Posted on 09/09/2005 6:06:47 AM PDT by wallcrawlr
They were a suburban cross-section, these husky guys judging barbecue for the Hopkins Elks Lodge's annual rib contest: one owned a restaurant, another a landscape business; a retired cop sat across from a motorcycle salesman and the fifth was a semi-retired guy who does a lot of civic work. Oh, and happens to be Saddam Hussein's favorite professional wrestler.
Adnan Alkaissy -- the handsome, tan older gentleman habitually fingering his Muslim prayer beads and known in Hopkins for his charity work with the Elks and the Lions club -- once delighted the "Butcher of Baghdad" in matches attended by thousands of Iraqis.
To think that this guy, who commanded his native nation's attention, is now pulling a few bills from his pocket when his 14-year-old son interrupts the judging momentarily to whisper that, "Me and mom need some money."
His Iraqi adventures reveal a heretofore untold side of Alkaissy, known in these parts the past two decades as "The Sheikh" or "General Adnan," a pro rassler who tangled with Hulk Hogan, Verne Gagne, Jesse Ventura and Sergeant Slaughter, among others. In "The Sheikh of Baghdad," his new book written with Twin Cities author Ross Bernstein, Alkaissy details his Baghdad childhood, his friendship with Saddam, his outrageous success as an Iraqi hero during the 1970s and his flight in 1980 after he feared that the government might have grown weary of his fame.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Adnan Alkaissy became the “Sheikh,” but grew uncomfortable with his wrestling persona.
"Me and mom need some money."
Whatever happened to "My mom and I need some money"?
"I hope to open a dialogue with the American people whose kids are being asked to fight to liberate my country," he said.
He isn't shy in sharing his opinions about the current situation: He fears that Shiite power will turn Iraq into another Iran. Federalism will split the country. Without an equal division of power among Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds, there will be no peace. Saddam needs to be executed as soon as possible, he said. He supported the U.S. invasion that deposed his former benefactor and, while acknowledging the cost of continued occupation, made clear that he deems it necessary.
"Bush has swallowed a razor," he said of the president's decision to invade. Gesturing to his throat, he said, "the razor is stuck here. He pulls it out and it will cut him. He swallows it, and it will cut him. Either way, bloodshed."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adnan_El_Kassey
Adnan El Kassey (born Adna Al-Kaissie in Iraq) started wrestling in 1959 after an amateur wrestling career in Iraq.
In the 1970's, he wrestled for the World Wide Wrestling Federation as Billy White Wolf and won the World Tag Team Titles with Chief Jay Strongbow.
In 1978, he wrestled in Hawaii and was the master of the "Indian Death Match" until his arch-rival, Tor Kamata, defeated him.
In 1981, he debuted in the American Wrestling Association and teamed with Jerry Blackwell. He had to quit wrestling when he was injured by Ken Patera but he stayed there until it folded in early 1991 as a heel manager.
In 1991, he was with Sgt. Slaughter and the Iron Sheik as General Adnan in their pro-Iraqi gimmick that feuded with Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior.
He now manages in his company, World All-Star Wrestling Alliance that he co-owns with Ken Patera.
ping
Did you know this about Nikolai Volkoff?:
"Peruzovic (Nikolai Volkoff was born Josip Peruzovic)was considering running as a Republican for the Maryland House of Delegates in 2006. With the Republican incumbents staying put, however, he has apparently decided to not run at this time."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Volkoff
Others that wrestled in AWA include Gov. Ventura, Baron von Raschke, and Billy "Superstar" Graham. Raschke is still a popular speaker around Minnesota, even though he played the heel, and he hasn't wrestled in a couple of decades. Graham is a born again Christian, who doesn't shy away from his past steroid usage. He even shows a picture of his diseased, removed liver after his transplant. Interesting characters.
I didn't know Victor Rivera and Bruiser Brody (slashed in a shower by a wrestler/promoter prior to a match in Puerto Rico) were both murdered (at different times). The original post led me to different links.
Ping
Makes the HOT tag...
