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Blood and Fire: The Unbelievable Real-Life Story of Wrestling's Original Sheik
The captivating story of how The Sheik captured the imagination of a generation, conquered the wrestling business, and lost it all in a blaze of flame and glory 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 his enemies with sharp objects, he was busy being the owner and operator of World Wide Sports, one of the most successful wrestling companies in North America. This is Blood and Fire: The Unbelievable Real-Life Story of Wrestling's Original Sheik.
390 pages, Paperback
First published April 12, 2022
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December 22, 2021
Blood and Fire: The Unbelievable Real-Life Story of Wrestling's Original Sheik is the biography of Ed Farhat, aka The Sheik.
I was planning on getting this anyway since The Sheik is a legendary figure in the wrestling business but ECW Press hit me up for an ARC.
The book chronicles The Sheik's life, from his birth through his fifty year career and finally to his death and legacy. Most of my exposure to The Sheik was in my dad's collection of 1970s wrestling magazines and stories in other wrestlers' books so most of it was new to me.
Without going into too much detail, The Sheik's story is like a lot of other wrestlers' from his era. Humble beginnings, eventual stardom, owning a territory, and having it all come crashing down. Still, the book was loaded with interesting information. A lot of time is spent on the inner workings of the Detroit territory and the Sheik's forays into other territories, both in his prime and much, much later.
I found the evolution of the Sheik's character to be interesting, as well as his devotion to kayfabe, being in character most of the time. It's awesome that his grandkids called him Grandpa Sheik.
The later chapters of the book are sad and frustrating. The Sheik ran his Detroit territory into the ground by featuring himself on top for decades and holding down anyone who might threaten his spot. Once the territory started hemorrhaging money, The Sheik and his long suffering wife lost everything and the Sheik had to wrestle decades longer than he should have just to keep the lights on, even doing death matches in Japan when he was pushing 70. The Sheik training Sabu and Rob Van Dam was one of the few bright spots in the later chapters of the book, the Sheik giving something back to the wrestling business while he still could.
Blood and Fire is a great look behind the curtain of the Detroit Territory and the life of The Sheik. Five out of five foreign objects.
I was planning on getting this anyway since The Sheik is a legendary figure in the wrestling business but ECW Press hit me up for an ARC.
The book chronicles The Sheik's life, from his birth through his fifty year career and finally to his death and legacy. Most of my exposure to The Sheik was in my dad's collection of 1970s wrestling magazines and stories in other wrestlers' books so most of it was new to me.
Without going into too much detail, The Sheik's story is like a lot of other wrestlers' from his era. Humble beginnings, eventual stardom, owning a territory, and having it all come crashing down. Still, the book was loaded with interesting information. A lot of time is spent on the inner workings of the Detroit territory and the Sheik's forays into other territories, both in his prime and much, much later.
I found the evolution of the Sheik's character to be interesting, as well as his devotion to kayfabe, being in character most of the time. It's awesome that his grandkids called him Grandpa Sheik.
The later chapters of the book are sad and frustrating. The Sheik ran his Detroit territory into the ground by featuring himself on top for decades and holding down anyone who might threaten his spot. Once the territory started hemorrhaging money, The Sheik and his long suffering wife lost everything and the Sheik had to wrestle decades longer than he should have just to keep the lights on, even doing death matches in Japan when he was pushing 70. The Sheik training Sabu and Rob Van Dam was one of the few bright spots in the later chapters of the book, the Sheik giving something back to the wrestling business while he still could.
Blood and Fire is a great look behind the curtain of the Detroit Territory and the life of The Sheik. Five out of five foreign objects.
April 12, 2022
In an episode of the third season of Vice's critically acclaimed series, The Dark Side of the Ring, Atsushi Onita's hyper-violent Japanese promotion FMW is profiled. In that particular episode, ECW alumni Sabu tells of a match where he teamed alongside his uncle, Ed "The Sheik" Farhat, against the promotion's founder, Atsushi Onita and Tarzan Goto. During the match, things took a horrific turn resulting in The Sheik barely escaping with his life having suffered third degree burns.
This match took place nearly forty-three years after The Sheik's debut. So, why was one of wrestling's most successful performers risking life and limb at sixty-six years of age? Author Brian Solomon looks at the totality of the career of one of wrestling's most legendary promoters and wrestlers both inside and outside of the ring in BLOOD AND FIRE: The Unbelievable True Story of Wrestling's Original Sheik.
Before getting into the meat and potatoes of The Sheik's career, Solomon gives the reader a detailed history of what would become The Sheik's home turf during the bulk of his career, Detroit, Michigan. I'd like to consider myself somewhat knowledgeable when it comes to the territory system but Detroit has remained a blind spot throughout my time as a wrestling fan. Promoter Nick Londes is discussed as he controlled Olympia Stadium - the 15,000+ seat arena in Detroit that housed the NHL's Detroit Red Wings. But he had a rival in Adam Weissmuller - a former welterweight wrestler who after a long career, transitioned into pro-wrestling promotional work. While Weissmuller would ultimately win the war, his victory would be short-lived as he would pass away shortly thereafter. His successor would lose to another adversary in Harold Lecht (Light) who would go on to create Big Time Wrestling, a name that would be synonymous with the Motor City.
