- 14/5/2025
Dave
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01:01The Sheik lived a life of violence, mystery, and a strict devotion to the secrets of wrestling.
01:07He created a shroud of secrecy around his personal life so that he could be fully immersed as the Sheik of Araby, the wild man from Syria.
01:17Even his grandkids called him Sheik.
01:19And if you called him anything else, he wouldn't answer to it.
01:21But as a promoter and a star,
01:23the Sheik made sure he always came out on top,
01:27even as that star began to fade.
01:29The Sheik is a cautionary tale
01:31for what happens when you've got a dragon and nobody ever slays.
01:36So far, it's been the Sheik all the way.
01:39He just didn't accept the fact that he was getting old
01:42and that he was no longer the top of the wrestling heap.
01:45And it almost cost him his life.
01:49A lot of pain.
01:50He kept it real, you know what I mean?
01:53And he couldn't walk away.
01:55He had so much love for the business.
02:00I have no doubt he would have liked to die in the ring.
02:15At 229 pounds of Arabia, the Sheik.
02:22I've been a lifelong fan of the Sheik
02:24because the first time I saw him,
02:26I was struck by the aura, the presence,
02:28the magnitude of the original Sheik himself.
02:32I'm Jim Cornette.
02:34Before my 40-year career in pro wrestling,
02:37I was a fan of the original Sheik.
02:40When the Sheik would come into the arena,
02:42the mood would change.
02:43The fans would sense that something was different.
02:46He had an aura.
02:47He had a presence.
02:48You could feel it.
02:49The greatest example was in 1988
02:53at the Kobo Arena in Detroit.
02:56All the fans in the arena,
02:58you could tell they were tensing up.
02:59They were waiting for something.
03:01All of a sudden, in comes a stretched limousine.
03:04It was amazing.
03:06He pulled all the way onto the floor of the arena
03:08where everybody in the building could see.
03:11And the driver gets out and opens the door
03:13and out steps the Sheik in the headdress
03:16and a three-piece suit
03:18and dozens of gold chains around his neck.
03:22And the place erupted.
03:23Oh, my God, it's him.
03:25There's a match going on.
03:27People are getting drop-kicked and thrown around.
03:29They don't care about that.
03:30They want to see the Sheik.
03:34And he walks right into the locker room
03:36with a bunch of people carrying his bags.
03:38That set the tone for the evening.
03:39The Sheik is in the building.
03:42Something like this.
03:44He was the greatest
03:45in almost every category.
03:48Not because he's my uncle.
03:49He proved that he was.
03:51I have said, ooh, I'm the nephew of the Sheik.
03:53He made people believe.
03:55Even though they thought
03:56they knew wrestling was bullshit,
03:57they knew he wasn't.
04:00Sheik laid down the foundation
04:02for what would be called the hardcore wrestling.
04:07My name is Rob Van Dam.
04:10I was trained by the original Sheik
04:12to be a pro wrestler.
04:14He's still influencing the business now.
04:17There's so many characters
04:19that have been influenced
04:20by something that he did.
04:23Right into the throat.
04:24Stretching him out.
04:25Look, he went down.
04:26He has an almost inhuman expression.
04:29Oh, I can't.
04:30Modern wrestling fans are used to chaos.
04:32They're used to simulated violence.
04:34They're used to furniture breaking
04:36and people being run over with cars.
04:38That didn't happen in the wrestling
04:41of the 50s, 60s, and 70s
04:43because credibility was foremost.
04:46Believability.
04:47This is best two out of three falls.
04:48When the Sheik debuted full-fledged,
04:51he would still wrestle.
04:53They're pummeling each other.
04:55Sheik could wrestle.
04:56Here's the leg torture hold.
04:58You know, he didn't become the Sheik
05:00in one night.
05:00It took a while.
05:01In need of a character
05:02to make himself memorable,
05:04Ed Farhat draws on his ethnic background
05:07to turn himself into a villain
05:09that will shock Middle America.
05:11People actually were frightened
05:14of this Arab madman
05:17because Arabs in those days,
05:21they were something very, very strange
05:23and very foreign.
05:24The Sheik.
05:25You always had foreigners in wrestling.
05:28They were dark and mysterious
05:30from other lands.
05:31The Great Togo.
05:33And that's what the Sheik built on
05:35throughout the entire decade
05:37of the 1950s.
05:41This image as a rich
05:43but insane Middle Eastern Sheik.
05:47The Sheik from Arabia.
05:49Can you imagine the arrogance
05:50of the Sheik?
05:51Early on, he had a slave girl
05:53that he brought to the ring.
05:55It was his wife, Joyce,
05:56but her name was Princess Salima.
05:59He makes this woman kiss his boot.
06:01And he would berate her
06:03and abuse her.
06:05He's slapping her, Bill.
06:06And then he would take his time
06:08to kneel down and do his prayers
06:11where he would pray to Allah
06:14for the strength to overcome his opponent.
06:17He would only do his prayers
06:19when the audience was respectful and quiet.
06:22And so if he thought anybody
06:23was making any noise,
06:24he would stop and then start over.
06:27But as the gimmick got wilder
06:28and crazier,
06:30much of the wrestling
06:31left the matches
06:32and instead it was all chaos.
06:34What's he got in his hand?
06:36He would pull out a stick
06:37or a pencil out of his tights
06:39and he would stab
06:40the opponent in the head with it.
06:42Looks like a panda or something.
06:44He'd be throwing chairs into the ring
06:47and tear it up ringside.
06:49Not a crowd pleaser, exactly.
06:52It was chaotic as it could be.
06:54It was fight on the floor,
06:56fight with a chair.
06:58It was everything but a wrestling match.
07:01My name is Dory Funk Jr.
07:02and I used to wrestle with the Sheik.
07:06Sheik always and forever
07:08stood for blood and gore.
07:11Every time that I hit him with the fork,
07:14blood was shooting from his arm
07:16or from his head.
07:19This is brutal fans.
07:21This is Abdul of the Butcher.
07:23I have wrestled the Sheik.
07:25We knew for a fact
07:26that the fans were scared of us.
