Sports
The Sheik
1926–2003 · professional wrestler, promoter
Lebanese-American wrestler from Lansing who owned Detroit's Big Time Wrestling and packed Cobo Arena as the wild 'Sheik' in his long feud with Bobo Brazil.
- Born
Lansing, Michigan- Died
Williamston, Michigan
aged 76- Birth name
- Edward George Farhat
- Also known as
- Ed Farhat · The Original Sheik
- Detroit years
- 1960s–1980
- Field
- Sports
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Ed Farhat was born in Lansing to a Lebanese Maronite Catholic family and built a career playing a menacing, mysterious Arab villain, the Sheik, who spoke no English in the ring and attacked opponents with fire and foreign objects. Detroit was the center of his empire: he took over and ran the Big Time Wrestling promotion, whose cards at Cobo Arena often sold out during his bitter rivalry with Bobo Brazil. He held the promotion's United States heavyweight title a dozen times and was also a huge draw in Toronto, where he went unbeaten at Maple Leaf Gardens from 1967 to 1974. His violent style made him a forerunner of hardcore wrestling. The Detroit promotion closed in 1980. He trained his nephew Sabu and Rob Van Dam, and entered the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007.
Highlights
- Owner of Detroit's Big Time Wrestling until 1980
- Sold out Cobo Arena in his feud with Bobo Brazil
- Twelve-time NWA Detroit United States heavyweight champion
- WWE Hall of Fame (2007) and Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (2011)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Performed here · 1960s–1970s
Cobo Arena
Closed · 1960–2010
Riverfront arena where the Sheik's Big Time Wrestling cards regularly sold out; the arena closed in 2010 and was converted into convention space.