1
00:00:03,753 --> 00:00:05,621
Let me tell
The Sheik something.

2
00:00:05,622 --> 00:00:07,588
I've been stabbed in
the middle of that ring.

3
00:00:07,589 --> 00:00:08,824
I've been burned.

4
00:00:08,925 --> 00:00:11,561
Sheik,
that's one for you!

5
00:00:11,660 --> 00:00:12,994
One, Sheik!

6
00:00:13,128 --> 00:00:15,230
Bruiser Brody, zero!

7
00:00:15,231 --> 00:00:17,099
[Narrator] The original
innovator of

8
00:00:17,100 --> 00:00:19,335
hardcore wrestling,
The Sheik

9
00:00:19,469 --> 00:00:23,172
broke all of the rules
in and out of the ring.

10
00:00:23,173 --> 00:00:25,139
The Sheikh has
something in his hand.

11
00:00:25,140 --> 00:00:28,478
The Sheik was ultra-violent
at a time when pro wrestling

12
00:00:28,611 --> 00:00:30,346
was still presented
as a sport.

13
00:00:30,446 --> 00:00:32,347
[Announcer]
30-minute time limit.

14
00:00:32,481 --> 00:00:34,149
-The Sheik!
-Watch the fire!

15
00:00:34,250 --> 00:00:36,485
The Sheik was the first
one to use a fireball.

16
00:00:36,618 --> 00:00:38,954
The first one to bring
a snake into the ring.

17
00:00:39,054 --> 00:00:41,256
I mean, he was banned
from New York City

18
00:00:41,323 --> 00:00:42,792
for starting riots.

19
00:00:42,892 --> 00:00:45,027
Wild and crazy gimmicks.

20
00:00:45,128 --> 00:00:46,829
Far beyond what you believed

21
00:00:46,963 --> 00:00:48,831
could happen in a
wrestling match.

22
00:00:48,930 --> 00:00:50,165
Oh, man.

23
00:00:50,298 --> 00:00:52,701
My uncle broke the rules.
Got away with it.

24
00:00:52,835 --> 00:00:54,465
Sheik has gone
completely mad,

25
00:00:54,469 --> 00:00:56,005
as he always does.

26
00:00:56,104 --> 00:00:57,340
A legendary figure...

27
00:00:57,439 --> 00:00:59,549
The fireman of pro wrestling
heads to the

28
00:00:59,674 --> 00:01:01,143
Detroit Cobo Arena.

29
00:01:01,243 --> 00:01:04,212
The Sheik lived a life
of violence, mystery,

30
00:01:04,313 --> 00:01:08,051
and a strict devotion to
the secrets of wrestling.

31
00:01:08,183 --> 00:01:10,686
He created a shroud of
secrecy around

32
00:01:10,787 --> 00:01:13,890
his personal life, so that
he could be fully immersed

33
00:01:13,989 --> 00:01:17,393
as The Sheik of Araby,
the wild man from Syria.

34
00:01:17,394 --> 00:01:18,860
Even his grandkids
called him Sheik,

35
00:01:18,861 --> 00:01:19,994
and if you called him
anything else

36
00:01:19,995 --> 00:01:21,364
he wouldn't answer to it.

37
00:01:21,496 --> 00:01:23,365
But as a promoter
and a star,

38
00:01:23,465 --> 00:01:26,569
The Sheik made sure
he always came out on top,

39
00:01:26,668 --> 00:01:29,371
even as that star
began to fade.

40
00:01:29,504 --> 00:01:31,840
The Sheik is a
cautionary tale...

41
00:01:31,941 --> 00:01:33,709
for what happens when

42
00:01:33,843 --> 00:01:36,212
you got a dragon
nobody ever slays.

43
00:01:36,311 --> 00:01:38,381
So far, it's been
The Sheik all the way.

44
00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:42,018
He just didn't accept the fact
that he was getting old,

45
00:01:42,084 --> 00:01:45,021
and that he was no longer at
the top of the wrestling heap.

46
00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:46,721
[indistinct shouting]

47
00:01:46,822 --> 00:01:48,392
And it almost
cost him his life.

48
00:01:48,490 --> 00:01:49,825
A lot of pain.

49
00:01:49,926 --> 00:01:52,462
He kept it real,
you know what I mean?

50
00:01:52,561 --> 00:01:55,564
And he couldn't walk away.

51
00:01:55,665 --> 00:01:57,733
He had so much love
for the business.

52
00:01:57,834 --> 00:02:00,102
Agh!

53
00:02:00,236 --> 00:02:02,871
I have no doubt he would
have liked to...

54
00:02:02,938 --> 00:02:04,373
die in the ring.

55
00:02:04,439 --> 00:02:09,945
?

56
00:02:15,852 --> 00:02:20,288
At 229 pounds of Arabia...

57
00:02:20,423 --> 00:02:22,692
The Sheik.

58
00:02:22,693 --> 00:02:24,859
I've been a lifelong fan of
The Sheik because

59
00:02:24,860 --> 00:02:27,530
the first time I saw him,
I was struck by the aura,

60
00:02:27,629 --> 00:02:30,466
the presence,
the magnitude...

61
00:02:30,566 --> 00:02:33,135
of The Original Sheik,
himself.

62
00:02:33,235 --> 00:02:34,402
I'm Jim Cornette.

63
00:02:34,469 --> 00:02:36,938
Before my 40 year career
in pro wrestling,

64
00:02:37,038 --> 00:02:39,908
I was a fan of
The Original Sheik.

65
00:02:39,975 --> 00:02:42,085
When The Sheik would
come into the arena,

66
00:02:42,145 --> 00:02:43,412
the mood would change.

67
00:02:43,413 --> 00:02:45,746
The fans would sense that
something was different.

68
00:02:45,747 --> 00:02:47,483
He had an aura.
He had a presence.

69
00:02:47,582 --> 00:02:50,620
You could feel it.

70
00:02:50,719 --> 00:02:53,455
The greatest example
was in 1988

71
00:02:53,556 --> 00:02:55,957
at the Cobo Arena
in Detroit.

72
00:02:56,057 --> 00:02:57,560
All the fans in the arena,

73
00:02:57,561 --> 00:02:59,394
you could tell they
were tensing up.

74
00:02:59,395 --> 00:03:01,029
They were waiting
for something.

75
00:03:01,030 --> 00:03:02,098
Now, all of a sudden,

76
00:03:02,164 --> 00:03:04,133
in comes a
stretch limousine.

77
00:03:04,233 --> 00:03:06,068
It was amazing!

78
00:03:06,069 --> 00:03:08,470
He pulled all the way onto
the floor of the arena,

79
00:03:08,471 --> 00:03:10,740
where everybody in the
building could see.

80
00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:13,408
And the driver gets out
and opens the door,

81
00:03:13,508 --> 00:03:16,479
and out steps
The Sheik in the headdress,

82
00:03:16,579 --> 00:03:18,647
and a three-piece suit,

83
00:03:18,747 --> 00:03:21,683
and dozens of gold chains
around his neck.

84
00:03:21,783 --> 00:03:24,986
And the place erupted.
"Oh my God, it's him!"

85
00:03:25,121 --> 00:03:26,622
There's a match going on.

86
00:03:26,623 --> 00:03:29,191
People are getting
dropkicked and thrown around.

87
00:03:29,192 --> 00:03:31,422
They don't care about that,
they want to see...

88
00:03:31,493 --> 00:03:33,862
The Sheik.

89
00:03:33,863 --> 00:03:36,163
And he walks right into the
locker room with

90
00:03:36,164 --> 00:03:37,966
a bunch of people
carrying his bags.

91
00:03:37,967 --> 00:03:39,501
That set the tone
for the evening.

92
00:03:39,502 --> 00:03:41,971
The Sheik is in the building.

93
00:03:42,038 --> 00:03:43,772
Never seen
anything like this!

94
00:03:43,872 --> 00:03:45,508
He was the greatest...

95
00:03:45,608 --> 00:03:47,376
in almost every category.

96
00:03:47,377 --> 00:03:48,876
And not because
he's my uncle.

97
00:03:48,877 --> 00:03:50,312
He proved that he was.

98
00:03:50,413 --> 00:03:51,514
Hi, I'm Sabu.

99
00:03:51,646 --> 00:03:53,649
I'm a nephew of The Sheik.

100
00:03:53,650 --> 00:03:56,283
He made people believe even
though they thought they knew

101
00:03:56,284 --> 00:03:59,688
wrestling were bullshit,
they knew he wasn't.

102
00:03:59,788 --> 00:04:03,192
Sheik laid down the
foundation for what

103
00:04:03,325 --> 00:04:07,163
would be called
hardcore wrestling.

104
00:04:07,263 --> 00:04:11,199
My name is Rob Van Dam.
I was trained by

105
00:04:11,300 --> 00:04:14,370
The Original Sheik
to be a pro wrestler.

106
00:04:14,469 --> 00:04:16,838
He's still influencing
the business now.

107
00:04:16,939 --> 00:04:19,908
There's so many characters
that have been

108
00:04:20,041 --> 00:04:22,978
influenced by
something that he did.

109
00:04:23,079 --> 00:04:24,312
Right after the drop.

110
00:04:24,413 --> 00:04:26,148
[indistinct shouting]

111
00:04:26,247 --> 00:04:29,718
He has an almost
inhuman expression. Oh!

112
00:04:29,851 --> 00:04:32,420
Modern wrestling fans
are used to chaos.

113
00:04:32,421 --> 00:04:34,222
They're used to
simulated violence.

114
00:04:34,223 --> 00:04:36,273
They're used to
furniture breaking and

115
00:04:36,358 --> 00:04:38,194
people being
run over with cars.

116
00:04:38,293 --> 00:04:41,262
That didn't happen in the
wrestling of the 50s,

117
00:04:41,396 --> 00:04:43,499
60s, and 70s because

118
00:04:43,598 --> 00:04:46,769
credibility was foremost,
believability.

119
00:04:46,869 --> 00:04:49,105
This is best
two out of three falls.

120
00:04:49,204 --> 00:04:51,540
When The Sheik
debuted full-fledged,

121
00:04:51,641 --> 00:04:53,242
he would still wrestle.

122
00:04:53,243 --> 00:04:54,809
They're pummeling
each other!

123
00:04:54,810 --> 00:04:56,579
'Cause The Sheik
could wrestle.

124
00:04:56,678 --> 00:04:58,180
Here's a leg torture hold.

125
00:04:58,181 --> 00:05:00,215
You know, he didn't become
The Sheik in one night.

126
00:05:00,216 --> 00:05:01,266
It took a while.

127
00:05:01,384 --> 00:05:03,918
In need of a character to
make himself memorable,

128
00:05:04,052 --> 00:05:07,088
Ed Farhat draws on his
ethnic background

129
00:05:07,189 --> 00:05:08,923
to turn himself
into a villain

130
00:05:09,057 --> 00:05:11,394
that will shock
middle America.

131
00:05:11,494 --> 00:05:14,230
People actually
were frightened

132
00:05:14,329 --> 00:05:17,600
of this Arab madman...

133
00:05:17,699 --> 00:05:21,637
because Arabs, in those days,
they were something

134
00:05:21,771 --> 00:05:24,206
very, very strange
and very foreign.

135
00:05:24,273 --> 00:05:25,540
The Sheik!

136
00:05:25,608 --> 00:05:28,377
You always had
foreigners in wrestling.

137
00:05:28,444 --> 00:05:31,247
They were dark and
mysterious from other lands.

138
00:05:31,314 --> 00:05:33,314
The Great Togo!

139
00:05:33,415 --> 00:05:35,617
And that's what The Sheik
built on

140
00:05:35,750 --> 00:05:38,721
throughout the entire
decade of the 1950s.

141
00:05:38,821 --> 00:05:41,089
?