07:28He was annihilated in that ring.
07:30We did a lot of shit.
07:32And then when finally
07:34when the Sheik got stabbed
07:35with his own pencil
07:36and he started bleeding,
07:38the people would go out of their minds.
07:41Yes, yes.
07:42You're going to pay Sheik.
07:44You go ahead, burn me.
07:45Burn them all.
07:46One of the things
07:47that caused the most commotion
07:49was when the Sheik would throw fire.
07:52The Sheik has got that fire.
07:54How?
07:55He's burned them badly.
07:56That was explained by the promoters
07:58and the announcers
07:59that the Sheik knew some way
08:00to magically produce fire
08:02from his fingertips.
08:04What it was
08:04was magician's flash paper
08:06with a little incendiary thing
08:08that you could hide on your finger.
08:10He always kept it in his trunk.
08:12Then when he hit it...
08:14And in the arena,
08:16the match might be crazy enough
08:18and people would be screaming.
08:19But when the fire came out...
08:21How?
08:22How?
08:22Hey, slow down.
08:24All right, all right, all right, all right.
08:24A gasp would erupt from the people.
08:27And he throws fire!
08:30He's throwing fire.
08:32I still got a mark.
08:33Come on.
08:34I'm serious.
08:35Yeah, look at that.
08:36You see it?
08:37If I wouldn't have turned my head,
08:38I would have been blind today.
08:40It was like the ancient gladiator days
08:43and like the Roman Coliseum.
08:45It turned so badly
08:46that now they bring the stretcher...
08:47A lot of people say
08:48that the Sheik was the originator
08:50of hardcore wrestling.
08:52Bull Curry was doing
08:54the same kind of thing
08:55in the 40s,
08:56but the Sheik popularized it.
08:58He made it more mainstream.
09:00He made it more profitable.
09:02An ugly situation.
09:04And the crowd loved to hate him, right?
09:05I think he fed off that.
09:07Oh, what terrific action in here now!
09:10There was a lot of animosity
09:11back in the day,
09:11you know, being that he was
09:12a first-generation Lebanese-American.
09:15We were wondering a moment ago
09:16if the Sheik understood English.
09:18My grandmother and grandfather
09:20was born in Lebanon.
09:22So when they came into the stretcher,
09:24they came to Detroit.
09:26Detroit and Lansing
09:27was a pretty big hub
09:28for Arabs at the time.
09:30He was known in the neighborhood
09:31as a tough kid
09:32that you didn't want to cross.
09:33That's just who he was.
09:34As a young kid,
09:36he wasn't even old enough
09:37to enlist in the Army,
09:39but he lied on his application.
09:42And once he was in the Army,
09:44he did some boxing
09:45and some wrestling there.
09:46After he was in the military
09:49and came back,
09:50he went into the trades
09:51a little bit
09:51and he taught himself
09:52how to do electrical work.
09:54Then he met Burt Ruby,
09:56who was a promoter.
09:58And in training with him,
10:00they developed the thought
10:02because of his Arab descent.
10:03It would make a lot of sense
10:04for him to take on
10:05this Sheik persona.
10:07242 pounds, the Sheik!
10:10In an era where most wrestlers
10:12maintained their characters
10:13outside of the ring,
10:15the Sheik takes
10:16his dedication
10:17to a whole new level.
10:19Kayfabe in wrestling
10:20was the aura of believability.
10:24And the Kayfabe mindset
10:26meant that you were,
10:28to everyone in public,
10:29always to present
10:30the personality
10:31that you claimed to be
10:32on television
10:33and at the wrestling matches.
10:35From the time
10:36that the Sheik first
10:37found this gimmick,
10:39he started removing proof
10:41of who he was really.
10:43The Sheik took it
10:44to the extreme,
10:45probably to the most extreme
10:47it's ever been taken.
10:48He has put himself
10:49in some hypnotic state.
10:51He was committed
10:53to not expose
10:55the Sheik
10:56because that was just
10:58anti-Kayfabe.
11:01He never used
11:03his real name.
11:04If you called
11:05the Sheik's house
11:06and you asked for Ed,
11:07he would hang up on you.
11:08You had to ask,
11:09is Sheik there?
11:10Sheik?
11:11That's all you heard
11:12was the Sheik?
11:13Yeah,
11:13when we'd have dinner,
11:15he had the wrestlers over
11:16and one table
11:17in the other room
11:18was the heels
11:18and the baby faces
11:19in the other room.
11:20I was thinking,
11:21why are all the bad guys
11:22sitting together
11:22and why are all the good guys
11:23sitting together?
11:25But then I figured it out.
11:26He was kayfabing.
11:27He would always kayfabe
11:28even when it wasn't necessary.
11:32When the Sheik
11:32was out in public,
11:34I mean,
11:34he didn't speak to
11:36people he didn't know
11:37at a restaurant or something.
11:40You know,
11:40he was a man of few words.
11:42And any time a waiter
11:43or waitress
11:44would come by
11:45and be within earshot,
11:46he'd switch it
11:47right back to Arabic.
11:49He became a character.
11:51And in his mind,
11:53that's kind of being a con.
11:56And he milked it
11:57for all it was worth.
11:59I think the Sheik
12:00had realized
12:01that he had hit on
12:02a gimmick
12:03that was once in a lifetime.
12:05Truly the wild man
12:06of professional wrestling.
12:08If he protected it,
12:09if he worked it,
12:10if he always
12:11embodied that character,
12:14there it goes again,
12:16right into the throat.
12:17That he would always be
12:19the top heel in wrestling.
12:21He would always make
12:22a ridiculous amount of money.
12:25But Ed Farr
12:26had some wavering commitment
12:27to living his life
12:28as the Sheik.
12:29Oh,
12:29oh,
12:29oh,
12:29oh,
12:30oh,
12:30oh,
12:31oh,
12:31oh,
12:32it often leads
12:33to dangerous encounters
12:34with fans
12:35who believe
12:36the madness is real.
12:38A lot of fans
12:40were violent towards him.
12:43He would leave shows
12:43and have fans
12:44try to attack him
12:45outside the shows.
