WWF, AWA Alumnus General Adnan Passes Away

Abdul Kareem Ahmed Alkaissy El Farthie, best known for his run as General Adnan in WWE, has passed away. Former announcer Ken Resnick announced the news on social media (per PWInsider, writing:

“So deeply saddened to learn that my friend of 40 years, the legendary Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissey/Gen. Adnan passed away this morning. May you rest in peace ‘my brother’.”

No word on details of Al-Kaissey’s passing at this time. He was 84 years old.

Al-Kaissey was born in Iraq, the son of an imam, in 1939 and actually went to high school with the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. He played football and was an amateur wrestler, and received a scholarship to play football at University of Houston, eventually transferring to Oklahoma State University. He nearly qualified for the U.S. Olympic team in amateur wrestling. After graduating he entered the world of professional wrestling, first working in 1959 in Oklahoma in a Native American gimmick as Billy White Wolf before moving to work in the Pacific Northwest territories in the 1960s. It was at this time that he became an American citizen.

Al-Kaissy brought wrestling to Iraq in the 1970s and faced Andre the Giant in 1971 in Baghdad, getting the win over the WWE Hall of Famer. He also worked in NJPW in the early to mid-1970s before working a stint in the WWWF, where he won the World Tag Team Titles alongside Chief Jay Strongbow. A neck injury cut the reign short and Al-Kaissey worked an angle where Ken Patera “broke” his neck with a swinging neckbreaker, forcing a vacation of the titles.

While he was enormously popular in Iraq, he later fled the country in 1980 over fears for his safety due to Hussein becoming paranoid about potential rivals. He never returned. He would go on to work for various promotions until he joined the AWA and began working as Sheik Adnan El Kaissey and feuded with Nick Bockwinkel, then the Gagnes.

Al-Kaissey’s most famous run was when he returned to the WWF as General Adnan to join Sgt. Slaughter the early 1990s, when Slaughter had turned heel and was playing an Iraqi sympathizer gimmick during the US’ war against Iraq. He was Slaughter’s manager for his famed match against Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania VII. The two were joined by the Iron Sheik as Colonel Mustafa as the Triangle of Terror, with the three facing Hogan and Ultimate Warriorin the SUmmerSlam 1991 main event. When Slaughter turned babyface again, Al-Kaissey managed Iron Sheik before leaving the company in early 1992.

Adnan retired from wrestling in 1998 and eventually wrote a book about his career titled The Sheik of Baghdad: Tales of Celebrity and Terror from Pro Wrestling’s General Adnan. He was also a regular in making convention appearances.

On behalf of 411, our condolences to the family, friends, and fans of Al-Kaissey.