142
00:05:41,189 --> 00:05:44,759
This image as a rich
but insane

143
00:05:44,826 --> 00:05:46,896
Middle Eastern sheik...

144
00:05:46,995 --> 00:05:48,863
The Sheik from Arabia.

145
00:05:48,963 --> 00:05:51,233
Can you imagine the
arrogance of The Sheik?

146
00:05:51,334 --> 00:05:54,470
Early on, he had a slave girl
that he brought to the ring.

147
00:05:54,603 --> 00:05:56,738
It was his wife,
Joyce.

148
00:05:56,838 --> 00:05:59,074
But her name was
Princess Salima.

149
00:05:59,175 --> 00:06:01,543
Makes his woman
kiss his boots.

150
00:06:01,644 --> 00:06:03,312
And he would berate her...

151
00:06:03,446 --> 00:06:05,281
and abuse her.

152
00:06:05,380 --> 00:06:06,815
He's slapping her, Bill.

153
00:06:06,915 --> 00:06:09,517
And then, he would take
his time to kneel down

154
00:06:09,651 --> 00:06:12,153
and do his prayers,

155
00:06:12,288 --> 00:06:13,668
where he would pray to Allah

156
00:06:13,788 --> 00:06:16,959
for the strength to
overcome his opponent.

157
00:06:17,059 --> 00:06:19,961
He would only do his prayers
when the audience was

158
00:06:20,028 --> 00:06:22,031
"respectful and quiet."
And so,

159
00:06:22,032 --> 00:06:23,797
if he thought anybody
was making any noise,

160
00:06:23,798 --> 00:06:26,334
he would stop and then
start over.

161
00:06:26,435 --> 00:06:29,471
But as the gimmick got
wilder and crazier,

162
00:06:29,538 --> 00:06:32,475
much of the wrestling
left the matches

163
00:06:32,540 --> 00:06:34,509
and instead it was
all chaos.

164
00:06:34,610 --> 00:06:36,045
What's he got in his hand?

165
00:06:36,177 --> 00:06:39,180
He would pull out a stick or
a pencil out of his tights,

166
00:06:39,281 --> 00:06:41,850
and he would stab the
opponent in the head with it.

167
00:06:41,983 --> 00:06:44,487
Looks like a hammer
or something.

168
00:06:44,552 --> 00:06:46,956
He'd be throwing
chairs into the ring,

169
00:06:47,055 --> 00:06:48,891
and tearing up ringside.

170
00:06:48,990 --> 00:06:51,627
Not a crowd pleaser exactly.

171
00:06:51,694 --> 00:06:54,062
It was chaotic
as it could be.

172
00:06:54,196 --> 00:06:55,964
It was,
fight on the floor.

173
00:06:56,064 --> 00:06:58,067
Fight with the chair.

174
00:06:58,166 --> 00:07:00,970
It was everything but
a wrestling match, ha.

175
00:07:01,069 --> 00:07:03,072
My name is Dory Funk Jr.

176
00:07:03,204 --> 00:07:05,975
And I used to wrestle
with The Sheik.

177
00:07:06,074 --> 00:07:08,476
Sheik always and forever

178
00:07:08,576 --> 00:07:11,713
stood for blood and gore.

179
00:07:11,814 --> 00:07:14,216
Every time that I hit him
with the fork,

180
00:07:14,350 --> 00:07:16,918
blood was shooting
from his arm...

181
00:07:17,019 --> 00:07:19,154
or from his head.

182
00:07:19,254 --> 00:07:21,023
This is brutal, fans.

183
00:07:21,122 --> 00:07:22,725
This is Abdullah The Butcher.

184
00:07:22,858 --> 00:07:25,226
I have wrestled The Sheik.

185
00:07:25,326 --> 00:07:28,764
We knew for a fact that
the fans were scared of us.

186
00:07:28,898 --> 00:07:30,699
Just annihilated in that ring.

187
00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:32,367
We done a lot of shit.

188
00:07:32,435 --> 00:07:34,965
And then when finally,
when The Sheik got stabbed

189
00:07:35,004 --> 00:07:37,234
with his own pencil and
he started bleeding...

190
00:07:37,238 --> 00:07:39,208
[cheering]

191
00:07:39,209 --> 00:07:41,075
The people would go
out of their minds.

192
00:07:41,076 --> 00:07:42,511
Yes, yes!

193
00:07:42,610 --> 00:07:44,112
You're gonna pay, Sheik!

194
00:07:44,245 --> 00:07:46,348
You go ahead, burn me!
Burn 'em all!

195
00:07:46,349 --> 00:07:48,749
One of the things that
caused the most commotion

196
00:07:48,750 --> 00:07:52,187
was when The Sheik
would throw fire.

197
00:07:52,288 --> 00:07:53,889
The Sheik has
got that fire!

198
00:07:53,956 --> 00:07:56,459
Oh! And he's
burning him badly.

199
00:07:56,460 --> 00:07:58,859
That was explained by the
promoters and the announcers

200
00:07:58,860 --> 00:08:01,096
that The Sheik knew
some way to magically

201
00:08:01,197 --> 00:08:03,432
produce fire from
his fingertips.

202
00:08:03,565 --> 00:08:07,101
What it was, was magician's
flash paper with a little

203
00:08:07,102 --> 00:08:09,804
incendiary thing that you
could hide on your finger.

204
00:08:09,805 --> 00:08:12,040
He always kept it
in his trunks.

205
00:08:12,141 --> 00:08:13,709
Then when he hit it...

206
00:08:13,809 --> 00:08:14,859
[whooshing]

207
00:08:14,910 --> 00:08:17,713
And in the arena, the match
might be crazy enough

208
00:08:17,714 --> 00:08:19,280
and people would
be screaming.

209
00:08:19,281 --> 00:08:20,949
But when the fire came out...

210
00:08:21,050 --> 00:08:24,452
Oh! Hey!
Come on.

211
00:08:24,586 --> 00:08:27,055
A gasp would erupt
from the people.

212
00:08:27,122 --> 00:08:28,172
[gasping]

213
00:08:28,290 --> 00:08:29,625
And he throws fire!

214
00:08:29,725 --> 00:08:31,660
[gasping]
He's throwing fire.

215
00:08:31,793 --> 00:08:33,629
I still got a mark.

216
00:08:33,630 --> 00:08:35,998
[Abdullah] I'm serious.
[Off-screen] Yeah, look at that.

217
00:08:35,999 --> 00:08:37,049
You see it?

218
00:08:37,050 --> 00:08:38,099
If I wouldn't have
turned my head,

219
00:08:38,100 --> 00:08:40,001
I would've been blind today.

220
00:08:40,134 --> 00:08:42,971
It was like the
ancient gladiator days,

221
00:08:43,105 --> 00:08:45,106
like the Roman Colosseum.

222
00:08:45,107 --> 00:08:47,508
Burned so badly that now
they bring the stretcher.

223
00:08:47,509 --> 00:08:50,412
A lot of people say that the
Sheik was the originator

224
00:08:50,513 --> 00:08:52,447
of hardcore wrestling.

225
00:08:52,548 --> 00:08:55,750
Bull Curry was doing the same
kind of thing in the 40s,

226
00:08:55,850 --> 00:08:57,854
but The Sheik
popularized IT.

227
00:08:57,952 --> 00:08:59,522
He made it more mainstream.

228
00:08:59,621 --> 00:09:01,657
He made it
more profitable.

229
00:09:01,756 --> 00:09:03,325
Ugly situation.

230
00:09:03,326 --> 00:09:05,393
And the crowd loved
to hate him, right?

231
00:09:05,394 --> 00:09:07,096
I think he fed off that.

232
00:09:07,196 --> 00:09:09,865
Oh, what terrific
action in here now!

233
00:09:09,866 --> 00:09:11,532
There was a lot of
animosity back in the day.

234
00:09:11,533 --> 00:09:12,399
You know,
being that he was

235
00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:14,669
a first generation
Lebanese American.

236
00:09:14,670 --> 00:09:16,104
[commentary] We were
wondering a moment ago

237
00:09:16,105 --> 00:09:18,440
if The Sheik
understood English.

238
00:09:18,542 --> 00:09:22,110
My grandmother, grandfather
was born in Lebanon.

239
00:09:22,111 --> 00:09:23,878
So, when they came into
this country there,

240
00:09:23,879 --> 00:09:25,681
they came to Detroit.

241
00:09:25,780 --> 00:09:28,450
Detroit and Lansing was a
pretty big hub for Arabs

242
00:09:28,549 --> 00:09:29,852
at the time.

243
00:09:29,853 --> 00:09:31,418
He was known in the
neighborhood as a

244
00:09:31,419 --> 00:09:33,053
tough kid that you
didn't want to cross.

245
00:09:33,054 --> 00:09:34,322
That's just who he was.

246
00:09:34,423 --> 00:09:37,293
As a young kid, he wasn't
even old enough

247
00:09:37,393 --> 00:09:38,793
to enlist in the army.

248
00:09:38,894 --> 00:09:41,397
But he lied on
his application,

249
00:09:41,529 --> 00:09:44,866
and once he was in the army,
he did some boxing

250
00:09:44,966 --> 00:09:47,035
and some wrestling there.

251
00:09:47,168 --> 00:09:49,837
After he was in the
military and came back,

252
00:09:49,838 --> 00:09:51,505
he went into the trades
a little bit and

253
00:09:51,506 --> 00:09:53,736
he taught himself how to
do electrical work.

254
00:09:53,841 --> 00:09:57,546
Then he met Bert Ruby,
who was a promoter...

255
00:09:57,679 --> 00:10:01,649
and in training with him,
they developed the thought,

256
00:10:01,650 --> 00:10:04,252
because of his Arab descent,
it would make a lot of sense

257
00:10:04,253 --> 00:10:06,721
for him to take on
this Sheik persona.

258
00:10:06,822 --> 00:10:09,057
242 pounds,
The Sheik!

259
00:10:09,058 --> 00:10:10,224
[booing]

260
00:10:10,225 --> 00:10:12,427
In an era where most
wrestlers maintained

261
00:10:12,528 --> 00:10:14,830
their characters
outside of the ring,

262
00:10:14,897 --> 00:10:17,099
The Sheik takes
his dedication to

263
00:10:17,231 --> 00:10:19,033
a whole new level.

264
00:10:19,100 --> 00:10:21,003
Kayfabe, in wrestling,

265
00:10:21,070 --> 00:10:24,572
was the aura of
believability,

266
00:10:24,673 --> 00:10:27,576
and the kayfabe mindset
meant that you were,

267
00:10:27,676 --> 00:10:30,578
to everyone in public,
always to present

268
00:10:30,678 --> 00:10:33,548
the personality that you
claimed to be on television

269
00:10:33,649 --> 00:10:35,583
and at the
wrestling matches.

270
00:10:35,717 --> 00:10:38,855
From the time that The Sheik
first found this gimmick,

271
00:10:38,953 --> 00:10:42,423
he started removing proof
of who he was really.

272
00:10:42,524 --> 00:10:45,094
The Sheik took it
to the extreme.

273
00:10:45,193 --> 00:10:47,929
Probably to the most extreme
it's ever been taken.

274
00:10:48,062 --> 00:10:51,265
He has put himself in
some hypnotic state.

275
00:10:51,366 --> 00:10:56,205
He was, committed to
not expose The Sheik

276
00:10:56,272 --> 00:10:59,607
because that
was just anti...

277
00:10:59,708 --> 00:11:01,809
kayfabe.

278
00:11:01,909 --> 00:11:03,611
He never used his real name.

279
00:11:03,745 --> 00:11:05,648
If you called
The Sheik's house,

280
00:11:05,749 --> 00:11:07,950
and you asked for Ed,
he would hang up on you.

281
00:11:08,049 --> 00:11:10,284
You had to ask,
"Is Sheik there?"