12:46He had people stab him.
12:47One fan broke
12:50in the dressing room
12:51and my uncle
12:52had his blade on him.
12:54And I was there
12:54and the guy
12:55who came to my uncle
12:56started saying shit
12:56and my uncle
12:57just sift him
12:58like a give a Z
12:59and he cut him
13:00to the bone.
13:01Almost the insides
13:02came out.
13:03And in the newspaper,
13:05the explanation
13:06they gave
13:07for the fans' injuries
13:09was that he had been
13:10knocked through
13:10a plate glass window
13:12in the process
13:13of being apprehended.
13:14because the sheik
13:16had just ripped him
13:17from one end
13:18to the other.
13:20There was a night
13:21in Amarillo, Texas
13:23where the sheik
13:24got so much heat
13:25that a guy
13:25pulled a gun on him
13:26at point-blank range.
13:29The fans were stirred
13:30into a frenzy
13:31by the sheik.
13:34Kill him!
13:35Kill him!
13:42A lot of times
13:43when the sheik
13:43was on the car,
13:44the local promoter
13:45might beef up
13:45the police,
13:46the security.
13:49There was one night
13:50in Amarillo,
13:51a guy pulled a gun
13:52on him
13:52and tried to fire
13:54and the gun jammed
13:56and the cops tackled
13:58the guy.
13:58And when they took
13:59the guy in
14:00and arrested him,
14:01the policeman,
14:03trying to see
14:03why the gun
14:04had jammed,
14:05fired the bullet.
14:07If the guy
14:07had pulled the trigger
14:08one more time,
14:09he would have got
14:10the sheik.
14:11A lot of top wrestlers
14:12that were heels
14:13had that much heat,
14:15but the sheik
14:15caused riots
14:17everywhere he went
14:18and sheik wasn't
14:19scared of anything.
14:21With the sheik
14:22drawing crowds
14:23in arenas
14:23all over North America,
14:25Ed Farhat looks
14:26to elevate his career
14:28as a promoter.
14:29That's where you made
14:30the money in pro wrestling,
14:31owning the thing.
14:33You got first count.
14:34In 1964,
14:36the sheik buys
14:37Detroit's big-time wrestling,
14:39packing the famed
14:40Kobo Arena
14:41with fans.
14:42But in business,
14:43like in the ring,
14:44he never breaks character.
14:46When sheik took over,
14:48nobody knew
14:49that he owned
14:49the promotion.
14:50He made his father-in-law,
14:52Francis Fleischer,
14:53the figurehead promoter,
14:55and the sheik
14:55called the shots
14:56in the ring.
14:57And there's
14:58the camel clutch.
14:59Sheik's wife,
15:00Joyce,
15:00handled the paperwork
15:01and ran the office.
15:04Yeah,
15:04Grandma was definitely
15:05the matriarch
15:06of our family
15:07and she was the boss.
15:10They were always
15:11a team,
15:12even behind the scenes.
15:13You know,
15:13she was lockstep
15:14with him in the business.
15:16In the mid-1960s,
15:18the city of Detroit,
15:19Michigan,
15:19had money
15:20and they knew
15:21and liked wrestling.
15:22The Kobo was
15:22a 12,000-seat building
15:24and they were coming
15:26close to her
15:26filling it up
15:27on most occasions.
15:29The sheik
15:29before 12,500 fans
15:31in the Detroit Kobo Arena.
15:33The sheik
15:34was a thinking businessman.
15:37He was the very first
15:39promoter in the country
15:40who bought
15:41a mobile TV truck
15:42and he's gonna film
15:44his own matches
15:45at arenas
15:45where he's already at.
15:47So now you don't have
15:48to pay the TV studios anymore.
15:51The Kobo Arena
15:52in Detroit
15:53was the hottest
15:54building for pro wrestling
15:55in the country.
15:56He outdrew
15:57the Detroit Pistons
15:59who played there.
16:00Any concert
16:01that played there.
16:02Here's a man
16:02who set more
16:03attendance records
16:04around the country
16:05than any other
16:05wrestler alive.
16:06Every major name
16:08that worked
16:08for the N.W.A.
16:09would come to Detroit
16:11to wrestle for the sheik.
16:12It was like
16:13the WWE of the time.
16:15It was a place
16:15where everybody
16:15wanted to work
16:16and the guys
16:16made most money there
16:17and it was
16:18the most popular.
16:19He had power.
16:21He had pull.
16:21So it was just
16:22an onslaught
16:23of top stars
16:24from every part
16:25of the country
16:26on the cards.
16:27And when you
16:28own the promotion,
16:29you can double
16:30sell tickets.
16:31You can put stuff
16:31in your pocket.
16:32Unless there's
16:33a State Athletic
16:34Commission inspector
16:35there,
16:35nobody knows
16:36how much money
16:37you took in.
16:38And it's all
16:38in cash.
16:40Four and five
16:40and six dollars
16:41at a time.
16:42Thousands of people.
16:44In 1973,
16:46the sheik
16:46reported income
16:48of $400,000
16:49on his income tax.
16:51That's the equivalent
16:52of over $2 million
16:53in today's money.
16:55That's what he reported.
16:57No wrestler
16:58in the world
16:59made as much money
17:00as the sheik.
17:01The sheik was
17:02everything back then.
17:04He was a first-generation
17:04Lebanese American.
17:05He built his empire
17:07and his career
17:08from the ground up.
17:10And I think that is
17:10the American dream, right?
17:11The sheik spares
17:14no expense,
17:15draping himself
17:16in luxury
17:17to sell the image
17:18of a man
17:19who is powerful,
17:20untouchable,
17:21and rich.
17:23He had one house
17:23and he had another
17:25house built,
17:25a giant house.
17:27And it was like
17:28four floors,
17:29indoor pool,
17:30gym,
17:31five or ten acres
17:31of woods and creek
17:32and stuff.
17:33It was beautiful.
17:33Sauna in the house.
17:35I think it had
17:3635 rooms in it.
17:37It was a big place.
17:39And I go to myself,
17:40holy shit.