Solomon gives a lot of background into Sheik's life before wrestling by spotlighting his brief time as a member of the armed forces. Sheik had been drafted into the US Army during the Second World War shortly after turning eighteen (although he did try enlisting earlier but had been rebuked). While he saw action in Europe, he arrived shortly before Germany's surrender and had been sent home during the US bombing of Japan. However, during his time in the Forces, Farhat dabbled in amateur wrestling making quite the name for himself by winning several tournaments.
Ed would be discovered by one of the aforementioned Harold Lecht's right hand men in Bert Ruby - an active performer and talent booker. While he was able to get experience working on the undercard, it wasn't until pro wrestling and television went hand-in-hand that Farhat exploded in popularity. The demand for over-the-top colorful characters went hand-in-hand with the advent of pro wrestling on television. Through several iterations, Farhat came up with The Sheik of Araby.
Around the same time, the NWA had been founded, which made talent exchanges easier than ever. Through the NWA's territory system, Farhat was able to travel all over the United States to work in several of the nation's top promotions, thus expanding his reach as an in-demand performer as well as gaining experience by working different styles with a wide variety of opponents producing legendary rivalries with Bruno Sammartino in New York, Dory Funk in Texas, Billy Watson in Toronto and Freddie Blassie in California just to name a few.
As this book is as much a biography of The Sheik as it is a history of the Detroit territory, you get the inside story of the battle between Lecht and upstarts Jim Barnett and Johnny Doyle. Barnett and Doyle would eventually wrestle control of the territory away from Lecht but a scandal would soon drive Barnett halfway around the world to Australia. This allowed Farhat to strike a deal with the pair and take over ownership of the territory for a tidy sum of $50,000.
Solomon goes on to explain how Farhat managed to be the exception to the rule in how heels were commonly presented in the 1950s and 1960s. Given that he was his own top draw, Farhat would book himself over any top star that began to pick up steam in the territory, keeping all the heat and glory for himself. Unfortunately, this would lead to irreversible damage to both his brand as both a performer and promoter down the road.
Although Sheik could easily have rested on his laurels and become a full time promoter, the lure of the spotlight became too much as he would find himself in Japan. Brought over by Giant Baba in 1973, Sheik would work for All Japan as a challenger for Baba's Pacific Wrestling Championship. In the years that followed, Sheik would work in All Japan's Tag League teaming with a variety of partners - most notably Abdullah the Butcher. Abby and Sheik would having an on-screen falling out that led to a match so violent, it would not air on Japanese TV.
While success was rising in Japan, business was dwindling in the US. Many of Sheik's poor business practices were beginning to catch up with him. A prolonged run on top where he would extinguish the heat garnered by any other performer coupled with his reluctance to ever lose and relinquish the top spot would eventually hurt attendance. He also did himself no favors with the other wrestlers by continuing to offer laughable payoffs leading to drying out the talent pool from which to book performers. A gallbladder surgery led to a reliance on pain pills, a growing addiction that would spiral out of control into harder drugs like cocaine and heroin. If that wasn't bad enough, Sheik would find himself in the grips of a gambling addiction that would obliterate his personal savings. Coupling drug dependancy with business being down, Farhat would end up wrestling far longer than required. Given that he could not so what he once could as a younger man, Farhat would rely on smoke and mirrors and ultra-violent matches taking the place of athleticism, leading to close calls like the no-ropes, barbwire fire match mentioned earlier.
Author Brian Solomon notes that Farhat was known for keeping the true nature of the wrestling business incredibly close to the vest. Much of what he told others was in keeping with kayfabe, so it was difficult at times to know what was and what wasn't true. Solomon also noted that while he did not have a lot of help from The Sheik's immediate family, he goes to great lengths to explain how he came across certain information and where the waters were more or less muddy.
Like many biographies of those from this era, BLOOD AND FIRE tells of both the types of soaring highs and crushing lows that can seemingly only go hand in hand with the wrestling business. While many fans may only know of The Sheik as the trainer for both Sabu and Rob Van Dam, he has a fascinating story all his own.
This match took place nearly forty-three years after The Sheik's debut. So, why was one of wrestling's most successful performers risking life and limb at sixty-six years of age? Author Brian Solomon looks at the totality of the career of one of wrestling's most legendary promoters and wrestlers both inside and outside of the ring in BLOOD AND FIRE: The Unbelievable True Story of Wrestling's Original Sheik.