282
00:11:10,418 --> 00:11:11,620
Sheik...

283
00:11:11,754 --> 00:11:13,564
That's all you heard,
was The Sheik.

284
00:11:13,565 --> 00:11:16,090
Yeah, when we'd have dinner,
he had the wrestlers over,

285
00:11:16,091 --> 00:11:18,626
and one table in the
other room was heels,

286
00:11:18,627 --> 00:11:20,896
and the babyfaces in the
other room. I was thinking,

287
00:11:20,897 --> 00:11:22,665
why are all the bad guys
sitting together?

288
00:11:22,666 --> 00:11:24,965
And why are all the good guys
sitting together, you know?

289
00:11:24,966 --> 00:11:27,034
But then I figured it out,
he was kayfabe-ing.

290
00:11:27,035 --> 00:11:28,302
He would always kayfabe,

291
00:11:28,403 --> 00:11:31,306
even when it
wasn't necessary.

292
00:11:31,407 --> 00:11:34,275
When The Sheik was
out in public, I mean,

293
00:11:34,342 --> 00:11:36,412
he didn't speak to...

294
00:11:36,511 --> 00:11:39,347
people he didn't know at
a restaurant or something.

295
00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:41,616
You know, he was a
man of few words.

296
00:11:41,683 --> 00:11:44,586
And any time the waiter or
waitress would come by

297
00:11:44,687 --> 00:11:45,827
and be within earshot,

298
00:11:45,888 --> 00:11:49,424
he'd switch it right
back to, ah, Arabic.

299
00:11:49,524 --> 00:11:51,025
He became a character.

300
00:11:51,125 --> 00:11:53,327
And, in his mind,

301
00:11:53,461 --> 00:11:55,464
that's kind of being a con.

302
00:11:55,563 --> 00:11:58,833
And he milked it for
all it was worth.

303
00:11:58,933 --> 00:12:02,605
I think The Sheik had
realized that he had hit on

304
00:12:02,705 --> 00:12:05,707
a gimmick that was
once in a lifetime.

305
00:12:05,708 --> 00:12:07,974
Truly the wild man of
professional wrestling.

306
00:12:07,975 --> 00:12:11,679
If he protected it, if he
worked it, if he always...

307
00:12:11,813 --> 00:12:14,850
embodied that character...

308
00:12:14,950 --> 00:12:17,285
There he goes again!
Right into the throat!

309
00:12:17,385 --> 00:12:20,889
That he would always be
the top heel in wrestling.

310
00:12:20,989 --> 00:12:24,525
He would always make a
ridiculous amount of money.

311
00:12:24,659 --> 00:12:27,361
But Ed Farhat's unwavering
commitment to

312
00:12:27,495 --> 00:12:29,130
living his life
as The Sheik...

313
00:12:29,230 --> 00:12:31,866
[indistinct shouting]

314
00:12:31,966 --> 00:12:34,870
...often leads to dangerous
encounters with fans

315
00:12:35,003 --> 00:12:37,172
who believe the
madness is real.

316
00:12:37,239 --> 00:12:38,673
?

317
00:12:38,774 --> 00:12:42,510
A lot of fans were
violent towards him.

318
00:12:42,610 --> 00:12:44,846
He would leave shows
and have fans try to

319
00:12:44,847 --> 00:12:46,415
attack him
outside the shows.

320
00:12:46,416 --> 00:12:47,850
He had people stab him.

321
00:12:47,917 --> 00:12:49,717
?

322
00:12:49,718 --> 00:12:51,686
One fan broke in the
dressing room, and...

323
00:12:51,687 --> 00:12:54,556
my uncle had his blade
on him. And I was there,

324
00:12:54,557 --> 00:12:56,691
and the guy came to my
uncle and started saying shit.

325
00:12:56,692 --> 00:12:59,495
My uncle just- [whooshing]
Zipped him like in a 'Z'.

326
00:12:59,562 --> 00:13:01,163
And he cut him, psh!

327
00:13:01,263 --> 00:13:03,599
Almost his insides
came out.

328
00:13:03,698 --> 00:13:05,033
And in the newspaper,

329
00:13:05,100 --> 00:13:09,071
the explanation they
gave for the fan's injuries

330
00:13:09,072 --> 00:13:10,604
was that he had been
knocked through

331
00:13:10,605 --> 00:13:12,274
a plate glass window...

332
00:13:12,407 --> 00:13:14,710
in the process of
being apprehended.

333
00:13:14,809 --> 00:13:17,245
'Cause The Sheik had
just ripped him...

334
00:13:17,346 --> 00:13:19,047
from one end to the other.

335
00:13:19,114 --> 00:13:20,716
?

336
00:13:20,782 --> 00:13:23,018
There was a night
in Amarillo, Texas,

337
00:13:23,118 --> 00:13:24,748
where The Sheik
got so much heat

338
00:13:24,753 --> 00:13:26,687
that a guy pulled
a gun on him...

339
00:13:26,788 --> 00:13:28,890
at point blank range.

340
00:13:28,957 --> 00:13:32,227
The fans were stirred into
a frenzy by The Sheik.

341
00:13:32,293 --> 00:13:33,897
?

342
00:13:33,995 --> 00:13:35,563
"Kill him, kill him!"

343
00:13:40,007 --> 00:13:44,138
A lot of times when the
Sheik was on the card,

344
00:13:44,139 --> 00:13:47,442
the local promoter might beef
up the police, the security.

345
00:13:47,543 --> 00:13:49,110
[indistinct shouting]

346
00:13:49,211 --> 00:13:50,946
There was one night
in Amarillo...

347
00:13:51,078 --> 00:13:52,980
a guy pulled a gun on him!

348
00:13:53,081 --> 00:13:54,283
And tried to fire.

349
00:13:54,383 --> 00:13:55,433
[gun clicking]

350
00:13:55,484 --> 00:13:58,287
And the gun jammed, and
the cops tackled the guy.

351
00:13:58,419 --> 00:14:00,769
And when they took the
guy in and arrested him,

352
00:14:00,822 --> 00:14:03,458
the policeman,
trying to see

353
00:14:03,591 --> 00:14:06,160
why the gun had jammed,
fired the bullet.

354
00:14:06,161 --> 00:14:07,295
[gunshot]

355
00:14:07,296 --> 00:14:09,129
If the guy had pulled the
trigger one more time,

356
00:14:09,130 --> 00:14:10,765
he would've
got The Sheik.

357
00:14:10,832 --> 00:14:14,503
A lot of top wrestlers that
were heels had that much heat.

358
00:14:14,604 --> 00:14:18,807
But The Sheikh caused riots
everywhere he went, and...

359
00:14:18,907 --> 00:14:20,808
Sheik wasn't
scared of anything.

360
00:14:20,908 --> 00:14:23,345
With The Sheik drawing
crowds in arenas

361
00:14:23,445 --> 00:14:26,582
all over North America,
Ed Farhat looks to

362
00:14:26,648 --> 00:14:29,250
elevate his career
as a promoter.

363
00:14:29,251 --> 00:14:31,284
That's where you made the
money in pro wrestling,

364
00:14:31,285 --> 00:14:32,587
owning the thing.

365
00:14:32,653 --> 00:14:34,188
You got first count.

366
00:14:34,322 --> 00:14:39,027
In 1964, The Sheik buys
Detroit's Big Time Wrestling,

367
00:14:39,126 --> 00:14:42,264
packing the famed
Cobo Arena with fans.

368
00:14:42,364 --> 00:14:44,500
But in business,
like in the ring,

369
00:14:44,633 --> 00:14:46,768
he never breaks character.

370
00:14:46,868 --> 00:14:48,937
When Sheik took over,
nobody knew that

371
00:14:49,037 --> 00:14:50,471
he owned the promotion.

372
00:14:50,572 --> 00:14:53,274
He made his father-in-law,
Francis Fleser,

373
00:14:53,375 --> 00:14:55,110
the figurehead promoter,

374
00:14:55,111 --> 00:14:57,210
and The Sheik called
the shots in the ring.

375
00:14:57,211 --> 00:14:58,781
And there's the
camel clutch!

376
00:14:58,846 --> 00:15:00,349
Sheik's wife, Joyce,

377
00:15:00,481 --> 00:15:03,384
handled the paperwork
and ran the office.

378
00:15:03,518 --> 00:15:07,121
Yeah, Grandma was definitely
the matriarch of our family,

379
00:15:07,221 --> 00:15:10,392
and... she was the boss.

380
00:15:10,491 --> 00:15:12,961
They were always a team,
even behind the scenes,

381
00:15:12,995 --> 00:15:16,298
you know, she was lockstep
with him in the business.

382
00:15:16,398 --> 00:15:19,100
In the mid 1960s,
the city of Detroit, Michigan

383
00:15:19,201 --> 00:15:21,903
had money, and they knew
and liked wrestling.

384
00:15:22,004 --> 00:15:24,405
The Cobo was a
12,000-seat building...

385
00:15:24,538 --> 00:15:27,241
and they were coming
close to or filling it up

386
00:15:27,341 --> 00:15:28,744
on most occasions.

387
00:15:28,844 --> 00:15:31,212
The Sheik before 12,500 fans

388
00:15:31,346 --> 00:15:33,081
in the Detroit Cobo Arena.

389
00:15:33,215 --> 00:15:36,918
The Sheik was a
thinking business man.

390
00:15:37,019 --> 00:15:40,322
He was the very first
promoter in the country

391
00:15:40,389 --> 00:15:42,423
who bought a
mobile TV truck,

392
00:15:42,557 --> 00:15:45,360
and he's gonna film
his own matches at arenas

393
00:15:45,460 --> 00:15:47,062
where he's already at.

394
00:15:47,195 --> 00:15:50,731
So now you don't have to
pay the TV studios anymore.

395
00:15:50,832 --> 00:15:54,568
The Cobo Arena in Detroit
was the hottest building

396
00:15:54,669 --> 00:15:56,359
for pro wrestling
in the country.

397
00:15:56,404 --> 00:15:58,606
He outdrew the
Detroit Pistons

398
00:15:58,707 --> 00:15:59,841
who played there.

399
00:15:59,942 --> 00:16:01,909
Any concert that
played there.

400
00:16:01,910 --> 00:16:04,177
Here's a man who set more
attendance records around

401
00:16:04,178 --> 00:16:06,416
the country than any
other wrestler alive.

402
00:16:06,514 --> 00:16:09,750
Every major name that worked
for the NWA would come

403
00:16:09,884 --> 00:16:12,187
to Detroit to wrestle
for The Sheik.

404
00:16:12,287 --> 00:16:14,456
It was like the
WWE of the time.

405
00:16:14,457 --> 00:16:16,090
It was the place where
everybody wanted to work,

406
00:16:16,091 --> 00:16:17,490
and the guys made
most money there,

407
00:16:17,491 --> 00:16:19,461
and it was the
most popular.

408
00:16:19,594 --> 00:16:21,629
He had power,
he had pull.

409
00:16:21,763 --> 00:16:24,231
So, it was just an onslaught
of top stars from

410
00:16:24,333 --> 00:16:26,735
every part of the country
on the cards.

411
00:16:26,835 --> 00:16:29,136
And when you own
the promotion,

412
00:16:29,236 --> 00:16:30,616
you can double sell tickets.

413
00:16:30,706 --> 00:16:32,336
You can put stuff
in your pocket.

414
00:16:32,337 --> 00:16:34,108
Unless there's a state
athletic commission

415
00:16:34,109 --> 00:16:36,043
inspector there,
nobody knows

416
00:16:36,110 --> 00:16:37,712
how much money
you took in!

417
00:16:37,812 --> 00:16:39,447
And it's all in cash.

418
00:16:39,548 --> 00:16:42,317
4, and 5,
and $6 at a time.

