.jpg) Al-Kaissie in the early 1970s | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Adnan Bin Abdul Kareem Ahmed Alkaissy El Farthie (1939-03-01)March 1, 1939[1] |
| Died | September 6, 2023(2023-09-06) (aged 84) |
| Alma mater | Oklahoma State University |
Spouse | |
| Children | 4 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Adnan El Kaissie[1] Billy White Wolf[1] General Adnan Shiek Adnan Al-Kaissey[1] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm)[2] |
| Billed weight | 245 lb (111 kg)[2] |
| Billed from | Baghdad, Iraq |
| Trained by | Yvon Robert |
| Debut | 1959 |
| Retired | 1998 |
Adnan bin Abdul Kareem Ahmed Alkaissy El Farthie (Arabic:عدنان بن عبدالكريم أحمد القيسي ألفرث; March 1, 1939 – September 6, 2023), better known professionally asAdnan Al-Kaissie, was an Iraqi-American professional wrestler and manager best known as Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissey, Billy White Wolf, or General Adnan. In 1971 he defeatedAndré the Giant inAl-Shaab Stadium inBaghdad, under the auspices of his high school classmate, Ba'ath Party leaderSaddam Hussein.[4] He competed in theWorld Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). On December 7, 1976, he won theWWWF World Tag Team Championship withChief Jay Strongbow.[5]
In 1981, Adnan Al-Kaissie joined theAmerican Wrestling Association (AWA). In 1990 he joined theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF formerly WWWF, now known as the WWE), where he managedSgt. Slaughter under the name "General Adnan". He competed atSummerSlam 1991 with his partners Sgt. Slaughter andCol. Mustafa in a Handicap match withSid Justice as special guest referee againstHulk Hogan andThe Ultimate Warrior.[1] Al-Kaissie became the first Iraqi and the first Arab to compete in a WWF/WWE ring.
Adnan Al-Kaissy was born Adnan Bin Abdulkareem Ahmed Al-Kaissy El Farthie in Baghdad, Iraq. According to his autobiography, he came from a fairly distinguished family, with his father being an imam. One of his high school classmates wasSaddam Hussein. Al-Kaissy playedassociation football and was an amateur wrestler inIraq. He received a scholarship to playAmerican football at theUniversity of Houston, transferring toOklahoma State University, emerging as a wrestler. He almost qualified for the U.S. Olympic team but was not an American citizen.[6][7]
Al-Kaissy began wrestling in the state of Oklahoma in 1959 under thering name Billy White Wolf, a Native American character.
Kaissey wrestled for Pacific Northwest Wrestling in the 1960s. In 1964, Adnan, who had married an American woman, became a United States citizen.[8] He also wrestled forJoint Promotions in the United Kingdom, appearing onITV in December 1969 as White Wolf, facing Jim Hussey,[9] (father ofMark Rocco).
During the 1970s, he took professional wrestling to Iraq under the direction of Saddam Hussein. In one such match, he defeatedAndré the Giant in Baghdad in 1971 and he defeated the Scottish Ian Campbell, Frenchman and the Canadian championGeorge Gordienko inBaghdad. He also wrestled Bob Roop there in 1972. Al-Kaissy became enormously popular in his home country, being gifted palaces, a fleet ofMercedes-Benz cars, and money from the government. He began to fear for his safety after overhearing conversations from his nephews in theRepublican Guard and later felt he was being used by Saddam. He left Iraq for the last time in 1980.[10]
In 1974, Adnan debuted inNew Japan Pro-Wrestling as the Sheik of Sheiks of Baghdad, he teamed withNikolai Volkoff and they tried to win the NWA North American Tag Team but they failed after losing the Best Two Out Of Three Falls match againstAntonio Inoki andSeiji Sakaguchi atAichi Prefectural Gymnasium inAichi, Japan. Later he feuded with the likes of Antonio Inoki, Seiji Sakaguchi,Kantaro Hoshino,Osamu Kido,Haruka Eigen. After he left NJPW, Adnan returned to the United States, where he wrestled inEddie Graham's promotionChampionship Wrestling from Florida under his real name.