17:41He worked hard
17:42for a living
17:42and I think he did
17:43like to play hard.
17:44He liked cars,
17:46suits,
17:47jewelry,
17:47traveling.
17:48He definitely enjoyed
17:49being successful.
17:51He had a Lincoln
17:52and that was kind
17:54of his signature vehicle.
17:56He had about
17:56a thousand suits.
17:57He wore a different
17:57suit every day.
17:59No matter what's hot,
17:59cold,
18:00he wore it every day.
18:00It was his style.
18:02The man was not
18:02afraid of color
18:04and you could always
18:05find him when he
18:06wasn't wrestling
18:06with tons of jewelry
18:07on, tons of rings,
18:09lots of necklaces.
18:10You're an entertainer,
18:12right?
18:13You have to look
18:13the part.
18:15You understand?
18:16He was a fake.
18:16He acted like
18:17he was royalty.
18:18He was reckless.
18:19He would go buy
18:20anything he thought
18:21he wanted.
18:22I mean,
18:22because he had
18:23no idea of any
18:24limitations about
18:25him at all.
18:26He was a
18:27fabulous businessman.
18:29But I'm going to
18:30tell the honest truth.
18:32He had one weakness.
18:33Gambling all the money
18:36that he had.
18:38Las Vegas would
18:40wipe him out.
18:42I mean,
18:42just like any
18:43other gambler,
18:45you know,
18:45you always think
18:45you can win.
18:47You may win here
18:48or there,
18:49but it's always
18:49the house wins.
18:51He lived big
18:52and he had to
18:54keep up the gimmick.
18:56Insisting he remain
18:57the top draw,
18:59the Sheik books
19:00himself to headline
19:01nearly every show.
19:03The United States
19:04heavyweight champion
19:05has held that title
19:05longer than any other
19:07U.S. heavyweight champion
19:08in the history of the belt.
19:10There is a lot of truth
19:12to the idea
19:13that the main event
19:14star in wrestling
19:15should lose
19:16only rarely
19:17so that when you do it,
19:19then that gets you
19:20over as the guy.
19:21But the Sheik
19:21took it to extremes
19:23and the Sheik felt
19:25that if anyone
19:26was to conclusively
19:27defeat him,
19:29that it would take
19:29his heat away
19:30and it would
19:31diminish his aura.
19:32The Sheik has
19:33got a million tricks
19:34so don't count him out.
19:36If you're able
19:37to decide
19:38who's going to be
19:38on the card
19:39and who's not
19:39going to be on the card,
19:40why would you not
19:41assume that he would
19:41be the main event?
19:43The United States
19:44heavyweight champion,
19:45the Sheik.
19:46He would sell
19:46for wrestlers,
19:48he would bleed for them,
19:49he would do
19:50all those things,
19:51but you couldn't
19:52beat him.
19:53The Sheik
19:53never did a job
19:55and that
19:56was what made
19:57it even more shocking
19:59on the rare occasion
20:00that he would.
20:02One of the few times
20:03the Sheik agrees
20:04to lose a match
20:05comes at a volatile
20:06moment in Detroit's history.
20:091967,
20:11the city of Detroit
20:11had riots.
20:13Four days of rioting,
20:15looting, and arson
20:16rocked the city of Detroit.
20:18It was over a situation
20:19where the police
20:20had raided a certain bar
20:22in an African-American area
20:24and the riots
20:25lasted for several days.
20:28The Sheik's
20:28number one baby face,
20:30his star attraction
20:31as a hero,
20:32was a guy named
20:33Bobo Brazil.
20:35Sheik saw an opportunity
20:36there because
20:37at the Kobo,
20:39the crowds
20:39were black and white.
20:41Like a lot of places
20:42in the United States
20:42in the 60s,
20:43the only place
20:44that you would go
20:45and see a really
20:46integrated audience
20:47was at the wrestling matches.
20:48In the late 1950s,
20:51early 60s,
20:52down in the South,
20:53the whites and the blacks
20:54were separated.
20:55And the blacks
20:56were usually separated
20:58to the upper tiers
20:59of the arena.
21:00And they had chicken wire
21:03or something like that
21:04put up in front of them.
21:06And at one point,
21:07the Sheik was on
21:08one of those shows
21:09and he crawled up
21:11that chicken wire
21:12and tore it down
21:13and invited the black folks
21:15to come down
21:16into the arena floor.
21:17He was that kind of guy.
21:20Being that he was
21:20a Lebanese American,
21:21he experienced racism
21:23himself growing up.
21:24You know,
21:24he felt it.
21:25And I think that
21:26once he reached
21:27a position where he was
21:28able to help other people,
21:30he took advantage of it.
21:32Once the riots started,
21:34the Sheik thinking,
21:35what can I do
21:36to calm things down,
21:39to help?
21:40So in that arena
21:41that night,
21:42you know,
21:42there was at least
21:4310,000 people
21:44and there was not only
21:45whites and blacks
21:46and every kind
21:47of ethnicity
21:48in that arena
21:50that night,
21:50they were all one.
21:52Hoping that Bobo Brazil
21:54could beat the Sheik.
21:55You're watching
21:56the championship bout.
21:58Bobo Brazil
21:58and the wild man
21:59from Syria,
22:00the Sheik.
22:00And when Bobo
22:02finally beat the Sheik,
22:03the place exploded
22:09like I've never seen before.
22:11Doing that,
22:12the Sheik helped
22:14heal the city
22:14in Detroit.
22:16It settled down
22:17the tensions
22:18in the town.
22:19And of course,
22:20Sheik beat him
22:20two weeks later
22:21and won it back.
22:23The match will stay
22:25the end for the Sheik.
22:26Once responsible
22:28for the promotion's
22:29greatest success,
22:30eventually,
22:31the Sheik becomes
22:32a liability
22:33for big-time wrestling.
22:35If you have a hot heel
22:36that can't be stopped,
22:38everybody wants
22:39somebody to stop him.
22:40But then,
22:41if it goes on
22:42for so long
22:43that the people
22:44become convinced
22:45that nobody
22:46can stop him,
22:47they'll stop coming
22:48to see somebody try.