419
00:16:42,451 --> 00:16:44,119
Thousands of people.

420
00:16:44,251 --> 00:16:46,788
In 1973,
The Sheik reported

421
00:16:46,922 --> 00:16:49,157
income of $400,000

422
00:16:49,256 --> 00:16:51,158
on his income tax.

423
00:16:51,293 --> 00:16:53,662
That's the equivalent of
over $2 million

424
00:16:53,761 --> 00:16:55,062
in today's money.

425
00:16:55,163 --> 00:16:56,932
That's what he reported.

426
00:16:56,999 --> 00:16:58,799
No wrestler in the world

427
00:16:58,899 --> 00:17:01,168
made as much money
as The Sheik.

428
00:17:01,302 --> 00:17:03,337
The Sheik was
everything back then.

429
00:17:03,338 --> 00:17:05,605
He was a first generation
Lebanese American.

430
00:17:05,606 --> 00:17:09,510
He built his empire and his
career from the ground up.

431
00:17:09,644 --> 00:17:12,513
You know, and I think that
is the American dream, right?

432
00:17:12,646 --> 00:17:15,017
The Sheik spares no expense,

433
00:17:15,116 --> 00:17:17,118
draping himself in luxury

434
00:17:17,184 --> 00:17:19,820
to sell the image
of a man who is powerful,

435
00:17:19,921 --> 00:17:22,656
untouchable, and rich.

436
00:17:22,790 --> 00:17:24,126
He had one house.

437
00:17:24,127 --> 00:17:26,527
And then he had another
house built, a giant house.

438
00:17:26,528 --> 00:17:30,565
And, it was like four floors,
indoor pool, gym,

439
00:17:30,566 --> 00:17:32,633
5 or 10 acres of woods
and creek and stuff.

440
00:17:32,634 --> 00:17:33,701
It was beautiful.

441
00:17:33,835 --> 00:17:35,270
Sauna in the house.

442
00:17:35,336 --> 00:17:37,105
I think it had 35 rooms in it.

443
00:17:37,172 --> 00:17:38,640
It was a big place.

444
00:17:38,708 --> 00:17:41,175
And I go to myself,
holy shit!

445
00:17:41,176 --> 00:17:42,675
He worked hard for a living,

446
00:17:42,676 --> 00:17:44,412
and I think he did like
to play hard.

447
00:17:44,413 --> 00:17:45,680
He liked cars...

448
00:17:45,780 --> 00:17:47,982
suits, jewelry, traveling.

449
00:17:48,084 --> 00:17:51,153
He definitely enjoyed
being successful.

450
00:17:51,219 --> 00:17:54,321
He had a Lincoln,
and that was kind of

451
00:17:54,388 --> 00:17:55,723
his signature vehicle.

452
00:17:55,724 --> 00:17:57,291
He had about a
thousand suits.

453
00:17:57,292 --> 00:17:58,659
He wore a different suit
every day.

454
00:17:58,660 --> 00:17:59,927
No matter it was
hot, cold.

455
00:17:59,928 --> 00:18:01,729
He wore it every day.
That was a style.

456
00:18:01,730 --> 00:18:03,898
The man was not
afraid of color,

457
00:18:03,899 --> 00:18:06,366
and you could always find
him when he wasn't wrestling

458
00:18:06,367 --> 00:18:08,737
with tons of jewelry on,
tons of rings,

459
00:18:08,836 --> 00:18:10,372
lots of necklaces.

460
00:18:10,471 --> 00:18:12,541
You're an
entertainer, right?

461
00:18:12,641 --> 00:18:15,509
You have to look the part.
You understand?

462
00:18:15,609 --> 00:18:17,846
He was The Sheik.
He acted like he was royalty.

463
00:18:17,913 --> 00:18:19,381
He was reckless.

464
00:18:19,382 --> 00:18:22,149
He would go buy anything he
thought he wanted, I mean,

465
00:18:22,150 --> 00:18:26,054
because he had no idea of any
limitations about him at all.

466
00:18:26,153 --> 00:18:29,423
He was a fabulous
businessman.

467
00:18:29,557 --> 00:18:31,759
But I'm gonna tell
the honest truth.

468
00:18:31,893 --> 00:18:34,896
He had one weakness.

469
00:18:35,029 --> 00:18:37,231
Gambling all the
money that he had.

470
00:18:37,365 --> 00:18:40,268
[chuckling] Las Vegas
would wipe him out!

471
00:18:40,402 --> 00:18:42,104
[laughing]

472
00:18:42,203 --> 00:18:44,772
I mean, just like any
other gambler, you know,

473
00:18:44,905 --> 00:18:48,376
you always think you can win.
You may win here or there,

474
00:18:48,478 --> 00:18:50,744
but it's always
the house wins.

475
00:18:50,846 --> 00:18:53,082
He lived big and

476
00:18:53,181 --> 00:18:55,851
he had to keep up
the gimmick.

477
00:18:55,951 --> 00:18:58,855
Insisting he remain
the top draw,

478
00:18:58,953 --> 00:19:02,723
The Sheik books himself to
headline nearly every show.

479
00:19:02,824 --> 00:19:04,794
United States
Heavyweight Champion.

480
00:19:04,925 --> 00:19:07,215
He's held that title longer
than any other US

481
00:19:07,230 --> 00:19:09,763
heavyweight champion in
the history of the belt.

482
00:19:09,865 --> 00:19:13,268
There is a lot of truth to
the idea that a-

483
00:19:13,401 --> 00:19:15,770
the main event star in
wrestling should lose

484
00:19:15,903 --> 00:19:18,973
only rarely, so that
when you do it,

485
00:19:19,074 --> 00:19:20,942
then that gets you over
as the guy.

486
00:19:21,076 --> 00:19:23,111
But The Sheik took it
to extremes,

487
00:19:23,211 --> 00:19:25,946
and The Sheik felt
that if anyone was to

488
00:19:26,047 --> 00:19:28,616
conclusively defeat him...

489
00:19:28,617 --> 00:19:30,352
that it would take
his heat away

490
00:19:30,353 --> 00:19:32,287
and it would
diminish his aura.

491
00:19:32,420 --> 00:19:34,756
The Sheik has got
a million tricks

492
00:19:34,823 --> 00:19:36,324
so don't count him out.

493
00:19:36,325 --> 00:19:38,325
I mean, if you're able to
decide who is gonna be

494
00:19:38,326 --> 00:19:39,826
on the card and who's not
gonna be on the card,

495
00:19:39,827 --> 00:19:42,763
why would you not assume that
he would be the main event?

496
00:19:42,764 --> 00:19:44,797
The United States
heavyweight champion,

497
00:19:44,798 --> 00:19:46,001
The Sheik.

498
00:19:46,101 --> 00:19:47,635
He would sell for wrestlers.

499
00:19:47,769 --> 00:19:51,306
He would bleed for 'em.
He would do all those things.

500
00:19:51,405 --> 00:19:52,973
But you couldn't beat him.

501
00:19:53,074 --> 00:19:55,143
The Sheik never did a job.

502
00:19:55,277 --> 00:19:58,480
And that was what made it
even more shocking

503
00:19:58,613 --> 00:20:01,849
on the rare occasion
that he would.

504
00:20:01,950 --> 00:20:04,152
One of the few times
The Sheik agrees to

505
00:20:04,251 --> 00:20:06,954
lose a match comes
at a volatile moment

506
00:20:07,022 --> 00:20:08,856
in Detroit's history.

507
00:20:08,990 --> 00:20:13,795
1967, the city of
Detroit had riots.

508
00:20:13,862 --> 00:20:15,997
Four days of rioting,
looting, and arson

509
00:20:16,131 --> 00:20:17,833
rocked the city of Detroit.

510
00:20:17,932 --> 00:20:21,336
It was over a situation
where the police had raided

511
00:20:21,436 --> 00:20:24,138
a certain bar in an
African American area,

512
00:20:24,207 --> 00:20:27,342
and the riots lasted
for several days.

513
00:20:27,474 --> 00:20:30,010
The Sheik's number one
babyface,

514
00:20:30,145 --> 00:20:32,547
his star attraction
as a hero...

515
00:20:32,681 --> 00:20:35,016
was a guy named
Bobo Brazil.

516
00:20:35,115 --> 00:20:38,619
Sheik saw an opportunity
there because, at the Cobo,

517
00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:40,855
the crowds were
black and white.

518
00:20:40,856 --> 00:20:43,390
Like a lot of places in the
United States in the 60s,

519
00:20:43,391 --> 00:20:45,894
the only place that you
would go and see a really

520
00:20:45,993 --> 00:20:49,163
integrated audience was
at the wrestling matches.

521
00:20:49,263 --> 00:20:53,201
In the late 1950s, early 60s,
down in the South,

522
00:20:53,202 --> 00:20:55,335
the whites and the blacks
were separated,

523
00:20:55,336 --> 00:20:58,038
and the blacks were usually
separated to the

524
00:20:58,138 --> 00:21:01,175
upper tiers of
the arena, and...

525
00:21:01,276 --> 00:21:04,480
they had chicken wire or
something like that put up

526
00:21:04,546 --> 00:21:07,382
in front of them.
And, at one point,

527
00:21:07,481 --> 00:21:10,353
The Sheik was on one
of those shows, and...

528
00:21:10,419 --> 00:21:13,355
he crawled up that chicken
wire and tore it down...

529
00:21:13,421 --> 00:21:16,023
and invited the black folks
to come down

530
00:21:16,090 --> 00:21:17,659
into the arena floor.

531
00:21:17,759 --> 00:21:19,493
He was that kind of guy.

532
00:21:19,494 --> 00:21:21,428
Being that he was a
Lebanese-American,

533
00:21:21,429 --> 00:21:23,798
he experienced racism
himself growing up.

534
00:21:23,897 --> 00:21:25,066
You know,
he felt it.

535
00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:27,501
And I think that, once he
reached a position

536
00:21:27,502 --> 00:21:29,269
where he was able to
help other people,

537
00:21:29,270 --> 00:21:32,173
he took advantage of it.

538
00:21:32,272 --> 00:21:35,277
Once the riots started,
The Sheik, thinking,

539
00:21:35,376 --> 00:21:39,749
"What can I do to calm
things down, to help?"

540
00:21:39,847 --> 00:21:42,084
So, in that arena that night,
you know,

541
00:21:42,182 --> 00:21:44,085
there was at least
10,000 people,

542
00:21:44,086 --> 00:21:46,053
and there was not only
whites and blacks

543
00:21:46,054 --> 00:21:48,856
and every kind of ethnicity.

544
00:21:48,923 --> 00:21:51,960
In that arena that night,
they were all one...

545
00:21:52,059 --> 00:21:55,462
hoping that Bobo Brazil
could beat The Sheik.

546
00:21:55,463 --> 00:21:57,463
You're watching a
championship bout.

547
00:21:57,464 --> 00:22:00,434
Bobo Brazil and the wild
man from Syria, The Sheik!

548
00:22:00,535 --> 00:22:03,238
And when Bobo finally
beat The Sheik...

549
00:22:03,304 --> 00:22:07,710
?

550
00:22:07,808 --> 00:22:11,314
...the place exploded like
I've never seen before.

551
00:22:11,413 --> 00:22:15,784
Doing that, The Sheik helped
heal the city of Detroit.

552
00:22:15,917 --> 00:22:19,119
It settled down the
tensions in the town.

553
00:22:19,120 --> 00:22:20,487
And then, of course,
Sheik beat him

554
00:22:20,488 --> 00:22:22,058
two weeks later
and won it back.

555
00:22:22,089 --> 00:22:24,259
[chanting]
Go, Sheik, go!

556
00:22:24,358 --> 00:22:26,795
?

