Ingham County MI Archives Photo Tombstone.....Farhat, Edward George ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Terri Vance theresannv@gmail.com June 17, 2009, 2:41 am Cemetery: Mount Calvary Name: Edward George Farhat Date Of Photograph: June 12, 2009 Photo can be seen at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/ingham/photos/tombstones/mountcalvary/farhat58829nph.jpg Image file size: 205.9 Kb Edward G. Farhat, Jun 7, 1926 - Jan 18, 2003 US Army, World War II Additional Comments: By Bob Stiler, burbank1000@comcast.net, June 20, 2009: Before there was Terry Funk, before there was Mick Foley, before anyone ever heard of hard core fighting / wrestling, there was Ed Farhat aka The Original Sheik Of Professional Wrestling, and possibily the Cat Daddy Of Hard Core. IN THE BEGINING When Edward George Fathat was born on June 7, 1926, in Lansing, Michigan,no one who knew him as he grew up could have ever guessed that he would one day become famous as one of the most feared and hated wrestlers in the history of professional wrestling. He is the man the fans loved to hate. One of ten children born to immigrants from Lebanon who had settled in Michigan, Ed was a well liked boy. In high school he was on the football team where he he became a star that his fellow students always cheered for and respected. When World War Two broke out Ed wanted to do his patriotic duty and serve his country, but he was too young. So, he used his older brother's birth certificate, which showed him to be seventeen, to get into the army. When Ed was discharged from the military he returned home and worked at whatever job he could find to help his family, but in 1949 a Detroit promoter named Burt Ruby came along and changed Ed's life forever. BIRTH OF THE ORIGINAL SHEIK Ed made his professional wrestling debut in 1949 in the midwest before moving to Texas. One night Burt Ruby saw Ed in action and took him under his wing. Ed started wrestling as an Arab sheik and Ruby christianed him the Sheik of Araby. During Ed's long career he wrestled all of the top names in pro wrestling, from the great Lou Thesz to more modern wrestler, Tazz, who he locked up against in 1994 when he was 68 years old. He feuded with the likes of Bobo Brazil and Abdullah The Butcher. Ed wasn't what you might call a great technical wrestler, but he could brawl and fight, which he incorporated into his matches, along with the foreign objects he used to defeat the poor souls who were across the ring. Among these weapons were sharp objects and fire balls. Ed was the first to bring brutality to the squared circle. One other thing that you could always count on seeing in one of his bouts was blood, lots of blood, and not just his opponents, but his as well. He spilled more blood during his wrestling career than any other wrestler in history. In the Sheik's early days he would come to the ring with a young woman known as The Princess, who was his manager. Before his match he would treat her badly by insulting her and hitting and kicking her. The louder the fans booed the more abuse he dished out. While he yelled and spit at her, she remained kneeling beside him, taking the punishment while holding incense. Many times he would kick her physically out of the ring. The fans in the audience or watching on television were disgusted with the Sheik. This was the first time in any sport that a man mistreated a women the way Sheik did. What they didn't know was that the Princess was Ed's real life wife and a part of the act. When they decided to start a family she gave up her career to become a house wife and mother. They remained together until his death. ENTER ABDULLAH FAROUK Since the Sheik was said to have come from the Deserts of Syria and didn't speak English, (Ed never stepped out of character to speak in front of the fans or on camera), and since the Princess was no longer at his side, he needed a manager who could do the talking for him. His wealthy family back home in the Middle East had just the right man for the job, a man who would look after their son and his affairs in America. Enter Abdullah Farouk. Ernie Roth had been kicking around the world of pro wrestling for many years, wrestling under the names Mr Clean and J. Wellington Radcliffe, to name a few. But it was as a manager known as the turban wearing Abdullah Farouk and later the Grand Wizard, (in the WWF), that he is best remembered. He was insulting, yet more entertaining than many of the men he managed. Although Roth and Sheik had been in the business for years before teaming up, once they did they became more well known and its hard to think of one without thinking of the other. They remained together for many years. If the Sheik was the most hated wrestler of all time, Ernie Roth, as Farouk and later the Grank Wizard, established himself as the most hated wrestling manager. By the early 1970's