22:49It's the winner
22:50with a camel clutch,
22:51the Sheik!
22:55Past 1975,
22:56the auto industry
22:59was starting
23:00to have problems.
23:02The economy
23:02started to take effect.
23:04That's why
23:06big-time wrestling
23:07started to fail,
23:08because people
23:08really didn't have
23:09that extra money
23:10to spend
23:11to see wrestling.
23:13It was just
23:13a domino effect
23:15of the economy
23:16and the promotion,
23:18not drawing fans.
23:20The Sheik always
23:21lived big.
23:22The custom-made suits,
23:23the jewelry,
23:24the stretch limousines,
23:25the handlers,
23:26the helpers.
23:27Suddenly,
23:28with business
23:29going down,
23:30he didn't have
23:30the money coming in
23:32to cover the money
23:34going out.
23:35How do you
23:35maintain that lifestyle?
23:38Unfortunately,
23:39he couldn't
23:39keep it up.
23:48The Sheik took off
23:50and ran away.
23:51By the mid-1970s,
23:54The Sheik's
23:54Detroit promotion
23:55big-time wrestling
23:56is struggling financially
23:58and its woes
23:59take a toll
24:00on locker room morale.
24:02A lot of guys
24:02got pissed
24:03because either
24:04they were promised
24:05things that they
24:06weren't getting
24:06or they could just
24:07see the business
24:08going down
24:09and they started
24:10no-showing the cards.
24:12I remember a time
24:13when Bruno Sammartino
24:15came to Kobo Arena.
24:17If you were
24:18an East Coast guy,
24:19you're a Bruno fan.
24:21You know,
24:21Bruno was everything.
24:23And after the show,
24:25Bruno says,
24:25hey,
24:26you want to go out
24:26to dinner with me?
24:27So I'll never forget,
24:28we went to this
24:29Chinese restaurant
24:30and I go,
24:31I hear you're going
24:32to be back here
24:32in two weeks,
24:33you know,
24:33in a return match
24:34against the Sheik.
24:35He says,
24:36I'm going to tell you
24:36something,
24:37but don't say anything
24:38to anybody else.
24:39I'm not coming.
24:40The Sheik promised me
24:42$2,000 to come tonight
24:43and he gave me
24:44a check for $800.
24:46So I'm not showing up.
24:49Money wasn't coming in
24:50and he couldn't afford
24:51to pay the wrestlers
24:53what they thought
24:54they were worth.
24:55Big-time wrestling
24:56had lost TV
24:56in some of their
24:57other markets.
24:57Finally,
24:58they lost TV
24:59in Detroit.
25:00It was somewhere
25:00around late 1980.
25:02That was the last event
25:04that big-time wrestling
25:05ran in the Kobo Arena,
25:06the house that Sheik built.
25:08One of the most popular
25:10places to see wrestling
25:11in the United States
25:12for the previous 15,
25:1320 years.
25:15Couldn't run it anymore.
25:16That was pretty much
25:17the end of big-time wrestling.
25:19Unfortunately,
25:20he wasn't making that money.
25:21He was still spending it.
25:23And so the only thing
25:25that saved him
25:25was the Japanese tours.
25:27Because Giant Baba
25:29and All Japan Pro Wrestling
25:30brought the Sheik
25:31to Japan.
25:33Japan was the biggest
25:34moneymaker
25:35in professional wrestling
25:36for a long time.
25:39The Sheik had been
25:40in all these pictures,
25:41the fire
25:42and the snakes
25:43and the blood
25:44and the eyes.
25:45But they'd only seen him
25:46in magazines
25:47and newspapers.
25:51They went absolutely
25:52out of their minds
25:53for the Sheik.
25:54He became an icon
25:55in a very short period
25:56of time.
25:58The great city of Tokyo,
25:59when the Sheik
26:00walks down the street,
26:01they actually stopped
26:02traveling.
26:02They were bloodthirsty.
26:06Buckets of blood,
26:07everything.
26:07They could do that
26:08in Japan
26:08and they could get
26:09away with it.
26:10But then,
26:11after a few years,
26:12again, Japanese wrestling
26:14was very highly athletic.
26:16The Sheik couldn't keep up.
26:17Baba stopped bringing
26:18him to Japan.
26:19He was not able
26:20to be booked
26:21almost anywhere else
26:22in the United States
26:23because of his age
26:25and the bridges
26:25that he had burned.
26:28And as the money
26:29dried up,
26:31pretty soon,
26:32he was just
26:32wandering around
26:34the house,
26:34a 60-something-year-old man
26:36in a dilapidated mansion
26:37that had seen
26:38its better days.
26:39I mean,
26:40he'd spent
26:40all his millions.
26:43And so he and Joyce
26:44were living
26:45in the kitchen.
26:45and I can't go
26:48into it all the way
26:49because it's embarrassing,
26:50but he was losing
26:51his money.
26:52Like,
26:52we had to sell
26:52the big house.
26:54And so he was
26:55not penniless,
26:56but he was going broke.
26:57After they left
26:58the mansion,
26:59it was still them,
27:01still two against
27:02the world,
27:03so to speak.
27:03I mean,
27:03they were a tight pair.
27:04And to me,
27:06as their grandchild,
27:06I never saw anything
27:07but my loving grandparents.
27:10All the money
27:11and all the glory
27:12and all the fame
27:13and the lifestyle,
27:14it was just
27:15not there anymore.
27:17I mean,
27:17you've been
27:18the greatest heel
27:20in the sport
27:21of professional wrestling
27:22for how many years?
27:23But now you're
27:24that older athlete
27:25who can't perform
27:27at that level anymore.
27:29You know,
27:30what's a guy to do?
27:31Now past his prime,
27:33the Sheik takes
27:34any booking he can get
27:35just to keep
27:37food on the table.
27:38He'd go to Warren, Ohio
27:39to a high school gym
27:41and do the same thing
27:42with Bobo Brazil
27:43that they had done
27:4520 years earlier
27:46in the Kobo arena
27:47instead of in front
27:48of 12,000 people
27:49it might be in front
27:50of 1,200.