557
00:22:26,895 --> 00:22:28,885
Once responsible
for the promotion's

558
00:22:28,897 --> 00:22:31,500
greatest success,
eventually The Sheik

559
00:22:31,633 --> 00:22:35,002
becomes a liability for
Big Time Wrestling.

560
00:22:35,104 --> 00:22:38,306
If you have a hot heel
that can't be stopped,

561
00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:41,343
everybody wants somebody
to stop him. But then,

562
00:22:41,476 --> 00:22:44,679
if it goes on for so long
that the people become

563
00:22:44,778 --> 00:22:47,147
convinced that
nobody can stop him,

564
00:22:47,249 --> 00:22:49,651
they'll stop coming
to see somebody try.

565
00:22:49,652 --> 00:22:51,951
The winner with the
Camel Clutch, The Sheik!

566
00:22:51,952 --> 00:22:54,321
[booing]

567
00:22:54,457 --> 00:22:57,491
Past 1975, the...

568
00:22:57,625 --> 00:23:01,496
auto industry was, you know,
starting to have problems.

569
00:23:01,596 --> 00:23:04,365
The economy, you know,
started to take effect.

570
00:23:04,500 --> 00:23:07,836
That's why Big Time
Wrestling started to fail,

571
00:23:07,837 --> 00:23:10,104
because people really didn't
have that extra money

572
00:23:10,105 --> 00:23:12,540
to spend to see wrestling.

573
00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:15,544
It was just a
domino effect of the

574
00:23:15,643 --> 00:23:20,347
economy and the promotion
not drawing fans.

575
00:23:20,481 --> 00:23:22,182
The Sheik always lived big.

576
00:23:22,317 --> 00:23:24,187
The custom made suits,
the jewelry,

577
00:23:24,219 --> 00:23:26,887
the stretch limousines,
the handlers, the helpers.

578
00:23:26,988 --> 00:23:29,723
Suddenly, with
business going down,

579
00:23:29,857 --> 00:23:32,228
he didn't have the
money coming in...

580
00:23:32,359 --> 00:23:34,528
to cover the
money going out.

581
00:23:34,662 --> 00:23:37,531
How do you maintain
that lifestyle?

582
00:23:37,665 --> 00:23:40,201
Unfortunately,
he couldn't keep it up.

583
00:23:48,710 --> 00:23:51,378
Oh, The Sheik took off
and ran away.

584
00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:55,215
By the mid 1970s,
the Sheik's Detroit promotion,

585
00:23:55,316 --> 00:23:58,486
Big Time Wrestling,
is struggling financially,

586
00:23:58,586 --> 00:24:01,923
and its woes take a toll
on locker room morale.

587
00:24:02,056 --> 00:24:04,057
A lot of guys got
pissed because either...

588
00:24:04,058 --> 00:24:06,860
they were promised things
that they weren't getting,

589
00:24:06,861 --> 00:24:09,262
or they could just see
the business going down,

590
00:24:09,263 --> 00:24:12,267
and they started
no showing the cards.

591
00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:15,002
I remember a time
when Bruno Sammartino

592
00:24:15,068 --> 00:24:17,172
came to Cobo Arena.

593
00:24:17,272 --> 00:24:20,340
If you're an East Coast guy,
you're a Bruno fan.

594
00:24:20,442 --> 00:24:22,242
You know,
Bruno was everything.

595
00:24:22,343 --> 00:24:25,078
And, after the show,
Bruno says,

596
00:24:25,079 --> 00:24:27,280
"Hey, you want to go out
to dinner with me?"

597
00:24:27,281 --> 00:24:28,450
So, I'll never forget,

598
00:24:28,549 --> 00:24:30,451
we went to this
Chinese restaurant.

599
00:24:30,452 --> 00:24:32,385
And I go, "I hear you're
going to be back here

600
00:24:32,386 --> 00:24:33,354
in two weeks,
you know,

601
00:24:33,355 --> 00:24:35,221
with a return match
against the Sheik."

602
00:24:35,222 --> 00:24:36,923
He says, "I'm going
to tell you something,

603
00:24:36,924 --> 00:24:39,228
but don't say anything
to anybody else.

604
00:24:39,294 --> 00:24:40,344
I'm not coming.

605
00:24:40,395 --> 00:24:43,565
The Sheik promised me
$2,000 to come tonight,

606
00:24:43,631 --> 00:24:46,201
and he gave me a
check for $800.

607
00:24:46,300 --> 00:24:48,303
So, I'm not showing up."

608
00:24:48,403 --> 00:24:50,271
Money wasn't coming in,

609
00:24:50,371 --> 00:24:52,773
and he couldn't afford
to pay the wrestlers

610
00:24:52,906 --> 00:24:54,741
what they thought
they were worth.

611
00:24:54,843 --> 00:24:56,577
Big time Wrestling
had lost TV

612
00:24:56,578 --> 00:24:57,877
in some of their
other markets.

613
00:24:57,878 --> 00:24:59,815
Finally, they lost
TV in Detroit.

614
00:24:59,913 --> 00:25:02,282
It was somewhere
around late 1980,

615
00:25:02,383 --> 00:25:05,053
that was the last event that
Big Time Wrestling ran

616
00:25:05,118 --> 00:25:07,957
in the Cobo Arena,
the house that Sheik built.

617
00:25:08,088 --> 00:25:11,092
One of the most popular
places to see wrestling

618
00:25:11,192 --> 00:25:14,230
in the United States for the
previous 15, 20 years...

619
00:25:14,328 --> 00:25:16,096
couldn't run it anymore.

620
00:25:16,097 --> 00:25:18,499
That was pretty much the
end of Big Time Wrestling.

621
00:25:18,500 --> 00:25:20,969
Unfortunately, he wasn't
making that money.

622
00:25:21,103 --> 00:25:22,670
He was still spending it.

623
00:25:22,804 --> 00:25:25,138
And so, the only thing
that saved him

624
00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:26,974
was the Japanese tours...

625
00:25:27,107 --> 00:25:30,311
Because Giant Baba and
All Japan Pro Wrestling

626
00:25:30,444 --> 00:25:32,846
brought The Sheik to Japan.

627
00:25:32,946 --> 00:25:34,982
Japan was the
biggest money maker

628
00:25:35,115 --> 00:25:37,151
in professional wrestling...

629
00:25:37,251 --> 00:25:38,987
for a long time.

630
00:25:39,119 --> 00:25:42,490
The Sheik had been in all
these pictures, the fire...

631
00:25:42,625 --> 00:25:45,660
and the snakes,
and the blood, and the eyes.

632
00:25:45,794 --> 00:25:48,504
But they'd only seen him in
magazines and newspapers.

633
00:25:48,564 --> 00:25:50,499
[Japanese commentary]

634
00:25:50,632 --> 00:25:54,103
They went absolutely out of
their minds for The Sheik.

635
00:25:54,201 --> 00:25:57,505
He became an icon in a
very short period of time.

636
00:25:57,638 --> 00:26:00,340
The great city of Tokyo,
when The Sheik walks down

637
00:26:00,341 --> 00:26:02,075
the street, they actually
stop traffic.

638
00:26:02,076 --> 00:26:03,611
They were bloodthirsty.

639
00:26:03,711 --> 00:26:05,712
?

640
00:26:05,814 --> 00:26:07,548
Buckets of blood everywhere.

641
00:26:07,549 --> 00:26:08,714
They could do that in Japan,

642
00:26:08,715 --> 00:26:10,351
and they could
get away with it.

643
00:26:10,484 --> 00:26:12,855
But then after a few
years, again,

644
00:26:12,987 --> 00:26:15,556
Japanese wrestling was
very highly athletic.

645
00:26:15,656 --> 00:26:17,224
The Sheik couldn't keep up.

646
00:26:17,357 --> 00:26:19,460
Baba stopped bringing him
to Japan.

647
00:26:19,461 --> 00:26:21,895
He was not able to be booked
almost anywhere else

648
00:26:21,896 --> 00:26:24,898
in the United States
because of his age

649
00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:27,335
and the bridges that
he had burned.

650
00:26:27,434 --> 00:26:30,704
And, as the money
dried up...

651
00:26:30,805 --> 00:26:34,209
pretty soon he was just
wandering around the house,

652
00:26:34,342 --> 00:26:37,645
a 60-something year old man
in a dilapidated mansion

653
00:26:37,744 --> 00:26:39,513
that had seen
its better days.

654
00:26:39,514 --> 00:26:41,249
I mean, he'd spent
all his, all his,

655
00:26:41,250 --> 00:26:43,384
all his millions, and...

656
00:26:43,518 --> 00:26:45,886
so he and Joyce were
living in the kitchen.

657
00:26:45,987 --> 00:26:47,654
Ah...

658
00:26:47,655 --> 00:26:49,422
I can't go into it all
the way because

659
00:26:49,423 --> 00:26:51,691
it's embarrassing, but...
He was losing his money.

660
00:26:51,692 --> 00:26:53,394
Like, we had to
sell the big house.

661
00:26:53,528 --> 00:26:55,829
And so he was not,
not penniless,

662
00:26:55,930 --> 00:26:57,010
but he was going broke.

663
00:26:57,065 --> 00:26:59,267
After they left the mansion...

664
00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:02,403
it was still them,
still two against the world,

665
00:27:02,502 --> 00:27:04,571
so to speak. I mean,
they were a tight pair.

666
00:27:04,672 --> 00:27:06,441
And, to me,
as their grandchild,

667
00:27:06,541 --> 00:27:08,175
I never saw anything but...

668
00:27:08,276 --> 00:27:09,943
my loving grandparents.

669
00:27:10,077 --> 00:27:13,013
All the money and all the
glory and all the fame

670
00:27:13,114 --> 00:27:16,351
and the lifestyle, it was
just not there anymore.

671
00:27:16,451 --> 00:27:19,621
I mean, you've been
the greatest heel

672
00:27:19,753 --> 00:27:21,803
in the sport of
professional wrestling

673
00:27:21,923 --> 00:27:23,590
for how many years?

674
00:27:23,691 --> 00:27:25,441
But now you're
that older athlete

675
00:27:25,460 --> 00:27:29,430
who can't perform at
that level anymore.

676
00:27:29,529 --> 00:27:31,365
You know,
what's the guy to do?

677
00:27:31,465 --> 00:27:32,933
Now past his prime,

678
00:27:33,067 --> 00:27:35,635
The Sheik takes any
booking he can get,

679
00:27:35,770 --> 00:27:38,138
just to keep food
on the table.

680
00:27:38,239 --> 00:27:40,709
He'd go to Warren, Ohio,
to a high school gym,

681
00:27:40,807 --> 00:27:43,944
and do the same thing with
Bobo Brazil that they

682
00:27:44,077 --> 00:27:47,315
had done 20 years earlier
in the Cobo Arena.

683
00:27:47,316 --> 00:27:49,316
Instead of in front of
12,000 people,

684
00:27:49,317 --> 00:27:51,152
it might be in
front of 1200.

685
00:27:51,251 --> 00:27:53,988
And he was born
in the 20s...

686
00:27:53,989 --> 00:27:56,757
and he was just trying to
make a couple hundred dollars

687
00:27:56,758 --> 00:27:58,325
here and there
just to, you know,

688
00:27:58,326 --> 00:27:59,961
keep food in his
little kitchen.

689
00:28:00,061 --> 00:28:02,329
His gimmick had
gotten tired...

690
00:28:02,462 --> 00:28:03,999
and he couldn't
keep it up.

691
00:28:04,132 --> 00:28:05,566
He was...

692
00:28:05,666 --> 00:28:09,336
chasing a career
down a rat hole.

693
00:28:09,470 --> 00:28:12,940
All that obviously had to play
a part in a late life crisis.

694
00:28:13,007 --> 00:28:14,776
?

