own Big Time Wrestling promotion out of his home near Lansing, Michigan, as business in Toronto fell.

Sheik, who has been inactive in his work, has moved to Japan to work. His operation was fruitful, but management was in financial crisis, so Sheik jumped to Baba's All Japan Pro Wrestling. He then hopped to Inoki's New Japan Pro-Wrestling, but he was forced to return to wrestling full-time in Detroit a year later. He returned to All Japan in 1977, teaming and feuding with Abdullah the Butcher. He has collaborated with Baba, Ricky Steamboat, and Kintaro Ohki. Terry Funk, Jr., and Terry Funk, Jr., all showed butcher and Sheik with his arm in a sling, converting the foreign Funks into opponents in Japan. They clashed in Birmingham, Alabama, where they waited outside the Boutwell Auditorium, where they halted traffic until the police broke it up.

Big Time Wrestling in Detroit stopped operations in 1980. Throughout the 1980s, Sheik competed for various countries and Japan. He had his first heart attack while boarding a taxi in Japan. He mainly competed in Japan for Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling and had numerous deadly death matches from 1991 to 1995. The Sheik had a "fire deathmatch" with Sabu against Atsushi Onita and Tarzan Goto, where the ring wires were replaced with flaming barbed wire. Farhat was a third-degree burnt and went into a coma, nearly dying. He had a brief appearance in Extreme Championship Wrestling in 1994, where he competed with Pat Tanaka against Kevin Sullivan and The Tazmaniac at The Night the Line Was Crossed. He defeated Damián 666 for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling's 6th Anniversary show on May 5, 1995, which would have been his last match. Farhat was his boss when Sabu joined WCW in 1995. Farhat's leg was broken by the wrestlers during a match with Jerry Lynn, who was wrestling as "Mr. JL" at the time, causing him to withdraw from the sport altogether, prompting him to ban in-ring wrestling. When he was 72 years old, FMW held his formal retirement party in Japan, drawing 56,000 people then retiring to his estate.

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