27:51And he was born
27:52in the 20s
27:54and he was just trying
27:55to make a couple
27:56hundred dollars
27:57here and there
27:57just to, you know,
27:58keep food
27:59in his little kitchen.
28:00His gimmick
28:01had gotten tired
28:02and he couldn't
28:03keep it up.
28:04He was chasing
28:06a career
28:07down a rat hole.
28:08All that obviously
28:10had to play a part
28:11in a late life crisis
28:13and he was trying
28:17to recapture
28:17some former glory
28:19and try to do something
28:20to keep himself
28:21going at the same time.
28:23I'm not a psychiatrist
28:24but one would think
28:26that that had to be
28:27uppermost in his mind
28:28is how can I keep
28:30doing this
28:30for very much longer?
28:32How can I keep up
28:34the gimmick?
28:47With injury and age
28:49driving him from the ring
28:51Anything you want!
28:53The Sheik shifts
28:54to training
28:55the next generation
28:56starting with his nephew.
28:58My mom and my uncle
29:00were the two youngest
29:01so my uncle
29:02always took care
29:03of my mother
29:03walked her to school
29:04every day
29:04beat up anybody
29:05got in their way
29:05and all that stuff
29:06and my uncle
29:07used to beat up my dad.
29:09They got a divorce
29:10when I was three years old
29:11but I'd see him around
29:12when I was five or six
29:13and he'd hit my bow
29:14and mom would call my uncle
29:15my uncle would come over
29:16and beat him up
29:17and then one day
29:20he'd come up to beat him up
29:21my dad was hiding
29:22under the bed
29:22and I said
29:23that's what I'm going to do
29:24I'm going to be the Sheik
29:25and have people
29:26hiding under the bed
29:26from me.
29:28I said well
29:28I got my uncle
29:30he's more of a dad.
29:31All up until I was 19
29:33I was telling him
29:33I'm going to be a wrestler
29:34I'm going to be a wrestler
29:34but I never did nothing
29:35towards it
29:35other than amateur wrestling.
29:37I was 19 at a party
29:39and these guys
29:41started shooting
29:41one guy shot
29:44my one friend
29:44in the stomach
29:45and took off running
29:46I ran after him
29:48and grabbed him
29:48and threw him down
29:49he pushed a gun
29:52against my face
29:53and he hit my teeth
29:54and it shattered
29:54so it went in my nasal cavity
29:57and in the back
29:58of my throat
29:58and knocked out
29:59seven of my teeth
30:00so when I got shot
30:01I go now's the time
30:02I got to do it
30:02so after a couple days
30:05I got out of the hospital
30:06my mom called my uncle
30:07and said I want to be
30:08a wrestler
30:08a pro wrestler
30:09the next day
30:10he came to my house
30:11and he goes
30:11come on we're going to camp
30:12pack your bag
30:13so I got in his car
30:14a limousine by the way
30:15and he took me to his house
30:17and he goes
30:17this is the camp
30:18now you're not going to go home
30:18for another year
30:19you're going to be stuck
30:20here for a year
30:20and don't bitch
30:22when it hurts
30:22so the first seven months
30:26he had me doing chores
30:27and chopping wood
30:28and I'd set the ring up
30:29in the morning
30:30and tear the ring down
30:31at night
30:31and never get in it
30:32I never had a free minute
30:34any time he goes
30:34what are you doing
30:35I go nothing
30:35he goes okay
30:36go chop some wood
30:37he's always had me
30:38wash his car
30:38clean the house
30:39for no reason
30:40when it wasn't dirty
30:40and I never questioned him
30:43for the first year
30:44I was training
30:44he had two bad hips
30:45could hardly move
30:46I'm sure he took pain pills
30:47but he never told me about
30:48he was just a tough
30:50he was just a tough guy
30:52Sabu doesn't just follow
30:55in the sheik's footprints
30:56he carries his legacy
30:58into a new era
30:59adapting his style
31:01for a new generation
31:02Sabu did adopt
31:04a lot of the sheik's mannerisms
31:05from the headdress
31:07to the looking up
31:08and pointing in the sky
31:09and the not speaking English
31:11but Sabu of course
31:13was more acrobatic
31:15and more of a death-defying daredevil
31:17I don't think
31:20the sheik ever climbed
31:20to the top rope
31:21in 50 years
31:22but the family connection
31:24was still there
31:25and that enabled
31:27the sheik to
31:28in some cases
31:30go along with Sabu
31:31and lend his
31:32historic reputation
31:33to help get Sabu over
31:35I never copied him
31:38but he influenced me
31:39what I do
31:40is my way
31:41it resembles
31:42something he would do
31:43maybe
31:44you know
31:44with the terminus
31:44he paved the way
31:46for me
31:46but he didn't give it to me
31:48no
31:48he made me earn it
31:49and if I didn't have it
31:50he wouldn't have backed me up
31:51as Sabu's star rises
31:53he brings in a new recruit
31:55eager to learn
31:56the ways of the sheik
31:58the fans love RVD
32:02it was just the tail end of 89
32:04before my 19th birthday
32:06when we met
32:07the sheik had me
32:08get in the ring
32:09and he just like
32:11boom
32:11both hands on my throat
32:12and he just
32:13pushed me back
32:14to the corner
32:15and he's choking me
32:17you know
32:19pushing and pulling me
32:20making me move
32:23in the corner a lot
32:24and then
32:25those big eyes
32:26were looking at me
32:27and his tongue's out
32:28he was like so
32:31committed
32:32and he bit my nose
32:33and man
32:34I about peed my pants
32:36you know what I mean
32:36like it was
32:37a scary experience
32:38we would wrestle
32:41for hours
32:42then we would jump
32:43in a swimming pool
32:44his wife would make
32:45dinner
32:46it was
32:47a very personal
32:49experience
32:50that made me
32:51not a student
32:53but part of the family
32:54Sabu and I
32:56did a lot of training
32:57by ourselves
32:58during that time
32:59but Sabu was saying
33:00you know
33:01the sheik wasn't doing well
33:02or whatever
33:03and sheik would
33:05sometimes
33:05come out
33:06and sit in a chair
33:07and watch us
33:08for a little bit
33:09I'm sure there was
33:10always a part of him