695
00:28:14,842 --> 00:28:17,010
And, he was trying to

696
00:28:17,111 --> 00:28:19,180
recapture some former glory,

697
00:28:19,279 --> 00:28:21,569
and try to do something
to keep himself going

698
00:28:21,648 --> 00:28:25,486
at the same time. I'm not
a psychiatrist, but...

699
00:28:25,619 --> 00:28:27,369
one would think that
that had to be

700
00:28:27,454 --> 00:28:28,784
uppermost in
his mind is,

701
00:28:28,823 --> 00:28:32,692
how can I keep doing
this for very much longer?

702
00:28:32,826 --> 00:28:35,128
How can I keep up the gimmick?

703
00:28:35,230 --> 00:28:37,265
[indistinct shouting]

704
00:28:43,171 --> 00:28:45,006
-The Sheik!
-[applauding]

705
00:28:45,138 --> 00:28:47,674
[speaking Arabic]

706
00:28:47,808 --> 00:28:50,711
With injury and age
driving him from the ring...

707
00:28:50,845 --> 00:28:52,846
[host]
...anything you want.

708
00:28:52,980 --> 00:28:56,017
The Sheik shifts to training
the next generation,

709
00:28:56,150 --> 00:28:58,353
starting with his nephew.

710
00:28:58,486 --> 00:29:01,690
My mom and my uncle
were the two youngest,

711
00:29:01,691 --> 00:29:03,323
so my uncle always
took care of my mother,

712
00:29:03,324 --> 00:29:04,524
walked her to
school every day,

713
00:29:04,525 --> 00:29:06,526
beat up anybody who got in
her way, and all that stuff.

714
00:29:06,527 --> 00:29:09,196
And, my uncle used
to beat up my dad.

715
00:29:09,197 --> 00:29:10,963
They got a divorce when
I was three years old,

716
00:29:10,964 --> 00:29:12,865
but I'd see him around
when I was five or six,

717
00:29:12,866 --> 00:29:14,367
and he'd hit my mom.

718
00:29:14,368 --> 00:29:15,367
Then my mom would
call my uncle,

719
00:29:15,368 --> 00:29:17,358
my uncle would come over
and beat him up.

720
00:29:17,439 --> 00:29:19,040
?

721
00:29:19,041 --> 00:29:21,141
And then one day, he comes
to beat him up and

722
00:29:21,142 --> 00:29:23,075
my dad was hiding under
the bed, and I said,

723
00:29:23,076 --> 00:29:25,245
that's what I'm gonna do,
I'm gonna be The Sheik.

724
00:29:25,246 --> 00:29:27,047
And have people hide
under the bed from me.

725
00:29:27,048 --> 00:29:28,250
[laughing]

726
00:29:28,251 --> 00:29:29,883
I said, well, - him,
I got my uncle.

727
00:29:29,884 --> 00:29:31,384
He's more of a dad.

728
00:29:31,385 --> 00:29:33,354
All up until I was 19,
I was telling people,

729
00:29:33,355 --> 00:29:34,188
"I'm gonna be a wrestler,
I'm gonna be a wrestler,"

730
00:29:34,189 --> 00:29:34,956
but I never did
nothing towards it

731
00:29:34,957 --> 00:29:36,656
other than
amateur wrestling.

732
00:29:36,758 --> 00:29:37,892
?

733
00:29:38,025 --> 00:29:40,229
I was 19 at a party, and...

734
00:29:40,361 --> 00:29:41,801
these guys started shooting.

735
00:29:41,802 --> 00:29:42,863
[gunshot]

736
00:29:42,864 --> 00:29:44,698
One guy shot my one
friend in the stomach.

737
00:29:44,699 --> 00:29:47,001
-[gunshot]
-Then took off running.

738
00:29:47,002 --> 00:29:48,935
I ran after him and
grabbed him, threw him down.

739
00:29:48,936 --> 00:29:51,272
?

740
00:29:51,273 --> 00:29:52,771
He pushed the gun
against my face,

741
00:29:52,772 --> 00:29:55,442
and he hit my teeth
and it shattered.

742
00:29:55,443 --> 00:29:56,543
[gunshot]

743
00:29:56,544 --> 00:29:58,077
So, it went in my nasal
cavity and the back of

744
00:29:58,078 --> 00:30:00,412
my throat, and it knocked
out seven of my teeth.

745
00:30:00,413 --> 00:30:04,018
So, when I got shot, I go,
now's the time I gotta do it.

746
00:30:04,019 --> 00:30:06,318
So, after a couple days,
I got out of the hospital.

747
00:30:06,319 --> 00:30:07,287
But my mom called
my uncle and said

748
00:30:07,288 --> 00:30:10,258
I wanted to be a wrestler,
a pro wrestler.

749
00:30:10,259 --> 00:30:11,391
The next day he came to
my house, and he goes,

750
00:30:11,392 --> 00:30:13,093
"Come on, we're going
to camp. Pack your bag."

751
00:30:13,094 --> 00:30:14,295
So I got in his car.

752
00:30:14,296 --> 00:30:16,564
A limousine, by the way,
and, he took me to his house,

753
00:30:16,565 --> 00:30:18,064
and he goes,
"This is the camp now.

754
00:30:18,065 --> 00:30:19,365
You're not going to go
home for another year.

755
00:30:19,366 --> 00:30:20,668
You're going to be
stuck here for a year.

756
00:30:20,669 --> 00:30:22,970
And don't bitch
when it hurts."

757
00:30:23,105 --> 00:30:26,240
[chuckling] So the
first seven months

758
00:30:26,241 --> 00:30:28,341
he had me doing chores
and chopping wood,

759
00:30:28,342 --> 00:30:30,143
and I'd set the ring up
in the morning and

760
00:30:30,144 --> 00:30:32,647
tear the ring down at night
and never get in it.

761
00:30:32,779 --> 00:30:34,049
I never had a
free minute.

762
00:30:34,050 --> 00:30:35,214
Anytime he goes,
"What are you doing?"

763
00:30:35,215 --> 00:30:36,950
I go, "Nothing." He goes,
"Okay, chop some wood."

764
00:30:36,951 --> 00:30:38,652
He was always having me
wash his car,

765
00:30:38,653 --> 00:30:41,183
clean the house for no
reason when it wasn't dirty.

766
00:30:41,255 --> 00:30:43,125
And I never questioned him.

767
00:30:43,126 --> 00:30:44,658
For the first year
I was training,

768
00:30:44,659 --> 00:30:46,092
he had two bad hips,
could hardly move.

769
00:30:46,093 --> 00:30:47,228
I'm sure he took pain pills,

770
00:30:47,229 --> 00:30:48,627
but he never told me
about them.

771
00:30:48,628 --> 00:30:51,065
He was just a
tough old mother-er.

772
00:30:51,165 --> 00:30:53,300
He was just a tough guy.

773
00:30:53,401 --> 00:30:56,438
Sabu doesn't just follow
in The Sheik's footprints,

774
00:30:56,503 --> 00:30:58,972
he carries his legacy
into a new era,

775
00:30:59,105 --> 00:31:02,676
adapting his style
for a new generation.

776
00:31:02,777 --> 00:31:05,613
Sabu did adopt a lot of
The Sheik's mannerisms,

777
00:31:05,680 --> 00:31:08,816
from the headdress to the
looking up and pointing

778
00:31:08,916 --> 00:31:11,484
in the sky, and the not
speaking English.

779
00:31:11,618 --> 00:31:13,820
But Sabu, of course,
was more...

780
00:31:13,954 --> 00:31:17,125
acrobatic and more of a
death defying daredevil.

781
00:31:17,191 --> 00:31:19,026
No, no, no!

782
00:31:19,027 --> 00:31:21,294
I don't think The Sheik ever
climbed to the top rope in

783
00:31:21,295 --> 00:31:25,666
50 years, but the family
connection was still there,

784
00:31:25,799 --> 00:31:29,636
and that enabled the
Sheik to, in some cases,

785
00:31:29,737 --> 00:31:34,107
go along with Sabu and
lend his historic reputation

786
00:31:34,209 --> 00:31:36,644
to help get Sabu over.

787
00:31:36,743 --> 00:31:38,511
I never copied him.

788
00:31:38,646 --> 00:31:41,348
But he influenced me.
What I do is my way.

789
00:31:41,449 --> 00:31:44,159
It resembles something he
would do, maybe, you know,

790
00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:45,353
with the turban
and stuff but...

791
00:31:45,354 --> 00:31:47,824
He paved the way for me,
but he didn't give it to me.

792
00:31:47,888 --> 00:31:49,190
No, he made me
earn it.

793
00:31:49,323 --> 00:31:51,692
And if I didn't have it,
he wouldn't back me up.

794
00:31:51,826 --> 00:31:55,496
As Sabu's star rises,
he brings in a new recruit

795
00:31:55,596 --> 00:31:58,566
eager to learn the ways
of The Sheik.

796
00:31:58,699 --> 00:31:59,967
[cheering]

797
00:32:00,067 --> 00:32:02,803
The fans love
RVD!

798
00:32:02,903 --> 00:32:04,571
It was just the
tail end of '89,

799
00:32:04,672 --> 00:32:07,209
before my 19th birthday
when we met.

800
00:32:07,307 --> 00:32:10,678
The Sheik had me get in
the ring, and he just like,

801
00:32:10,778 --> 00:32:12,680
boom, both hands
on my throat,

802
00:32:12,747 --> 00:32:15,250
and he just pushed me
back to the corner

803
00:32:15,383 --> 00:32:17,718
and he's choking me.

804
00:32:17,817 --> 00:32:20,421
Make, make, you know,
like pushing and pulling me,

805
00:32:20,554 --> 00:32:24,224
making me- making me
move in the corner a lot.

806
00:32:24,325 --> 00:32:26,861
And then, those big eyes
were looking at me

807
00:32:26,961 --> 00:32:29,363
and his tongue's out.

808
00:32:29,430 --> 00:32:30,480
Agh!

809
00:32:30,530 --> 00:32:33,501
He was like so committed,
and he bit my nose.

810
00:32:33,601 --> 00:32:35,403
And man, I about
peed my pants,

811
00:32:35,502 --> 00:32:36,592
you know
what I mean?

812
00:32:36,671 --> 00:32:39,006
Like it was a
scary experience.

813
00:32:39,105 --> 00:32:40,607
?

814
00:32:40,709 --> 00:32:43,044
We would wrestle
for hours.

815
00:32:43,045 --> 00:32:44,877
Then we would jump
in a swimming pool.

816
00:32:44,878 --> 00:32:46,747
His wife would make dinner.

817
00:32:46,881 --> 00:32:51,451
It was a very personal
experience that made me,

818
00:32:51,551 --> 00:32:54,957
not a student,
but part of the family.

819
00:32:55,056 --> 00:32:57,557
Sabu and I did a lot of
training by ourselves

820
00:32:57,657 --> 00:33:01,095
during that time, but Sabu
was saying, you know,

821
00:33:01,096 --> 00:33:03,064
that Sheik wasn't
doing well or whatever,

822
00:33:03,065 --> 00:33:07,535
and Sheik would sometimes
come out and sit in a chair

823
00:33:07,634 --> 00:33:09,438
and watch us for
a little bit.

824
00:33:09,439 --> 00:33:11,104
I'm sure there was
always a part of him

825
00:33:11,105 --> 00:33:12,639
that wanted to get
back in the ring.

826
00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:13,807
That's just who he was.

827
00:33:13,808 --> 00:33:15,408
So, he kind of had a
renaissance in

828
00:33:15,409 --> 00:33:17,744
the late 80s and early 90s.

829
00:33:17,813 --> 00:33:18,945
?

830
00:33:19,046 --> 00:33:22,450
After years on the sidelines
and two hip surgeries,

831
00:33:22,549 --> 00:33:25,251
The Sheik makes a final grab
for the spotlight

832
00:33:25,354 --> 00:33:29,589
back in Japan with death
match promotion, FMW.

