Blood And Fire , livre ebook

Ecw Press - R. Solomon Brian

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303 pages

English

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For a half-century, the Sheik terrorized fans and foes, becoming wrestling's most feared villain. Yet away from the ring, Ed Farhat was a veteran, family-man and businessman whose real life was shrouded in mystery. For the first time, Blood and Fire tells the whole story. He was the most vicious, bloodthirsty, reviled villain in the history of the ring. During the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, he drew record crowds everywhere he went and left a trail of burned and bloody opponents in his wake. He was The Sheik: the mysterious and terrifying madman from Syria whose wanton destruction and mayhem are the stuff of wrestling legend. But what those legions of fans screaming for his head never knew was that The Sheik was really Eddie Farhat. From Lansing, Michigan, and the son of Arab immigrants, Farhat served his country proudly in World War II and was fulfilling the American dream through hard work and tireless dedication to his craft. And when he wasn't screaming unintelligibly and attacking h

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Publié par	Ecw Press
Date de parution	02 juin 2022
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781773058825
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	3 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0550€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Blood and Fire The Unbelievable Real-Life Story of Wrestling’s Original Sheik
Brian R. Solomon

Contents Dedication Author’s Note Epigraph Foreword Introduction Chapter 1: Headed for the Money Chapter 2: Down from the Mountaintop Chapter 3: Growing Up Farhat Chapter 4: Forged in the Flames of War Chapter 5: Stepping into the Ring Chapter 6: Enter the Arabian Madman Chapter 7: The Sheik Goes National Chapter 8: Motor City Mayhem Chapter 9: Big Time Chapter 10: On Top of the Wrestling World Chapter 11: The Battle for Detroit Chapter 12: Nihon no Sheiku Chapter 13: I Like to Hurt People Chapter 14: The Death of Big Time Wrestling Chapter 15: Wanderer in the Wilderness Chapter 16: Once More into the Fire Chapter 17: The Last Days of The Sheik Chapter 18: A Legacy Written in Blood Appendix 1: The Sheik’s Record at Cobo Arena (1962–1988) Appendix 2: The Sheik’s 127-Match Undefeated Singles Streak at the Maple Leaf Gardens (1969–1974) Notes Selected Bibliography Acknowledgments Photographs About the Author Copyright

Dedication
So many associated with Detroit wrestling have been lost since I began this journey, and this book is dedicated to their memories.
First and foremost, to the sons of The Sheik, Eddie Jr. and Tommy Farhat, who I had hoped would one day see that all I ever wanted was to pay tribute to their incredible father.
To the accomplished and beloved Detroit wrestling historian Mark Bujan, who was one of the first people to reach out to me when I started this project, and one of the most helpful. He wanted nothing more than to see the finished product, and I can only hope that this book would’ve lived up to his expectations.
To Pampero Firpo, Killer Tim Brooks, Bobby Davis, Tony Marino, and Dominic Denucci.
And finally, to Terry Dart, who never did find out why Sheik broke his camera.

Author’s Note
More than anything, The Sheik was known for his strict adherence to kayfabe, professional wrestling’s time-honored code of secrecy. No one protected his persona, or “lived his gimmick,” more than he did. And no one worked harder to keep his personal life away from the ring secret from the fans. Because of this, it goes without saying that writing a biography of the man would be a formidable undertaking—and perhaps this is part of the reason why none has ever been published, or even attempted with any success.
In order to do what had never been done before, I made every effort to delve as deeply as I could into research—not just into his professional career, but his actual life, to find out who the real Edward Farhat was. As with any biography, research and interviews made up the most important part of the process. And I think I was able to put together as complete a picture as I could with the tools at my disposal and thanks to the scores of people who knew and worked closely with him who were willing to speak to me. The one element that eluded me throughout the process was direct participation from the living members of the immediate Farhat family, who declined to take part despite my best efforts to include them. While this did not surprise me, given I had already been familiarized with their reclusive nature and dedication to protecting The Sheik’s legacy, it did disappoint me, as it would’ve undoubtedly provided an even more complete picture than what you now hold in your hands. Nevertheless, I fully respect their decision and the reasons behind it. I must also acknowledge that this project came along at a time of great suffering and loss in the family, as both of The Sheik’s sons passed away before it was complete. I had been in touch with Eddie Farhat Jr. in the early stages of the writing process, and while there was definitely reticence, I did sense he was on the verge of relenting a bit, when suddenly he was faced with the unthinkable loss of his brother. We lost contact after that, and any hopes for his changing his mind ended with his own tragic passing less than six months later.
That said, I have chosen to take a very transparent approach to the narrative of this story. There are areas that remain mysteries, and I will indicate when that is the case. There are areas where the truth is still a bit unclear, and I will also indicate when that is the case. In some instances, The Sheik was so successful in kayfabing people that there are some indisputable facts I’ve uncovered that contradict the accepted timeline of his life as it currently stands. This necessitates a direct, first-person style, rather than the omniscient narration that is typical of most biographies. In other words, I intend to be completely up-front with you, the reader, about what I know and what I don’t know, and also how I know what I know. I believe this to be the best way to honor The Sheik’s legacy, while also telling the most complete and truthful story I can. I stand by the work I’ve done as the best possible summation of the man’s life, given the resources and living witnesses available to me.