Before getting into the meat and potatoes of The Sheik's career, Solomon gives the reader a detailed history of what would become The Sheik's home turf during the bulk of his career, Detroit, Michigan. I'd like to consider myself somewhat knowledgeable when it comes to the territory system but Detroit has remained a blind spot throughout my time as a wrestling fan. Promoter Nick Londes is discussed as he controlled Olympia Stadium - the 15,000+ seat arena in Detroit that housed the NHL's Detroit Red Wings. But he had a rival in Adam Weissmuller - a former welterweight wrestler who after a long career, transitioned into pro-wrestling promotional work. While Weissmuller would ultimately win the war, his victory would be short-lived as he would pass away shortly thereafter. His successor would lose to another adversary in Harold Lecht (Light) who would go on to create Big Time Wrestling, a name that would be synonymous with the Motor City.
Solomon gives a lot of background into Sheik's life before wrestling by spotlighting his brief time as a member of the armed forces. Sheik had been drafted into the US Army during the Second World War shortly after turning eighteen (although he did try enlisting earlier but had been rebuked). While he saw action in Europe, he arrived shortly before Germany's surrender and had been sent home during the US bombing of Japan. However, during his time in the Forces, Farhat dabbled in amateur wrestling making quite the name for himself by winning several tournaments.
Ed would be discovered by one of the aforementioned Harold Lecht's right hand men in Bert Ruby - an active performer and talent booker. While he was able to get experience working on the undercard, it wasn't until pro wrestling and television went hand-in-hand that Farhat exploded in popularity. The demand for over-the-top colorful characters went hand-in-hand with the advent of pro wrestling on television. Through several iterations, Farhat came up with The Sheik of Araby.
Around the same time, the NWA had been founded, which made talent exchanges easier than ever. Through the NWA's territory system, Farhat was able to travel all over the United States to work in several of the nation's top promotions, thus expanding his reach as an in-demand performer as well as gaining experience by working different styles with a wide variety of opponents producing legendary rivalries with Bruno Sammartino in New York, Dory Funk in Texas, Billy Watson in Toronto and Freddie Blassie in California just to name a few.
As this book is as much a biography of The Sheik as it is a history of the Detroit territory, you get the inside story of the battle between Lecht and upstarts Jim Barnett and Johnny Doyle. Barnett and Doyle would eventually wrestle control of the territory away from Lecht but a scandal would soon drive Barnett halfway around the world to Australia. This allowed Farhat to strike a deal with the pair and take over ownership of the territory for a tidy sum of $50,000.
Solomon goes on to explain how Farhat managed to be the exception to the rule in how heels were commonly presented in the 1950s and 1960s. Given that he was his own top draw, Farhat would book himself over any top star that began to pick up steam in the territory, keeping all the heat and glory for himself. Unfortunately, this would lead to irreversible damage to both his brand as both a performer and promoter down the road.
Although Sheik could easily have rested on his laurels and become a full time promoter, the lure of the spotlight became too much as he would find himself in Japan. Brought over by Giant Baba in 1973, Sheik would work for All Japan as a challenger for Baba's Pacific Wrestling Championship. In the years that followed, Sheik would work in All Japan's Tag League teaming with a variety of partners - most notably Abdullah the Butcher. Abby and Sheik would having an on-screen falling out that led to a match so violent, it would not air on Japanese TV.
While success was rising in Japan, business was dwindling in the US. Many of Sheik's poor business practices were beginning to catch up with him. A prolonged run on top where he would extinguish the heat garnered by any other performer coupled with his reluctance to ever lose and relinquish the top spot would eventually hurt attendance. He also did himself no favors with the other wrestlers by continuing to offer laughable payoffs leading to drying out the talent pool from which to book performers. A gallbladder surgery led to a reliance on pain pills, a growing addiction that would spiral out of control into harder drugs like cocaine and heroin. If that wasn't bad enough, Sheik would find himself in the grips of a gambling addiction that would obliterate his personal savings. Coupling drug dependancy with business being down, Farhat would end up wrestling far longer than required. Given that he could not so what he once could as a younger man, Farhat would rely on smoke and mirrors and ultra-violent matches taking the place of athleticism, leading to close calls like the no-ropes, barbwire fire match mentioned earlier.
Author Brian Solomon notes that Farhat was known for keeping the true nature of the wrestling business incredibly close to the vest. Much of what he told others was in keeping with kayfabe, so it was difficult at times to know what was and what wasn't true. Solomon also noted that while he did not have a lot of help from The Sheik's immediate family, he goes to great lengths to explain how he came across certain information and where the waters were more or less muddy.
Like many biographies of those from this era, BLOOD AND FIRE tells of both the types of soaring highs and crushing lows that can seemingly only go hand in hand with the wrestling business. While many fans may only know of The Sheik as the trainer for both Sabu and Rob Van Dam, he has a fascinating story all his own.