833
00:33:29,690 --> 00:33:31,960
[crowd chatter]

834
00:33:32,093 --> 00:33:34,061
Allah!

835
00:33:34,161 --> 00:33:37,530
He was approached
to do a fire match.

836
00:33:37,631 --> 00:33:39,667
And it was in a
baseball stadium.

837
00:33:39,668 --> 00:33:40,967
I want to say that held like

838
00:33:40,968 --> 00:33:43,671
65,000 people
or something like that.

839
00:33:43,771 --> 00:33:46,140
The idea of the match
was that my grandpa...

840
00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:47,974
wrestled with Sabu,
my cousin,

841
00:33:48,075 --> 00:33:50,944
as a tag team against a
Japanese tag team.

842
00:33:51,045 --> 00:33:53,582
Instead of ropes,
it was barbed wire.

843
00:33:53,583 --> 00:33:55,082
And they wrapped that
barbed wire with

844
00:33:55,083 --> 00:33:57,684
kerosene-soaked linen.

845
00:33:57,685 --> 00:33:58,985
They didn't tell me I was
having a fire match

846
00:33:58,986 --> 00:34:00,788
until a couple
of days before.

847
00:34:00,855 --> 00:34:02,823
The ring didn't
all go on fire,

848
00:34:02,824 --> 00:34:03,958
just the parts
where they wanted,

849
00:34:03,959 --> 00:34:05,126
but the fire was too big.

850
00:34:05,127 --> 00:34:06,793
Like, sucked up the
air in the middle,

851
00:34:06,794 --> 00:34:09,230
and even the logo in the
middle was melting under you.

852
00:34:09,231 --> 00:34:10,964
And was only in there
probably 5 or 10-

853
00:34:10,965 --> 00:34:13,001
5 or 6 minutes and
it was too hot.

854
00:34:13,134 --> 00:34:15,836
They must've not anticipated

855
00:34:15,969 --> 00:34:18,639
the fire would get as big.

856
00:34:18,739 --> 00:34:21,175
But they got stuck in
the ring, and tragically,

857
00:34:21,307 --> 00:34:23,309
the whole thing
went up in flames.

858
00:34:23,411 --> 00:34:25,679
?

859
00:34:25,813 --> 00:34:28,382
The flames were taking up
all of the oxygen,

860
00:34:28,516 --> 00:34:30,784
so it was not only
blisteringly hot,

861
00:34:30,851 --> 00:34:33,521
but they couldn't breathe
and they couldn't see.

862
00:34:33,621 --> 00:34:35,989
And suddenly it just
engulfed everything.

863
00:34:35,990 --> 00:34:37,792
They're in the center of the
ring' cause that's where

864
00:34:37,793 --> 00:34:39,363
they could get the
most oxygen.

865
00:34:39,427 --> 00:34:43,731
And, Onita said to Sheik,
"Sheik, this is bad."

866
00:34:43,864 --> 00:34:46,501
He didn't know Onita could
even speak English.

867
00:34:46,599 --> 00:34:47,799
[indistinct shouting]

868
00:34:47,835 --> 00:34:50,871
That's when Sheik was like,
"Okay, something's wrong."

869
00:34:57,211 --> 00:35:00,047
In Japan, The Sheik and
Sabu find themselves

870
00:35:00,181 --> 00:35:03,483
trapped in a ring of fire,
battling for survival,

871
00:35:03,550 --> 00:35:07,054
as a hardcore match
spirals out of control.

872
00:35:07,055 --> 00:35:09,290
They had done a practice
run that afternoon,

873
00:35:09,291 --> 00:35:11,224
and everything was fine.

874
00:35:11,225 --> 00:35:13,058
But because it was a
baseball stadium and

875
00:35:13,059 --> 00:35:15,063
it was outdoors,
winds are a factor.

876
00:35:15,161 --> 00:35:19,501
And so, when the actual
match took place,

877
00:35:19,599 --> 00:35:22,436
things were going as
rehearsed, the wind shifted.

878
00:35:22,536 --> 00:35:25,426
Flames started like going
horizontally across the ring

879
00:35:25,505 --> 00:35:27,708
and started
melting the ring.

880
00:35:27,775 --> 00:35:29,878
Sabu and one of the
Japanese wrestlers

881
00:35:29,879 --> 00:35:31,845
were able to get out of
the ring quickly.

882
00:35:31,846 --> 00:35:36,083
My grandpa was locked up
at that point with Onita.

883
00:35:36,084 --> 00:35:38,283
They were in there for
maybe 15 or 20 more seconds,

884
00:35:38,284 --> 00:35:39,786
and that was a mistake.

885
00:35:39,887 --> 00:35:42,289
They really struggled
to get out of the ring.

886
00:35:42,422 --> 00:35:44,925
It is really hard to watch
because you can see

887
00:35:45,025 --> 00:35:47,228
he's still trying
to do his job.

888
00:35:47,295 --> 00:35:48,762
[indistinct shouting]

889
00:35:48,763 --> 00:35:50,029
He crawls out of the ring.

890
00:35:50,030 --> 00:35:52,599
I run around the other side,
I throw water on him.

891
00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:53,899
He goes, "What are
you doing?"

892
00:35:53,900 --> 00:35:55,102
I said, "I'm trying
to put you out.

893
00:35:55,103 --> 00:35:56,201
You're smoking."
And he goes,

894
00:35:56,202 --> 00:35:57,669
"No, I gotta
throw fire still."

895
00:35:57,670 --> 00:35:59,440
I was getting
his hand wet.

896
00:35:59,541 --> 00:36:02,309
Skin is dropping off
his body,

897
00:36:02,443 --> 00:36:04,744
and he's still
trying to do...

898
00:36:04,844 --> 00:36:05,945
Sheik stuff.

899
00:36:06,045 --> 00:36:07,213
You know, but...

900
00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:10,085
they'd gone too far.

901
00:36:10,150 --> 00:36:12,385
My grandpa ended up with

902
00:36:12,485 --> 00:36:15,489
third degree burns over
20% of his body.

903
00:36:15,623 --> 00:36:17,157
I was at Grandma's.

904
00:36:17,291 --> 00:36:19,793
3 or 4 in the morning,
a call came in because...

905
00:36:19,894 --> 00:36:21,584
the time difference
with Japan,

906
00:36:21,630 --> 00:36:24,340
and Grandpa didn't really let
on that he was that hurt.

907
00:36:24,398 --> 00:36:26,634
But Grandma could
hear it in his voice.

908
00:36:26,733 --> 00:36:28,635
When The Sheik
got on the plane,

909
00:36:28,735 --> 00:36:32,972
people in first class were
disgusted because his skin

910
00:36:33,072 --> 00:36:36,309
was still burning and
they can smell it.

911
00:36:36,443 --> 00:36:38,512
You know, it was
quite the journey

912
00:36:38,646 --> 00:36:40,481
to get him back
from Japan.

913
00:36:40,581 --> 00:36:43,617
You know, a 14-hour flight
back home with

914
00:36:43,684 --> 00:36:46,353
third degree burns
all over your body.

915
00:36:46,354 --> 00:36:48,288
I don't think most people
would have

916
00:36:48,289 --> 00:36:50,692
honestly survived that trip.

917
00:36:50,693 --> 00:36:52,258
I just remember he was
in a wheelchair

918
00:36:52,259 --> 00:36:54,661
and he was wrapped
like a mummy.

919
00:36:54,762 --> 00:36:57,463
He didn't let on at all
that he was hurting.

920
00:36:57,565 --> 00:36:59,766
Grandma did a lot
of his care at home,

921
00:36:59,867 --> 00:37:01,802
unbandage him and
put the cream on it

922
00:37:01,902 --> 00:37:03,170
and bandage him up.

923
00:37:03,304 --> 00:37:04,871
I'm sure he was...

924
00:37:04,972 --> 00:37:06,875
in horrible pain.

925
00:37:06,876 --> 00:37:08,341
That was not the
end for him.

926
00:37:08,342 --> 00:37:10,311
He was like,
"Oh, I'm burned?

927
00:37:10,312 --> 00:37:11,777
That's fine. I'll just
recover from this

928
00:37:11,778 --> 00:37:13,880
and I'll get back
in the ring."

929
00:37:14,014 --> 00:37:16,983
With age and injury
catching up...

930
00:37:17,085 --> 00:37:19,688
The Sheik fights to extend
his wrestling career

931
00:37:19,820 --> 00:37:22,889
alongside Sabu.

932
00:37:22,989 --> 00:37:25,726
In 1995, World
Championship Wrestling,

933
00:37:25,858 --> 00:37:27,561
one of the two
major companies

934
00:37:27,695 --> 00:37:29,963
in the United States,
has Sabu booked

935
00:37:30,065 --> 00:37:31,632
on a pay per view event,

936
00:37:31,633 --> 00:37:34,067
and as a special attraction,
he brings his uncle,

937
00:37:34,068 --> 00:37:36,971
The Sheik, to be at
ringside with him.

938
00:37:36,972 --> 00:37:38,370
And I did a flip
out of the ring,

939
00:37:38,371 --> 00:37:40,306
and I hit my
opponent and...

940
00:37:40,375 --> 00:37:42,210
his leg got stuck
under me, and- Ch!

941
00:37:42,342 --> 00:37:43,911
It broke his leg.

942
00:37:44,045 --> 00:37:45,411
Oh! Whoa!

943
00:37:45,545 --> 00:37:47,246
[cheering]

944
00:37:47,380 --> 00:37:50,251
And there's the Sheik,
69 years old,

945
00:37:50,351 --> 00:37:51,731
out there with a broken leg,

946
00:37:51,853 --> 00:37:53,920
and he still threw
the fireball!

947
00:37:53,921 --> 00:37:55,821
That's part of I think him
wanting to make sure

948
00:37:55,822 --> 00:37:57,392
that the business
moved ahead.

949
00:37:57,393 --> 00:37:59,359
It didn't matter how, how
badly he was hurt.

950
00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:01,563
You have to get back up
and finish the match.

951
00:38:01,564 --> 00:38:03,730
There you see The Sheik
right at ringside.

952
00:38:03,731 --> 00:38:05,531
It wasn't 'til we got back
behind the curtain,

953
00:38:05,532 --> 00:38:06,899
we had to get a
wheelchair for him.

954
00:38:06,900 --> 00:38:08,534
He never
complained about it.

955
00:38:08,535 --> 00:38:10,535
Tony, the man just
threw a ball of fire

956
00:38:10,536 --> 00:38:11,704
in the man's face!

957
00:38:11,705 --> 00:38:13,640
At that point, I think
he knew his body,

958
00:38:13,641 --> 00:38:16,378
it was time to
call it quits.

959
00:38:16,379 --> 00:38:18,544
I felt at ease that he was
gonna stop 'cause I was

960
00:38:18,545 --> 00:38:20,279
always worried,
he wants one more,

961
00:38:20,280 --> 00:38:21,881
he's gonna have a
heart attack or his

962
00:38:21,882 --> 00:38:23,348
leg's gonna break again,
or you know,

963
00:38:23,349 --> 00:38:24,852
I was always
worried about that.

964
00:38:24,853 --> 00:38:26,718
But, it was awesome
because he finally says,

965
00:38:26,719 --> 00:38:28,922
"I'm gonna stop."

966
00:38:28,923 --> 00:38:30,922
You know, he had reached
the pinnacle of his career,

967
00:38:30,923 --> 00:38:32,433
and it was done
at that point,

968
00:38:32,460 --> 00:38:34,862
and he kind of just moved
into the family life.

969
00:38:34,963 --> 00:38:36,797
He still was
The Sheik in public.