In the World Wide Wrestling Federation, in 1976, under the Native American gimmick Billy White Wolf, he won theWorld Tag Team Championship withChief Jay Strongbow. Needing neck surgery, Kassey agreed to work an injury angle where he had his neck broken byKen Patera via theSwinging Neckbreaker on television. After he left the territory for his neck surgery in 1977, the "Indians" were stripped of the title.
In 1978, he wrestled in Hawaii and was the master of the "Indian Death Match" until his arch-rival,Tor Kamata, defeated him. He also returned to the United Kingdom in late 1979, billed as "The Sheik", making another appearance on ITV, this time on theWorld of Sport TV show, battling Lenny Hurst to an "open verdict" for using a possibly illegal sleeperhold.[11] Not long after, he returned briefly to Iraq with the intent of introducing pro wrestling. By this time, his old classmate Saddam was ruler of the country. By his own account, it was a difficult time, for although Kaissey was very popular and had some success introducing professional wrestling to Iraq, Saddam was already becoming paranoid about potential rivals, and he saw Kaissey in this light. Kaissey fled back to the US and never returned, though he kept contact with his family in Baghdad.
In 1981, with tensions between the US and Middle East running high, he debuted in theAmerican Wrestling Association as "Sheik Adnan El Kaissey," where his stated goal was to win the AWA title from championNick Bockwinkel. He failed at that task, so he then enlistedJerry Blackwell, now wearing a sheik's outfit and renamed Sheik Ayatollah Jerry Blackwell, to team with him to try to win the AWA Tag Team Championship. That failed, too, so Adnan bought Ken Patera from managerBobby Heenan to team with Blackwell, and Adnan would act as Blackwell and Patera's manager. The team of Blackwell and Patera captured theAWA World tag team title fromGreg Gagne andJim Brunzell. Adnan had to quit wrestling when he was injured, which is the real reason Patera was brought in to team with Blackwell. On April 23, 1983, at theAWA Super Sunday, he teamed with Blackwell in a tag team match againstVerne Gagne andMad Dog Vachon which they lost. In 1986 at AWA WrestleRock he lost to Verne Gagne in a steel cage; he then teamed withBoris Zhukov in a tag team match againstThe Midnight Rockers (Marty Jannetty &Shawn Michaels). Kassie later left the AWA, but returned on a November 26, 1988, card inBloomington, Minnesota, when he managedThe Iron Sheik (who he would also later manage in theWWF) in a match againstSgt. Slaughter.[12]
In the World Wrestling Federation, during the summer of 1990, he allied withSgt. Slaughter as "General Adnan," and managed him during his pro-Iraqi gimmick in a feud withHulk Hogan andThe Ultimate Warrior. During this feud, Slaughter won the WWF title from the Warrior at the1991 Royal Rumble, and lost it a couple of months later to Hogan atWrestleMania VII.
The pair were then joined by Slaughter's former nemesis,The Iron Sheik, who was repackaged as Colonel Mustafa, to form the Triangle of Terror. Adnan also headlinedSummerSlam 1991 with Slaughter and Mustafa against Hogan and Warrior. During the build-up toSurvivor Series 1990, the WWE showed what they claimed were "classified top secret photos released by the Pentagon/CIA" that featured General Adnan with Saddam Hussein. After Slaughter turned face, Adnan continued to manage Col. Mustafa until leaving the WWF shortly afterRoyal Rumble 1992.
Al-Kaissie is also featured as a playable character in theWWE 2K15 video game; in where he appears as a downloadable character as part of the "Path of the Warrior" Showcase. He was once again featured as a playable character inWWE 2K16.
After WWF he then joinedAmerican Wrestling Federation (AWF) where he managed "The Rat Pack" ofBob Orton Jr,Mr. Hughes &Manny Fernandez. He also managedHercules Hernandez.
Al-Kaissie retired from wrestling in 1998.
Al-Kaissie formerly managed his own company, the World All-Star Wrestling Alliance, which he co-owned withKen Patera.
On November 22, 2006, he appeared onFox News Channel'sHannity & Colmes describing his encounters with Saddam Hussein.
Adnan Al-Kaissie died inMinnesota on September 6, 2023, at the age of 84.[3][13][14]
In 2005,Triumph Books published his memoirs asThe Sheik of Baghdad: Tales of Celebrity and Terror from Pro Wrestling's General Adnan.[15]
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