January 17, 2022
In the heyday of televised professional wrestling in the 1950s and 1960s, one of the biggest draws was in the Detroit territory was the Sheik whose real life name was Ed Farhat. His outlandish and brutal wrestling style combined with his promotional company Big Time Wrestling made him a huge success in Detroit as well as a few other territories. This book by Brian R. Solomon tells of the Sheik’s interest in wrestling, his rise to success and his ultimate downfall. It should be noted early that this Sheik is not to be confused with the Iron Sheik who was part of the rise in popularity of WWF (now WWE) entertainment in the 1980’s.
The book is not only a well-researched and well documented description of the Sheik’s life both in an out of the ring, but it is a nice illustration of the wrestling industry at the time territorial companies were ruling the day. Stories of how the Sheik would pilfer talent from other well-known wrestlers who were running their own organizations such as Dick “The Bruiser” (who was Farhat’s main competition in Detroit) and Vern Gagne whose AWA enterprise was also enjoying success in the Midwest. This was my favorite part of the book as a reader will learn much about the business in those days before the bigger corporate entities like today’s WWE became the only show in town.
The Sheik’s wrestling style is also well chronicled, as he was one of the first wrestlers to use outlandish tricks and special effects. His fireballs became as much of a trademark as his pointed boots. While this was proving to be very successful for Farhat on his way to the top, it also contributed to his downfall. Between his refusal to allow any other wrestler, heel or babyface, to defeat him in his matches, much of the talent he sought to keep ended up going to other territories or eventually signed with WWE or their main competition in the 1980’s and 1990’s, WCW. It led to the demise of Big Time Wrestling in the US, but the Sheik was able to become a draw for a few years in Japan. Of note, Farhat was one of the managers for Antonio Inoki when he had his infamous wrestler-boxer match against Muhammad Ali in 1976.
Farhat’s personal life is not forgotten in the book, as his marriage to his wife Joyce had a lot of turbulence but stayed intact for 42 years. His many trips to Japan, infidelity and substance abuse led to many of these issues. It was nice to see, however, that he was able to have a positive accomplishment near the end of his involvement with wrestling when he was trained two successful wrestlers in the ECW company (that eventually was bought out by WWE) – Sabo (who was his nephew) and Rob Van Dam. He eventually succumbed to cancer in 2003 and while at first he was shunned by most in the industry, WWE gave him a fitting and well deserved place in their Hall of Fame.
A complete book on the life and career of one of the most successful wrestlers and promoters during the territorial era, this is a book that any wrestling fan should read, whether a fan of that era, during the boom in the 1980’s when wrestling became a part of pop culture, or even the current version which bears some resemblance to the Sheik’s more outlandish schemes.
I wish to thank ECW Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The book is not only a well-researched and well documented description of the Sheik’s life both in an out of the ring, but it is a nice illustration of the wrestling industry at the time territorial companies were ruling the day. Stories of how the Sheik would pilfer talent from other well-known wrestlers who were running their own organizations such as Dick “The Bruiser” (who was Farhat’s main competition in Detroit) and Vern Gagne whose AWA enterprise was also enjoying success in the Midwest. This was my favorite part of the book as a reader will learn much about the business in those days before the bigger corporate entities like today’s WWE became the only show in town.
The Sheik’s wrestling style is also well chronicled, as he was one of the first wrestlers to use outlandish tricks and special effects. His fireballs became as much of a trademark as his pointed boots. While this was proving to be very successful for Farhat on his way to the top, it also contributed to his downfall. Between his refusal to allow any other wrestler, heel or babyface, to defeat him in his matches, much of the talent he sought to keep ended up going to other territories or eventually signed with WWE or their main competition in the 1980’s and 1990’s, WCW. It led to the demise of Big Time Wrestling in the US, but the Sheik was able to become a draw for a few years in Japan. Of note, Farhat was one of the managers for Antonio Inoki when he had his infamous wrestler-boxer match against Muhammad Ali in 1976.
Farhat’s personal life is not forgotten in the book, as his marriage to his wife Joyce had a lot of turbulence but stayed intact for 42 years. His many trips to Japan, infidelity and substance abuse led to many of these issues. It was nice to see, however, that he was able to have a positive accomplishment near the end of his involvement with wrestling when he was trained two successful wrestlers in the ECW company (that eventually was bought out by WWE) – Sabo (who was his nephew) and Rob Van Dam. He eventually succumbed to cancer in 2003 and while at first he was shunned by most in the industry, WWE gave him a fitting and well deserved place in their Hall of Fame.
A complete book on the life and career of one of the most successful wrestlers and promoters during the territorial era, this is a book that any wrestling fan should read, whether a fan of that era, during the boom in the 1980’s when wrestling became a part of pop culture, or even the current version which bears some resemblance to the Sheik’s more outlandish schemes.
I wish to thank ECW Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
October 18, 2024
This has got to be not just the best biography written on a wrestler but possibly the best written biography ever.