970
00:38:36,798 --> 00:38:38,864
And it may have just been,
like, out of habit,

971
00:38:38,865 --> 00:38:40,433
because he had been
doing it for, like,

972
00:38:40,434 --> 00:38:42,068
literally 30 years.

973
00:38:42,170 --> 00:38:44,271
After devoting so
much of his life

974
00:38:44,405 --> 00:38:45,972
to the wrestling business,

975
00:38:46,106 --> 00:38:49,777
Ed Farhat now
focuses on family.

976
00:38:49,878 --> 00:38:53,213
[singing]
Happy birthday to you.

977
00:38:53,313 --> 00:38:55,782
He came to
Grandparent's Day

978
00:38:55,916 --> 00:38:57,384
in second grade.

979
00:38:57,483 --> 00:38:59,485
I think that's when
I realized, okay,

980
00:38:59,486 --> 00:39:02,154
something's up, because all
the other grandparents

981
00:39:02,155 --> 00:39:04,458
were like peeking in
our classroom and

982
00:39:04,557 --> 00:39:06,559
asking for
autographs, and...

983
00:39:06,560 --> 00:39:08,093
we're just a bunch
of eight-year-olds,

984
00:39:08,094 --> 00:39:09,761
and I just happened to have
the grandpa with

985
00:39:09,762 --> 00:39:12,833
a shirt opened, camel
necklace on his chest,

986
00:39:12,965 --> 00:39:16,503
yelling Allah to the ceiling
in the classroom.

987
00:39:16,637 --> 00:39:17,804
[laughing]

988
00:39:17,905 --> 00:39:21,474
I never, ever questioned
whether he thought

989
00:39:21,475 --> 00:39:23,176
we were the center
of the universe.

990
00:39:23,177 --> 00:39:25,512
He showed us that
every day.

991
00:39:25,646 --> 00:39:28,315
We all had a decent amount
of time to know and love him.

992
00:39:28,449 --> 00:39:31,353
Um, you know,
it's never enough.

993
00:39:38,692 --> 00:39:40,427
By the early 2000s,

994
00:39:40,494 --> 00:39:42,496
years of a lifetime
in the ring

995
00:39:42,596 --> 00:39:44,864
take their toll on
The Sheik's body.

996
00:39:44,965 --> 00:39:48,335
He had some organ failures,

997
00:39:48,434 --> 00:39:50,604
and he had suffered from
multiple myeloma.

998
00:39:50,637 --> 00:39:53,507
Which is a cancer.

999
00:39:53,608 --> 00:39:57,311
One thing about our
family is that we rally.

1000
00:39:57,312 --> 00:40:00,113
And so, that was a time for
all of us to rally around him.

1001
00:40:00,114 --> 00:40:02,615
And, and we did.

1002
00:40:02,616 --> 00:40:03,816
I would say the
last two years

1003
00:40:03,817 --> 00:40:05,452
of my grandfather's life,

1004
00:40:05,552 --> 00:40:08,188
we were in the hospital
every other day.

1005
00:40:08,288 --> 00:40:10,891
My grandmother never
wanted him to be alone.

1006
00:40:10,990 --> 00:40:13,559
At that time, I lived
on my own in Lansing.

1007
00:40:13,693 --> 00:40:16,731
I was 19, and um...

1008
00:40:16,864 --> 00:40:18,565
Grandma had called.

1009
00:40:18,666 --> 00:40:21,001
And I said,
"He's gone, isn't he?"

1010
00:40:21,068 --> 00:40:23,971
?

1011
00:40:24,070 --> 00:40:25,739
Not a glamorous death,
but...

1012
00:40:25,873 --> 00:40:28,175
[sniffling] he was
surrounded with love.

1013
00:40:28,242 --> 00:40:30,177
And that's what matters.

1014
00:40:30,244 --> 00:40:31,311
?

1015
00:40:31,411 --> 00:40:33,079
I was 27 when he died.

1016
00:40:33,080 --> 00:40:35,482
I had a long time with him.
I feel grateful that I had

1017
00:40:35,483 --> 00:40:37,418
as much time with him
as I did.

1018
00:40:37,550 --> 00:40:39,385
He was a pillar
of our family,

1019
00:40:39,485 --> 00:40:41,523
so that was a
major loss for us.

1020
00:40:41,524 --> 00:40:43,689
I went to Japan, and he
died when I was in the air.

1021
00:40:43,690 --> 00:40:44,824
I didn't know it.

1022
00:40:44,825 --> 00:40:45,758
All the boys were saying,
"I'm sorry about your uncle,"

1023
00:40:45,759 --> 00:40:47,427
I thought because
he was sick.

1024
00:40:47,428 --> 00:40:48,828
And finally,
Goldberg goes,

1025
00:40:48,829 --> 00:40:49,861
"Sorry to hear about
your uncle." I said,

1026
00:40:49,862 --> 00:40:50,730
"Wait a minute,
you know, I barely know you.

1027
00:40:50,731 --> 00:40:51,832
Why do you care about my
uncle?" He goes,

1028
00:40:51,833 --> 00:40:53,566
"Well, he passed away
last night," and I said,

1029
00:40:53,567 --> 00:40:55,334
"What?" When he
told me that, they said,

1030
00:40:55,335 --> 00:40:58,172
"Sabu, you have to go get
set up for the entrance."

1031
00:40:58,273 --> 00:41:01,376
So it was a 20 minute ride
around the Tokyo Dome.

1032
00:41:01,377 --> 00:41:02,774
And I'm talking to my aunt,
she goes,

1033
00:41:02,775 --> 00:41:03,877
"Yeah, he passed
away last night.

1034
00:41:03,878 --> 00:41:05,178
But you got to do your job
like he'd want you to."

1035
00:41:05,179 --> 00:41:07,079
I said, "But -,
you know...

1036
00:41:07,181 --> 00:41:09,882
he was more
my, my father," you know...

1037
00:41:09,949 --> 00:41:12,253
[gasping]
More than anything.

1038
00:41:12,385 --> 00:41:16,523
And she goes, "You know he'd
want you to do your job."

1039
00:41:16,524 --> 00:41:18,524
You can't have a
heartbreak, you know,

1040
00:41:18,525 --> 00:41:20,427
affect your
professionalism. So,

1041
00:41:20,428 --> 00:41:22,294
I stayed and did my match,
and then when I got home,

1042
00:41:22,295 --> 00:41:23,261
I missed the funeral.

1043
00:41:23,262 --> 00:41:26,099
But to me, funerals are
just to show people

1044
00:41:26,100 --> 00:41:27,834
who are still alive
that you cared.

1045
00:41:27,835 --> 00:41:29,525
Person that died
knows you cared.

1046
00:41:29,536 --> 00:41:33,273
At his funeral ceremony,
even the priest...

1047
00:41:33,373 --> 00:41:35,474
referred to him as Sheik,

1048
00:41:35,576 --> 00:41:37,478
and I took one of the roses

1049
00:41:37,610 --> 00:41:40,315
off the top of his casket
that I still have...

1050
00:41:40,414 --> 00:41:42,114
[sniffling]
to this day.

1051
00:41:42,250 --> 00:41:44,985
[crying]

1052
00:41:45,117 --> 00:41:47,954
My friend was gone.

1053
00:41:51,224 --> 00:41:53,460
Years after the
Sheik's passing,

1054
00:41:53,594 --> 00:41:56,996
his legacy is solidified
into wrestling history as

1055
00:41:57,097 --> 00:42:01,501
he's inducted into the
WWE Hall of Fame.

1056
00:42:01,635 --> 00:42:04,438
To be inducting The Sheik,
of course, you know,

1057
00:42:04,505 --> 00:42:05,838
what could be better?

1058
00:42:05,940 --> 00:42:08,474
I was proud always to
represent him.

1059
00:42:08,608 --> 00:42:11,478
They wanted Sabu,
of course, to induct him.

1060
00:42:11,577 --> 00:42:14,614
But Sabu is not big
on vocabulary.

1061
00:42:14,615 --> 00:42:16,649
The Original Sheik
was hardcore before

1062
00:42:16,650 --> 00:42:19,119
any of us heard
of hardcore.

1063
00:42:19,219 --> 00:42:21,922
So, you know, he asked if
I would go with him and

1064
00:42:21,923 --> 00:42:24,290
do most of the talking,
and of course, of course,

1065
00:42:24,291 --> 00:42:26,159
you know,
let's do this.

1066
00:42:26,260 --> 00:42:29,096
It was it was a nice moment
to see that appreciation

1067
00:42:29,161 --> 00:42:31,164
be given to him by
a new generation.

1068
00:42:31,297 --> 00:42:32,833
And he gouges
my eyes...

1069
00:42:32,965 --> 00:42:35,255
I mean, he started at
the dawn of television,

1070
00:42:35,269 --> 00:42:37,439
and his last appearance
was on pay per view.

1071
00:42:37,536 --> 00:42:39,526
Nobody had that kind
of drawing power,

1072
00:42:39,606 --> 00:42:42,275
and nobody was in as
many different places,

1073
00:42:42,376 --> 00:42:44,006
doing as many
different things

1074
00:42:44,045 --> 00:42:46,512
for as long as
the Sheik was.

1075
00:42:46,612 --> 00:42:48,483
[indistinct shouting]

1076
00:42:48,548 --> 00:42:51,550
Yeah, one of my favorite
objects is the little doll

1077
00:42:51,652 --> 00:42:54,021
of the bloody Sheik.
This came out,

1078
00:42:54,121 --> 00:42:56,722
you know, way after
he had passed away.

1079
00:42:56,822 --> 00:42:57,990
He was a good man.

1080
00:42:58,057 --> 00:43:00,795
He taught a lot of
people how to work.

1081
00:43:00,796 --> 00:43:02,729
You know, I've always
been proud that

1082
00:43:02,730 --> 00:43:04,030
I'm a non-conformist.

1083
00:43:04,164 --> 00:43:07,367
And I have no doubt
that that is...

1084
00:43:07,501 --> 00:43:10,971
me taking after
The original Sheik,

1085
00:43:11,038 --> 00:43:13,139
who brought me
into this life.

1086
00:43:13,239 --> 00:43:15,074
Uh-oh, here comes
the chair!

1087
00:43:15,175 --> 00:43:16,909
Both men outside
the ring.

1088
00:43:17,010 --> 00:43:18,378
But it's not over.

1089
00:43:18,478 --> 00:43:19,981
He put asses in the seats.

1090
00:43:20,079 --> 00:43:23,550
People wanted to go and
see the wild, crazy Sheik.

1091
00:43:23,650 --> 00:43:25,719
Most wrestlers
I don't think...

1092
00:43:25,818 --> 00:43:27,420
last that long.

1093
00:43:27,521 --> 00:43:30,389
The Sheik had a
very tragic aspect,

1094
00:43:30,489 --> 00:43:34,061
and that was that he lived
an illusion of who he was.

1095
00:43:34,161 --> 00:43:35,211
Allah!

1096
00:43:35,228 --> 00:43:37,898
And in some ways,
it was absolutely charming.

1097
00:43:37,998 --> 00:43:40,266
And because he did such
a marvelous job of it.

1098
00:43:40,267 --> 00:43:41,232
The Sheik looks like

1099
00:43:41,233 --> 00:43:42,983
he's been through
World War three.

1100
00:43:43,070 --> 00:43:47,275
You know, anytime you see a
wrestler using a metal chair

1101
00:43:47,407 --> 00:43:49,376
to smack someone or

1102
00:43:49,443 --> 00:43:51,211
do something
slightly nefarious

1103
00:43:51,212 --> 00:43:53,346
during a match, you know,
whether that wrestler

1104
00:43:53,347 --> 00:43:55,680
knows it or not, he's paying
homage to my grandpa.

1105
00:43:55,681 --> 00:43:57,784
And we take a little
bit of pride in that.

1106
00:43:57,834 --> 00:44:02,384
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