(As always, if you'd like ON or OFF my wrasslin' ping list, let me know)
This 'Sheik' is not THE 'Sheik' of wrestling, who passed away a few years ago. His name I think was Ed Farhat and was a huge heel (bad guy) in every area he ever worked in, especially in the Detroit area and Canada.
"He achieved a reasonable degree of success throughout the South, the East Coast and Hawaii during the 1960s, winning a couple of regional and national championships along the way. Then in 1969, gone from Iraq for seven years, he flew home to visit his family. Newspapers and TV portrayed him as a success story and his notoriety caught the attention of his old high-school buddy, who had ascended up the Baath Party ranks.
Saddam was an opportunist, Alkaissy said, who saw in his wrestler pal a marvelous diversion from executions and political intrigue. He suggested a match, and Alkaissy asked Canadian heavyweight George Gordienko to visit him in Baghdad. It was a national blockbuster. Soon Alkaissy brought in wrestlers from Europe such as Andre the Giant, the 7-feet-plus, 500-pound Frenchman who would later achieve fame in the United States.
"Saddam came into the ring to wish me luck against Andre," Alkaissy said. "He grabbed my hand and told me in Arabic, 'This guy is a wimp.' And I said, 'I think you're right,' because whatever he said, you said he was right.
"And Saddam looked at Andre and said, 'If this guy beats you, I'll send him back to De Gaulle in a pine box.' "
The plan had been to let Andre win the first fall, then have Alkaissy take the next two. But Saddam's words and the gun in his vest pocket convinced Alkaissy that it might be best for Andre to take a dive.
Similarly, Gordienko had told him once, "Adnan, don't fall down and hurt yourself," fearful of how the crowd and the gun-toting guards at ringside would react.
"I took care of the boys," Alkaissy said of his wrestling pals.
So did Saddam ever sense that the fix was in when Alkaissy won every match?
"If Saddam had found out that the wrestling we were doing was a fake, you think I would be alive?" Alkaissy said, laughing. Besides, it was just one more affirmation of Iraqi superiority.
Throughout the 1970s, Iraqis worshipped Alkaissy's celebrity, he said. The government built him a palace on the Tigris River and gave him a Mercedes. He was appointed director of the Ministry of Youth, in charge of athletic programs. He recalls fans bringing goats to sacrifice at his matches and Baath Party members asking him to marry their daughters.
"Dawoud al-Janabi, the head of the Republican Guard, told me, 'Whenever you want to watch an execution, let me know,' " said Alkaissy.
Alkaissy met Gagne in Hawaii and agreed to move to Minnesota in 1980. He wrestled for the next decade as "The Sheikh," one of the prime villains in Gagne's American Wrestling Association. After the demise of the AWA, he worked for Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation, which was then creeping toward total U.S. dominance.
McMahon had an idea following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The gimmick had Alkaissy dressing as a Saddam clone, "General Adnan," who had brainwashed Sergeant Slaughter, a red-blooded American patriot. The heat was phenomenal."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I remember the gimmick but had no idea that the guy had such a history. you've got to hand it to Andre' laying down for the job (and this guy's life) when he was notoriously averse to jobbing.
I knew that Bruiser Brody had been murdered, but did not know about Victor Rivera. In Brody's case, the only witness to the murder was Tony Atlas, who was in the locker room when it happened. Atlas fled Puerto Rico, and refused to testify about what he saw, thereby allowing Brody's killer to go free. I've never had any respect for that coward Atlas since then.
What happened in the Rivera case? (I did not find the links you mentioned).
Thanks for the ping.
I had the pleasure to meet the "Baron" recently. He was wildly popular in Minnesota - so much so that the fans wouldn't let him play a heel despite his character's persona.
So Saddam was a mark. Why doesn't that surprise me?
It's still a big mystery. Rivera had been teaming with Rocky Johnson (father of The Rock) frequently during the year leading up to that tragedy. Johnson and Tony Atlas were THE phenomenal circuit tag team before the Road Warriors (at least 12 years) from the early 1970s to the mid-80s. Those guys were tighter than a drum even during manufactured fueds.
The Rock knows a secret...and it's not about strudel or pie.
your welcome...but I dont remember doing it ;)
wrestling ping
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.