September 23, 2022
History of The Shiek and Big Time Wrestling
Brian Solomon does an excellent job of presenting both a biography of the wrestling wildman and a history of the Big Time Wrestling promotion in the Detroit territory. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I'm very appreciate of the enormous amount of research that Mr. Solomon undertook to provide we readers with a veritable treasure of wrestling history.
Brian Solomon does an excellent job of presenting both a biography of the wrestling wildman and a history of the Big Time Wrestling promotion in the Detroit territory. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I'm very appreciate of the enormous amount of research that Mr. Solomon undertook to provide we readers with a veritable treasure of wrestling history.
September 12, 2022
Excellent biography, with one bad call right off the bat: Lansing is not a suburb of Detroit, by any stretch of the imagination, nor is Williamston a suburb of either city. All distinct places. Some would be offended by the association; I’m not. In fact, now I feel entitled to a “Detroitish” t-shirt.
July 13, 2025
I listened to this audio book on Spotify. Lots of history and very interesting stories about the Original Sheik and the world of wrestling. I love learning about other people’s stories/lives and how things used to be in professional wrestling. The research that went into this should be applauded.
February 22, 2023
One of the greatest wrestling books I’ve ever read.
June 3, 2022
The Original Sheik was one of those notorious wrestling characters that existed slightly outside of my timeframe as a wrestling fan, but nerveless had his fingerprints all over what I would consider the peak of wrestling popularity in the late 1990’s. Many have clamored for a book on the legendary grappler, and Blood and Fire: The Unbelievable Real-Life Story of Wrestling’s Original Sheik by Brian R. Solomon is a solid tribute to the man. As a fan of ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling), he undoubtedly made his mark through a number of his trainees including the legendary Sabu (his nephew) and Rob Van Dam, just to name a few. I think some of my first memories of seeing him wrestle were old tapes from FMW (Frontier martial Arts Wrestling), where he still wrestled in crazy deathmatches despite nearing 70 years old at the time. The one that most sticks out to me was an ill-advised “fire deathmatch” with Sabu against Atsushi Onita and Tarzan Goto. In this match, which lasted a few minutes, the ring ropes were replaced with flaming rags wrapped around barbed wire that escalated into a raging inferno almost immediately due to the wind. Anyone crazy enough to willingly enter a match like that is a madman for sure, and that’s exactly what Ed Farhat wanted the fans to believe.
Many wrestling fans today are not used to how wrestling used to be in the past. For example, Kayfabe is/was a wrestling practice wherein the performers tried to keep the actual nature of “the business” secret from fans and sometimes even other wrestlers. Scripted matches, allegiances, injuries etc. were all treated as honest fact and VERY real no matter what was really going on. Fans would never see anyone “expose the business”, or break character, in public in most circumstances, which led to constant crusades by people to try to show how fake wrestling actually was. In a TV interview, Jon Stossel once famously found out the hard way how important the practice was to wrestlers of the time, losing hearing in one ear as a payment for angering an entire industry.
Instead of the assumption that Farhat was essentially an actor playing a role, fans saw him as an insane Syrian madman screaming to “Allah!” and thirsting for the blood of anyone too stupid to enter the ring with him. Little did they know that he was actually a Catholic World War II veteran and a family man, the son of Lebanese (Syrian at the time) immigrants. Almost nobody realized that Farhat was actually the brains behind Detroit’s Big Time Wrestling, as Detroit’s primary wrestling promoter.
Farhat wrestled as The Sheik for most of his career (or noble Sheik, Original Sheik etc.), and was easily the most despised man of his time in the Midwest. The book opens with an elaborate retelling of a bout between Farhat and Tony Marino for Big Time Wrestling. After coming to the ring and assailing the crown with threats, he carved Marino up like a Thanksgiving turkey on live TV using a pencil of all things. The crowd was furious, hurling trash into the ring, with the match finally ending as a no-contest draw. Brian R. Solomon is an expert of taking what I assumed was a four minute video clip and giving it the gravitas of an epic battle scene in a fantasy film. I knew right from the get-go that this book was something special and not your usual dictated wrestling memoir that generally devolves into tedium. Solomon takes a journalistic slant and does for this book what masters of historical non-fiction books do for their subjects, making every page exciting and accessible without it reading like a text-book.
“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 his enemies with sharp objects, he was busy being the owner and operator of World Wide Sports, one of the most successful wrestling companies in North America.”
I was actually surprised I was able to learn a little bit of world history in this book, especially regarding the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire leading eventually to Lebanese Independence about twenty years later. Until then Lebanon was part of Syria, thus why the character was always billed as being from Syria. Aside from his origin story, I’m always a sucker for war stories, and we get a tad bit of what The Sheik’s World War II military service was like. Finally, one of the more interesting parts of the beginning of the book was a bit of a socio-economic look at what happened during the Great Depression in Michigan and how that generally affected immigrants, with the most “Americanized” ones weathering the storm more easily. Farhat’s family was VERY patriotic for their new home country, a fact that they all took pride in. The Farhat’s were able to largely escape the racisms and prejudices of the Jim Crow Era by appearing “just white enough” to be considered white, or perhaps they were confused for Italian?