33:11that wanted to get back
33:12in the ring
33:12that's just who he was
33:14and so he kind of
33:14had a renaissance
33:15in the late 80s
33:16and early 90s
33:17after years
33:20on the sidelines
33:21and two hip surgeries
33:22the sheik makes
33:23a final grab
33:24for the spotlight
33:25back in Japan
33:26with deathmatch
33:27promotion
33:28FMW
33:29he was approached
33:35to do
33:36a fire match
33:37and it wasn't
33:39a baseball stadium
33:39I want to say
33:40that held like
33:4165,000 people
33:42or something like that
33:43the idea of the match
33:44was that
33:45my grandpa
33:46wrestled with Sabu
33:47my cousin
33:47as a tag team
33:49against a Japanese
33:50tag team
33:51instead of ropes
33:52it was barbed wire
33:53and they wrapped
33:54that barbed wire
33:55with kerosene
33:56soaked linen
33:57they didn't tell me
33:58I was having a fire match
33:59until a couple days before
34:00the ring
34:01didn't all go on fire
34:03just the parts
34:03where they wanted
34:04but the fire was too big
34:05like sucked up the air
34:06in the middle
34:06and even the logo
34:07in the middle
34:08was melting on her hands
34:09and it was only in there
34:10probably five or six minutes
34:12and it was too hot
34:13they must have
34:14not anticipated
34:16the fire would get
34:17as big
34:18but they got stuck
34:20in the ring
34:20tragically
34:21the whole thing
34:22went up in flames
34:23the flames were taking up
34:27all of the oxygen
34:28so it was not only
34:30blisteringly hot
34:31but they couldn't breathe
34:32and they couldn't see
34:33and suddenly it just
34:34engulfed everything
34:36they're in the center
34:37of the ring
34:37because that's when
34:38they could get the most
34:38oxygen
34:39and Anita said to Sheik
34:42Sheik this is bad
34:43he didn't know Anita
34:45could even speak English
34:46that's when Sheik was like
34:49okay
34:50something's wrong
34:51in Japan
34:57the Sheik and Sabu
34:59find themselves
35:00trapped in a ring of fire
35:02battling for survival
35:03as a hardcore match
35:05spirals out of control
35:06they had done a practice run
35:08that afternoon
35:09and everything was fine
35:11but because it was
35:12a baseball stadium
35:13and it was outdoors
35:13winds are a factor
35:15and so when
35:17the actual match
35:18took place
35:19things were going
35:20everything was rehearsed
35:21the winds shifted
35:22flames started
35:23like going horizontally
35:25across the ring
35:26and it started melting
35:27the ring
35:27Sabu and
35:29one of the Japanese wrestlers
35:30were able to get out
35:31of the ring quickly
35:31my grandpa was
35:33locked up at that point
35:34with Anita
35:35they were in there
35:37for maybe 15 or 20 more
35:38seconds and that was
35:38a mistake
35:39they really struggled
35:41to get out of the ring
35:42it is really hard to watch
35:44because you can see
35:45he's still trying
35:46to do his job
35:47he crawls out of the ring
35:50I run around the other side
35:51I throw water on him
35:52he goes what are you doing
35:54I said I'm trying to put you out
35:55you're smoking
35:55and he goes no
35:56I gotta throw fire still
35:58I was getting his hand wet
35:58the skin is dropping off
36:01his body
36:02and he's still trying
36:04to do chic stuff
36:06you know
36:06but they'd gone too far
36:09my grandpa ended up
36:11with third degree burns
36:13over 20% of his body
36:14I was at grandma's
36:173 or 4 in the morning
36:18a call came in
36:19because the time difference
36:21with Japan
36:21and grandpa didn't really
36:22let on that
36:23he was that hurt
36:24but grandma could hear it
36:25in his voice
36:26when the chic got on the plane
36:28people in first class
36:30were disgusted
36:31because his skin
36:33was still burning
36:34and they can smell it
36:36you know
36:37it was quite the journey
36:38to get him back
36:39from Japan
36:40in a 14 hour flight
36:42back home
36:43with third degree burns
36:45all over your body
36:45I don't think most people
36:47would have honestly
36:48survived that trip
36:49I just remember
36:51he was in a wheelchair
36:52and he was wrapped
36:53like a mummy
36:54he didn't let on at all
36:56that he was hurting
36:57grandma did a lot
36:58of his care at home
36:59unbandaged him
37:01and put the cream on it
37:02and bandaged him up
37:03I'm sure he was
37:04in horrible pain
37:06that was not the end
37:08for him
37:08he was like
37:09oh I burned
37:10that's fine
37:11I'll just recover from this
37:12and I'll get back in the ring
37:13with age and injury
37:15catching up
37:16the chic fights
37:18to extend his wrestling career
37:20alongside Sabu
37:21in 1995
37:24world championship wrestling
37:26one of the two major companies
37:27in the United States
37:28has Sabu booked
37:30on a pay-per-view event
37:31and as a special attraction
37:33he brings his uncle
37:34the chic
37:35to be at ringside with him
37:37I did a flip out of the ring
37:38and I hit my opponent
37:40and his leg
37:41got stuck under me
37:42and broke his leg
37:43and there's the chic
37:4869 years old
37:50out there with a broken leg
37:52and he still threw
37:52the fireball
37:53that was part of
37:54I think him
37:55wanting to make sure
37:56that the business
37:56moved ahead
37:57it didn't matter
37:58how badly he was hurt
37:59you have to get back up
38:00and finish the match
38:01there you see the chic
38:02right at ringside
38:03it wasn't until we got back
38:04behind the curtain
38:05we had to get a wheelchair
38:06for him
38:07he never complained about it
38:08Tony the man
38:09just threw a ball of fire
38:10in the man's face
38:11at that point
38:12I think he knew his body
38:14it was time to
38:14call it quits
38:16I felt at ease
38:18that he was going to stop
38:18because I was always worried
38:19he wants one more
38:20he's going to have a heart attack
38:22or his leg's going to break again
38:23you know
38:23I was always worried about that
38:24but it was awesome
38:25because he finally says
38:27I'm going to stop
