Edward Farhat(1926-2003)

Deceased Lebanese-American professional wrestler who competed from 1949 to 1998 as the Sheik. Started his career in Detroit and would compete all over the world. He competed for many National Wrestling Alliance territories, the WWWF (today's WWE), FMW, ECW, New Japan Pro Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling and many others. He was a 16x NWA United States (Detroit) Heavyweight Champion and owned the territory. He was a pioneer of hardcore wrestling and was notorious for having bloody brawls involving stabbing his opponents with pencils and throwing fireballs. He once defeated André René Roussimoff in Toronto in 1974 by throwing a fireball at him, with the referee ruling André unable to continue. This was one of the losses André suffered that were not recognized by WWE canon going into "WrestleMania III." He was a strong believer in maintaining Kayfabe, never breaking character, never responding to being called "Ed," and never speaking, which provided a function for his various managers. He was billed from Syria. He went back and forth between teaming with and feuding with Abdullah the Butcher for decades. He also trained several wrestlers, most notably his nephew Sabu (Terry Brunk) and Rob Van Dam. At "WCW Halloween Havoc 95," October 29, 1995, which was held in Detroit, he managed Sabu for his match against Mr. J.L. (Jerry Lynn), complete with throwing a fireball at Lynn. He had his last match, a win over the Mexican wrestler Damien (Leonardo Carrera), at "FMW 6th Anniversary Show" on May 5, 1995. The match lasted 1:47, as Sheik was badly deteriorated by that point and could barely get into the ring. He was also a 4x NWA United States (Toronto) Heavyweight Champion, a 1x NWA Texas (Dallas) Heavyweight Champion, a 2x NWA Americas (Los Angeles) Heavyweight Champion, a 1x NWA United National Champion (a title that originated with the Japan Wrestling Association and later became part of the All Japan Triple Crown Heavyweight Title), a 1x NWA United States (NWA Central States in Kansas City, MO) Heavyweight Champion, a 1x FMW World Martial Arts Heavyweight Champion and a 1x NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Champion. He was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996, into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007, into the NWA Hall of Fame in 2010, into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2011 and into the Greater Lansing (Michigan) Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.