Ernie decided it was time to move on and he left Sheik and gave up his role as Abdullah Farouk, and moved to the WWF, where he became the evil Grand Wizard of Wrestling and managed bad guys, (heels), like Stan 'The Man' Stasiak and 'Superstar' Billy Graham. Roth died in 1983. In 1995 he was inducted into the WWE (WWF) Hall Of Fame. THE SHEIK OF DETROIT In 1964 Farhat bought the Detroit territory and became its promoter, though he remained in the background since he was its number wrestler. It was called 'Big Time Wrestling'. The fans never knew that the man they booed in the ring was the same man who owned the show. He ran the promotion until it closed in 1980. During those years he held the promotion's United States title twelve times. He not only was the owner, promoter and star, but he also was the trainer and some of his students who went on to become stars in their own right were his nephew, Sabu, Rob Van Dam and the Steiner Brothers. THE FINAL YEARS OF A WRESTLING SHEIK Farhat had wrestled all over the world and he didn't slow down when Detroit closed its doors. In 1994 there was new style of wrestling called extreme wrestling' and a promotion called Extreme Championship Wrestling' (ECW), that brought all the violence and blood to the ring that the major promotions like the WWE and WCW had never used. Oh, they had blood and violence, but it wasn't what is now known as 'hard core'. And who best to make a brief run through ECW but the Sheik. Farhat started slowing down and in 1998, at the age of 72, he wrestled his last match in Japan. After a career that lasted 58 years Ed called it a day and retired. He hung up his tights and wrestling boots and spent his last years at his beautiful Michigan home with his family. On January 18, 2003, Ed Farhat aka The Sheik, died of heart failure. He was 76 years old. He is buried in Mount Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Williamston, Michigan. On March 31, 2007 Sabu and Rob Van Dam inducted him into the WWE Hall Of Fame. His widow was on hand to accept the honors. WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE HISTORY NWA Texas Heavyweight title defeating Johnny Valentine (October ??, 1954); (Illinois) Midwest Junior Heavyweight title defeating Bill Melby (????, 1957); NWA (Toronto) United States Heavyweight title defeating Johnny Valentine (December 27, 1964); NWA (Chicago & Detroit) United States Heavyweight title defeating Johnny Valentine (Febuary 6, 1965); NWA (Chicago & Detroit) United States Heavyweight title defeating Bobo Brazil (October ??, 1967); IWA (Montreal) International Heavyweight title defeating Gino Brito for vacant title (October 23, 1967); NWA (Los Angeles) Americas Heavyweight title defeating Bobo Brazil (Febuary 21, 1969); IWA (Montreal) International Heavyweight title defeating Carlos Rocha (May ??, 1972); NWA (Japan) United National Heavyweight title defeating Seiji Sakaguchi (September 6, 1972); NWA Hawaii Heavyweight title defeating Fred Curry (October 21, 1972); NWA (Chicago & Detroit) United States Heavyweight title defeating Bobo Brazil (December 30, 1972); NWA (Chicago & Detroit) United States Heavyweight title defeating Bobo Brazil (January 27, 1973); NWA (Chicago & Detroit) United States Heavyweight title defeating Johnny Valentine (July 21, 1973); NWA (Chicago & Detroit) United States Heavyweight title defeating Johnny Valentine (September ??, 1973); IWA (Montreal) International Heavyweight title defeating Alexis Smirnoff (????, 1974); NWA (Chicago & Detroit) United States Heavyweight title defeating Tony Marino (March 16, 1974); NWA (Toronto) United States Heavyweight title recognized as champion (July ??, 1974); NWA (Chicago & Detroit) United States Heavyweight title defeating Bobo Brazil (July 5, 1975); NWA (Chicago & Detroit) United States Heavyweight title defeating Bobo Brazil (May 15, 1976); NWA (Toronto) United States Heavyweight title defeating Thunderbolt Patterson (December 26, 1976); NWA (Toronto) United States Heavyweight title defeating Bobo Brazil (Febuary 27, 1977); NWA (Chicago & Detroit) United States Heavyweight title defeating Gino Hernandez (April 2, 1977); NWA (Chicago & Detroit) United States Heavyweight title defeating Terry Funk (October 22, 1978); NWA (Chicago & Detroit) United States Heavyweight title defeating Mighty Igor (May 3, 1980); ICW (Poffo) United States Heavyweight title Awarded (????, 1981); ICW (Poffo) United States Heavyweight title defeating Thunderbolt Patterson (????, 1982); WWA (Japan) World Martial Arts Heavyweight title defeating Atsushi Ohnita (June 25, 1992); OnlineWorldofWrestling.com Hall of Fame Inductee (2006); ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Terri Lindemann for headstone photos Online World Of Wrestling "THE REAL INNOVATOR OF VIOLENCE' BY LANGDON BECK This is a wonderful article and should be read by all wrestling and Sheik fans WIKIPEDIA