The book looks at the seeds of why Farhat wanted to enter some form of show business, owing a lot to one of his favorite films, “Sabu the Elephant Boy” which his nephew would take his name and attire from in the beginning of his career. In those days, people like him were not represented too much in films or TV, and by having a young, brown skinned boy going on adventures was unheard of. Although The Sheik was not the hero his inspiration was, it’s interesting to see where it all came from.
Those small asides are not the meat an potatoes of the book, and the majority is entirely based on The Sheik’s wrestling career starting with his time in the military. I had never heard that The Army apparently had some sort of a wrestling league in the final days of World War II, with Farhat holding numerous championships. apparently guys from different divisions would go against each other and even wrestle locals. It honestly sounds like the same set-up that one would hear from “The Carnival days” of professional wrestling, where locals would challenge a champion at travelling Circuses and carnivals for a shot at a cash prize. It’s crazy to think that The Sheik’s wrestling career started much in the same way as former US president Abraham Lincoln!
In many ways, this book is as much a book on the overall history of Detroit wrestling as a whole, as it is a book on The Sheik, considering the massive amount of time that he was a fixture in the scene. The Sheik was brought in by Harold Lecht and given a prime spot in a time when colorful, larger-than-life characters were VERY popular on television, much to the chagrin of wrestling purists of the time. He exploded in popularity until he nearly became THE promoter in Detroit, but the call to perform was too great. Farhat would go on to wrestle well into his older years in Japan where he became a superstar-tier heel performer. This is the era I was most familiar with, as discussed before, and perhaps my favorite part of the book.
Blood and Fire: The Unbelievable Real-Life Story of Wrestling’s Original Sheik by Brian R. Solomon is a standout book in the field of wrestling biographies. It never gets boring, nor does it relish in weird tangents that many self-written books tend to go in. It’s a concise history of one of the moist influential wrestlers of the twentieth century, and Detroit wrestling in general. As a fan that truly “got into” wrestling when I was in high school, during the run up to the so-called “Monday Night wars”, I feel like most of the modern wrestling companies (with a few exceptions) ignore the past, so a fan will come out not understanding where the industry came from. It’s books like this that I absolutely love, as they not only show me things I had never known, but give me a foundation for the fandom moving forward. ECW Press ALWAYS makes great wrestling books, including The Wrestlers’ Wrestlers: The Masters of the Craft of Professional Wrestling, Wreslecrap, and the classic The Death of WCW, just to name a few. I have always looked to them as the best way to get books like this without the bias and revisionism found in books published by actual wrestling companies. Brian R. Solomon has really impressed me here, and I can’t wait to see what else he does moving forward.
Note: I was provided a free copy of this book by ECW Press in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks to them for the consideration.
Many wrestling fans today are not used to how wrestling used to be in the past. For example, Kayfabe is/was a wrestling practice wherein the performers tried to keep the actual nature of “the business” secret from fans and sometimes even other wrestlers. Scripted matches, allegiances, injuries etc. were all treated as honest fact and VERY real no matter what was really going on. Fans would never see anyone “expose the business”, or break character, in public in most circumstances, which led to constant crusades by people to try to show how fake wrestling actually was. In a TV interview, Jon Stossel once famously found out the hard way how important the practice was to wrestlers of the time, losing hearing in one ear as a payment for angering an entire industry.
Instead of the assumption that Farhat was essentially an actor playing a role, fans saw him as an insane Syrian madman screaming to “Allah!” and thirsting for the blood of anyone too stupid to enter the ring with him. Little did they know that he was actually a Catholic World War II veteran and a family man, the son of Lebanese (Syrian at the time) immigrants. Almost nobody realized that Farhat was actually the brains behind Detroit’s Big Time Wrestling, as Detroit’s primary wrestling promoter.
Farhat wrestled as The Sheik for most of his career (or noble Sheik, Original Sheik etc.), and was easily the most despised man of his time in the Midwest. The book opens with an elaborate retelling of a bout between Farhat and Tony Marino for Big Time Wrestling. After coming to the ring and assailing the crown with threats, he carved Marino up like a Thanksgiving turkey on live TV using a pencil of all things. The crowd was furious, hurling trash into the ring, with the match finally ending as a no-contest draw. Brian R. Solomon is an expert of taking what I assumed was a four minute video clip and giving it the gravitas of an epic battle scene in a fantasy film. I knew right from the get-go that this book was something special and not your usual dictated wrestling memoir that generally devolves into tedium. Solomon takes a journalistic slant and does for this book what masters of historical non-fiction books do for their subjects, making every page exciting and accessible without it reading like a text-book.
