The Original Sheik, Wrestling’s Fireball Throwing Madman

Robert Segedy

If one would look up the term “heel” in the encyclopedia of  Professional Wrestling terms, there should be a photograph of the fire ball tossing, Arabian madman known as The Sheik. His real name was Ed Farhat, and he had a career that spanned five decades ,but the truth behind the real man’s identity was something that was fiercely guarded. The Sheik never gave a single interview in that time and instead depended upon a manager to do the talking. At times he spouted gibberish of an unknown dialect that was believed to be Arabian, but usually the Sheik let his actions in the ring speak for themselves.

Starting his career in 1949, he was announced as hailing from Syria, even though he was legitimately of Arabian descent. Sporting pointed wrestling boots, some sort of middle eastern headwear, and a colorful topcoat at time, the Sheik struck fear into both spectators and opponents alike. His heelish antics often included a frantic attack on his opponents prior to the ringing of the bell. Immediately he would retrieve a pencil from his boot and methodically begin to attack his opponent striking him in the forehead, the chest, the stomach. Nothing was out of limits for the Sheik. If the foreign object didn’t get the job accomplished, then he would throw the dreaded fireball. Opponents would clutch their eyes and fall to the canvas, screaming in pain. Audiences would gasp in amazement at this carny ruse and the Sheik was reportedly the first wrestler to use this gimmick.

Back in the glory days of wrestling, Kayfabe ruled. This was way before the internet, gossip sheets, chat rooms; nothing existed but the few magazines featuring a blood-soaked photo on the cover, the headlines screamed a headline sure to make the consumer part with their hard-earned money. Someone like The Sheik surely must have ignited the fan’s imaginations. At first, he was accompanied by a mysterious woman named The Princess, in reality his wife Joyce. She would handle his ring accessories and distract the male audience members. Later he would be accompanied by Abdullah Faraouk, later to be better known as The Grand Wizard of Wrestling. Making his home base in Michigan, Farhat became the owner of Big Time Wrestling which promoted legendary cards at the famed Cobo Hall until the early 1980’s.

Fast forward ahead: after selling the franchise that he had started, the Sheik established himself as a star in Japan where his madhouse antics were readily welcomed. Headlining with stars like Bruiser Brody and Abdullah the Butcher, the Sheik found a new audience. As All Japan shifted modes of operating to the strong style of wrestling with new stars, the Sheik decided to move over to another promotion that better suited his roughhouse style: Onita’s Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling group. It was here in the anything goes promotion that the Sheik really found fame. On May 6, 1992, the Sheik and his nephew Sabu were to face Onita and Goto in the first “fire death match” which featured flaming barbed wire surrounding the ring. In less than two minutes the entire ring was engulfed in flames and all of the men were forced to leave the ring. The Sheik suffered severe burns as a result of this match.

When not wrestling himself, the Sheik trained two men that would become huge stars in the future: Sabu and Rob Van Dam; both men found fame in Paul Heyman’s fabled ECW organization. The Sheik, like Terry Funk, could not bring himself to retire and he appeared in ECW in 1994. The Sheik and Pat Tanaka defeated the team of Kevin Sullivan and The Tazzmaniac at The Night the Line Was Crossed card. On May 5, 1995, the Sheik would wrestle his last match, defeating Damian 666 in front of 58,250 fans at the FMW 6th Anniversary Show; the Sheik would suffer a heart attack while attempting to catch a ride in a taxi. When his nephew Sabu joined World Championship Wrestling in 1995, the Sheik accompanied him to the ring. During Sabu’s match with Mr. JL (Jerry Lynn) the Sheik’s leg was accidentally broken during the match, thus forcing him to retire from any further agreements with WCW. On December 11, 1998, the night before the ECW/FMW Supershow, Atsushi Onita, FMW’s founder, held a retirement ceremony for the Sheik in Korakuen Hall, thus officially bringing the Sheik’s lengthy career to a close. The Sheik was 72 years old.

The Sheik died on January 18, 2003, at the age of 76 in the hospital near his home. The Sheik was easily one of wrestling’s biggest box office attractions with his many infamous bouts with Abdullah the Butcher, Bruiser Brody, and many others. On March 31, 2007, The Sheik was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by his nephew, Sabu, and Rob Van Dam, who he had trained. The Sheik and Freddie Blassie would later be revealed to have trained boxer Muhammad Ali for his bout for the famous “boxer vs wrestler match” with Antonio Inoki in Tokyo, June 26, 1976. The Sheik was notorious for living his gimmick 24-7 and he refused to answer any phone calls for “Ed.” The Sheik was working on a biography of his career prior to his death; the book was entitled “Blood and Fire”, was later released in April 2022 by ECW Press. Dave Meltzer’s 2022 Wrestling Observer Newsletter was awarded the Best Pro Wrestling Book award. The career of The Sheik was long and bloody, and he opened the door for the current hardcore style of wrestling.