38:28you know
38:29he had reached the pinnacle
38:30of his career
38:31and it was done
38:32at that point
38:32and kind of just moved
38:33into the family life
38:34he still was the chic
38:36in public
38:36and it may have just been
38:38like out of habit
38:39because he had been doing it
38:40for like literally 30 years
38:42after devoting so much
38:44of his life
38:44to the wrestling business
38:46Ed Farhat now focuses
38:48on family
38:48he came to
38:54grandparents day
38:56in second grade
38:57I think that's when
38:58I realized
38:58okay something's up
39:00because all the other
39:01grandparents were like
39:03peeking in our classroom
39:04and asking for autographs
39:06and we're just a bunch
39:07of eight-year-olds
39:08and I just happened
39:08to have the grandpa
39:09with a shirt opened
39:11camel necklace
39:12on his chest
39:13yelling Allah
39:14to the ceiling
39:15in the classroom
39:16I never ever
39:19questioned whether
39:20he thought we were
39:21the center of the universe
39:22he showed us that
39:24every day
39:25we all had a decent
39:26amount of time
39:27to know and love him
39:28you know
39:30it's never enough
39:31by the early 2000s
39:40years of a lifetime
39:41in the ring
39:42take their toll
39:43on the sheik's body
39:44he had
39:45some organ
39:47failures
39:48and he had
39:49suffered from multiple
39:50myeloma
39:50to the
39:51cancer
39:52one thing
39:54about our family
39:56is that we rally
39:57and so that was the time
39:58for all of us
39:59to rally around
40:00and we did
40:02I would say
40:03the last two years
40:04of my grandfather's life
40:05we were in the hospital
40:06every other day
40:08my grandmother
40:09never wanted him
40:10to be alone
40:10at that time
40:11I lived on my own
40:13in Lansing
40:13I was 19
40:14and
40:15grandma had called
40:18and I said
40:19he's gone
40:20isn't he
40:20not a glamorous death
40:25but
40:25he was surrounded
40:27with love
40:28and that's what matters
40:29I was 27
40:32when he died
40:32I had a long time
40:33with him
40:34I feel grateful
40:35that I had as much time
40:36with him as I did
40:36he was a pillar
40:38of our family
40:39so there was
40:40a major loss for us
40:41I went to Japan
40:42and he died
40:43when I was in the air
40:43I didn't know it
40:44all the boys were saying
40:45I'm sorry about your uncle
40:46I thought because he was sick
40:47and finally Goldberg goes
40:49I'm sorry to hear about your uncle
40:50I said wait a minute
40:50I barely know you
40:51why do you care about my uncle
40:52he goes
40:52well he passed away last night
40:53I said what
40:54when he told me that
40:55they said
40:55Sabu you gotta go
40:56get set up for the entrance
40:58so it was a 20 minute ride
40:59around the Tokyo Dome
41:00I'm talking to my aunt
41:02she goes
41:03yeah he passed away last night
41:04but you gotta do your job
41:04like he's right
41:05I said
41:05but you know
41:06he was more than my father
41:09more than anything
41:11and she goes
41:13you know he'd want you
41:15to do your job
41:15you can't have a heartbreak
41:18you know affect your professionalism
41:20so I stayed and did my match
41:21and then when I got home
41:22I missed the funeral
41:23but to me funerals
41:24are just to show
41:26people who are still alive
41:27that you cared
41:27the person that died
41:28knows you cared
41:29at his funeral ceremony
41:31even the priest
41:33referred to him as sheik
41:35and I took one of the roses
41:37off the top of his casket
41:39that I still have
41:40to this day
41:42my friend
41:46it was gone
41:47years after the sheik's passing
41:53his legacy is solidified
41:55into wrestling history
41:56as he's inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame
42:00to be inducting the sheik
42:03of course
42:04you know
42:04what could be better
42:06I was proud always to represent him
42:08they wanted Sabu of course
42:10to induct him
42:11but Sabu's not big on vocabulary
42:14the original sheik was hardcore
42:16before any of us heard of hardcore
42:18so you know
42:20he asked if I would go with him
42:22and do most of the talking
42:23of course
42:23of course
42:24you know
42:25let's do this
42:25it was a nice moment
42:27to see that appreciation
42:29be given to him
42:30by a new generation
42:31I mean he started
42:33at the dawn of television
42:35and his last appearance
42:36was on pay-per-view
42:37nobody had that kind
42:38of drawing power
42:39and nobody was
42:41in as many different places
42:42doing as many different things
42:44for as long
42:45as the sheik was
42:46yeah one of my favorite objects
42:50is the little doll
42:52of the bloody sheik
42:53this came out
42:54you know
42:55way after he had passed away
42:56he was a good man
42:58he taught a lot of people
42:59how to work
43:00you know
43:01I've always been proud
43:03that I'm a non-conformist
43:04and I have no doubt
43:06that that is
43:07me
43:08taking after
43:09the original sheik
43:11who brought me into this life
43:12uh oh
43:14here comes the chair
43:15both men outside the ring
43:17but it's not over
43:18he put ass in seats
43:19people wanted to go
43:21and see
43:22the wild crazy sheik
43:23most wrestlers
43:24I don't think
43:25last that long
43:27the sheik had a very
43:28tragic aspect
43:30and that was
43:31that he lived
43:32an illusion
43:32of who he was
43:34and in some ways
43:36it was absolutely charming
43:37because he did such
43:39a marvelous job of it
43:40the sheik looks like
43:41he's been through
43:42world war three
43:43you know anytime you see
43:44a wrestler
43:45using a metal chair
43:47to smack someone
43:48or do something
43:50slightly nefarious
43:51during a match
43:52you know
43:52whether that wrestler
43:53knows it or not
43:54he's paying homage
43:55to my grandpa
43:55and we take
43:56a little bit of pride
43:57in that
43:57you know
44:05you
44:07like
44:08i don't think so
44:09you
44:09i don't think so
44:09you
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