“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 his enemies with sharp objects, he was busy being the owner and operator of World Wide Sports, one of the most successful wrestling companies in North America.”
I was actually surprised I was able to learn a little bit of world history in this book, especially regarding the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire leading eventually to Lebanese Independence about twenty years later. Until then Lebanon was part of Syria, thus why the character was always billed as being from Syria. Aside from his origin story, I’m always a sucker for war stories, and we get a tad bit of what The Sheik’s World War II military service was like. Finally, one of the more interesting parts of the beginning of the book was a bit of a socio-economic look at what happened during the Great Depression in Michigan and how that generally affected immigrants, with the most “Americanized” ones weathering the storm more easily. Farhat’s family was VERY patriotic for their new home country, a fact that they all took pride in. The Farhat’s were able to largely escape the racisms and prejudices of the Jim Crow Era by appearing “just white enough” to be considered white, or perhaps they were confused for Italian?
The book looks at the seeds of why Farhat wanted to enter some form of show business, owing a lot to one of his favorite films, “Sabu the Elephant Boy” which his nephew would take his name and attire from in the beginning of his career. In those days, people like him were not represented too much in films or TV, and by having a young, brown skinned boy going on adventures was unheard of. Although The Sheik was not the hero his inspiration was, it’s interesting to see where it all came from.
Those small asides are not the meat an potatoes of the book, and the majority is entirely based on The Sheik’s wrestling career starting with his time in the military. I had never heard that The Army apparently had some sort of a wrestling league in the final days of World War II, with Farhat holding numerous championships. apparently guys from different divisions would go against each other and even wrestle locals. It honestly sounds like the same set-up that one would hear from “The Carnival days” of professional wrestling, where locals would challenge a champion at travelling Circuses and carnivals for a shot at a cash prize. It’s crazy to think that The Sheik’s wrestling career started much in the same way as former US president Abraham Lincoln!
In many ways, this book is as much a book on the overall history of Detroit wrestling as a whole, as it is a book on The Sheik, considering the massive amount of time that he was a fixture in the scene. The Sheik was brought in by Harold Lecht and given a prime spot in a time when colorful, larger-than-life characters were VERY popular on television, much to the chagrin of wrestling purists of the time. He exploded in popularity until he nearly became THE promoter in Detroit, but the call to perform was too great. Farhat would go on to wrestle well into his older years in Japan where he became a superstar-tier heel performer. This is the era I was most familiar with, as discussed before, and perhaps my favorite part of the book.
Blood and Fire: The Unbelievable Real-Life Story of Wrestling’s Original Sheik by Brian R. Solomon is a standout book in the field of wrestling biographies. It never gets boring, nor does it relish in weird tangents that many self-written books tend to go in. It’s a concise history of one of the moist influential wrestlers of the twentieth century, and Detroit wrestling in general. As a fan that truly “got into” wrestling when I was in high school, during the run up to the so-called “Monday Night wars”, I feel like most of the modern wrestling companies (with a few exceptions) ignore the past, so a fan will come out not understanding where the industry came from. It’s books like this that I absolutely love, as they not only show me things I had never known, but give me a foundation for the fandom moving forward. ECW Press ALWAYS makes great wrestling books, including The Wrestlers’ Wrestlers: The Masters of the Craft of Professional Wrestling, Wreslecrap, and the classic The Death of WCW, just to name a few. I have always looked to them as the best way to get books like this without the bias and revisionism found in books published by actual wrestling companies. Brian R. Solomon has really impressed me here, and I can’t wait to see what else he does moving forward.
Note: I was provided a free copy of this book by ECW Press in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks to them for the consideration.
February 20, 2022
My thanks to both NetGalley and the Publisher ECW press for an advanced copy of this important book on professional wrestling history.
Being a historian whose chosen field is professional wrestling must seem like the worst job in the world on many days. People don't understand why anyone would care about match results from 20 or 30 or 50 years ago. Gathering information is difficult as promoters would lie about how business was either for their image, or if was great, to not pay taxes. To fans folklore and legends pass for fact, even on events that occurred on live TV. Some are willing to talk, but alot don't remember, or didn't care, it was a payday. Others live their persona, or gimmick, and went to the grave with their secrets. Brian R. Solomon in his excellent and important book Blood and Fire: The Unbelievable Real- Life Story of Wrestling’s Original Sheik discusses this world and more as he writes about the enigmatic wrestler known as The Sheik.
Eddie Farhat, veteran of World War II found himself in the post-war economy struggling in his factory job in Detroit. To make some extra dollars, he returned to something he had tried during his army days, wrestling and found someone to bring him into professional wrestling. It wasn't until he took on the persona of The Sheik of Araby that his career took off, and Eddie Farhat was left far behind. The Sheik was The Sheik, to friends, family, fellow wrestlers and soon fans all over the country as began to get famous for his jabbering, his beautiful valet played by his real wife, and the violence that his matches became. Soon he owned his own promotion both here and in Canada, money was pouring in and nothing could go wrong, till it did. Shrinking business, injuries, stubbornness an overall changes in the industry forced him to try overseas work, which returned him to fame, then infamy.