Epigraph
“People say that wrestling isn’t real. Well, somebody forgot to tell that son of a bitch!”
—Terry Funk

Foreword
Being part of the Sheik’s clan earned us a lot of respect from the boys, while we were coming up. My first two or three years in the business, introductions were met with a special look in people’s eyes. There was a tight group of five of us that had the honor of beating the crap out of each other in The Sheik’s ring: Thom, George, Dango, myself, and Sabu. A few other wrestlers would pass through, often never returning, or showing up once every three months, comparing us to safer schools. That’s how we realized we wrestled much, much stiffer than … well, everybody.
One of our first shows was in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Dango and I had a tag team match against a couple of young guys that were acrobatic like us and had some really cool moves. Before our match, everybody thought it’d be a good idea to rib our opponents and tell them that we thought everything was real and they better be careful. I’m guessing that after feeling a few of our slams and kicks, they believed it was true because very early in the match, our opponents surprised us by not kicking out of a random pin, to end the chances of anyone getting hurt.
There was no getting hurt in the ring for Sheik’s boys. While training, when one of us complained that we needed to stop and take a few minutes to shake something off, Sheik would tell us that he was stabbed in the leg in Puerto Rico by a crazy fan and continued the match. We were always amazed at his stories, and we loved hearing them while we sat around the dinner table after training. It felt like we were part of a significant group of very few, select people. We were a family. Still, Sheik kept all of us constantly intimidated, even Sabu.
I remember trying to peek over Sheik’s shoulder in the locker room before a show in Vermont in 1991. We wanted to see what was in Sheik’s mysterious briefcase, and he had it partway open on his lap while he sat in a folding chair. As we crept our way closer to peek inside unnoticed, he slammed the case shut while snapping around toward us yelling, “WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?”
We ran like little kids.
Later that night, Sheik wrestled Abdullah the Butcher, and the match called for the entire locker room to run out and aid in a big pull-apart on the floor. Sabu and I decided to stay away from everyone out there because we knew what to expect. Afterward, all the boys came back surprised because they didn’t realize they had been cut and thought the blood belonged to someone else. They all got sliced by Sheik or the Butcher, or both. Same two blades for the entire locker room. When Abby came back from the chaos, he was pissed and yelled at me and Sabu because when we came out, to avoid the melee on the floor, we hit the ring and started doing high spots. It’s funny to think of how inconsiderate that was of us, and how pissed Abby was. I don’t think Sheik saw us in the ring.
His words and his teachings will always stick with me. Still, I didn’t realize how little I knew about my mentor until reading Blood and Fire . In fact, the only time I remember him showing a soft side was when his granddaughter Susi was visiting. He loved her so much and was so warm and inviting to her. It was almost embarrassing for us, like we shouldn’t have access to this side of him. He would almost be in baby-talk mode, he was so happy, but I don’t remember ever feeling comfortable enough to joke with him about it or anything.
Blood and Fire gives us such an extensive look at the most original wrestler to grace the industry and the most important man of my career. I learned so much about his business journeys and his personal life too. I find it incredibly interesting to learn what was happening in Sheik’s life when our paths crossed.
It’s incredible that no one has ever written a book about Sheik, but I’m so glad because no one could’ve done what Brian Solomon accomplished. It’s so well written, it’s an enjoyable read while at the same time delivering astounding numbers and facts, such as dates, addresses, tickets sold, and wrestlers’ fees. If there’s more than one version of a story, Brian will give them all to you. The immense amount of research that was put into this book is apparent on every page, all the way through.
Knowing Sheik more now, as I do, I have a greater understanding of what parts of me he built. He gave me the mindset to raise the bar, in the industry and in life. I also see much more of him in Sabu then I did before, in differ