An amazing, well researched book about a man that most fans don't remember, but was incredible influential on wrestling, with continue today. Mr. Solomon does an incredible job or research on a man whose prided himself on his secrecy. To The Sheik it was real to him, including as his own funeral service where The Sheik was said more than Ed Farhat ever was. Tons of stories and facts, bits on The Sheik's military history. Just exemplary work. Also Mr. Solomon goes into the history of wrestling and the the promotions and territories. If this is all new, Mr. Solomon explains everything clear and concisely, so even new readers to the sport will not be lost.
A great book for wrestling fans, both classic and new. The sense of history, the information gathered and presented, just very impressive work. Professional wrestling is such an interesting bizarre and odd world. So much about this sport has been lost, mainly because no one asked, and no one thought that anyone would care. Readers can tell that Brian Solomon cares, and I can't wait to read what he does next.
Being a historian whose chosen field is professional wrestling must seem like the worst job in the world on many days. People don't understand why anyone would care about match results from 20 or 30 or 50 years ago. Gathering information is difficult as promoters would lie about how business was either for their image, or if was great, to not pay taxes. To fans folklore and legends pass for fact, even on events that occurred on live TV. Some are willing to talk, but alot don't remember, or didn't care, it was a payday. Others live their persona, or gimmick, and went to the grave with their secrets. Brian R. Solomon in his excellent and important book Blood and Fire: The Unbelievable Real- Life Story of Wrestling’s Original Sheik discusses this world and more as he writes about the enigmatic wrestler known as The Sheik.
Eddie Farhat, veteran of World War II found himself in the post-war economy struggling in his factory job in Detroit. To make some extra dollars, he returned to something he had tried during his army days, wrestling and found someone to bring him into professional wrestling. It wasn't until he took on the persona of The Sheik of Araby that his career took off, and Eddie Farhat was left far behind. The Sheik was The Sheik, to friends, family, fellow wrestlers and soon fans all over the country as began to get famous for his jabbering, his beautiful valet played by his real wife, and the violence that his matches became. Soon he owned his own promotion both here and in Canada, money was pouring in and nothing could go wrong, till it did. Shrinking business, injuries, stubbornness an overall changes in the industry forced him to try overseas work, which returned him to fame, then infamy.
An amazing, well researched book about a man that most fans don't remember, but was incredible influential on wrestling, with continue today. Mr. Solomon does an incredible job or research on a man whose prided himself on his secrecy. To The Sheik it was real to him, including as his own funeral service where The Sheik was said more than Ed Farhat ever was. Tons of stories and facts, bits on The Sheik's military history. Just exemplary work. Also Mr. Solomon goes into the history of wrestling and the the promotions and territories. If this is all new, Mr. Solomon explains everything clear and concisely, so even new readers to the sport will not be lost.
A great book for wrestling fans, both classic and new. The sense of history, the information gathered and presented, just very impressive work. Professional wrestling is such an interesting bizarre and odd world. So much about this sport has been lost, mainly because no one asked, and no one thought that anyone would care. Readers can tell that Brian Solomon cares, and I can't wait to read what he does next.
April 29, 2022
Soooooo Good
This is so dang good. Everything about this book is really good. Learning made fun. Also, after I finished this book tossed a fireball at me
This is so dang good. Everything about this book is really good. Learning made fun. Also, after I finished this book tossed a fireball at me
December 9, 2022
I didn’t realize how major a figure Farhat was. A well-done bio.
Notes:
30 Army wrestling
42 TV … Unlike competitive sports, wrestling could provide colorful antics and personalities.
52 To make the persona work, Farhat had to BECOME the character
Brazil the Jackie Robinson of wrestling
68 He and Pedro Martinez, Buffalo, were the only promoters of color in America.
88 Pencil wrapped in athletic tape. Used to cut? To beat? … A leader in blading.
116 After a normal encounter in the dressing room, came out and chased Scott Teal around the ring.
129 Bobby Davis took over Haft’s Columbus territory Reclusive, died Jan 2021.
140 In Haft’s HQ, closed 1970. Amateur, 43 years old, died in ring against Kark Kox
158 Tightness with Sammartino ($800 vs promised $2k) sabotaged future dealings
203 50, holds replaced by brawling
214 Firpo Fireballed beloved ref Red Shoes Dugan
222 Gallbladder operation lasting effect on health and career
233 Death of Big Time wrestling … Convincing arguments. Reasons both in and out of his control. He didn’t step away. Wouldn’t lose. (Unbeatability isn’t a winning formula. Burnout.) Unvarying roster, poor payoffs, no succession planning, gambling and high living, drugs, stiffing people, demise of Detroit’s auto industry.
280 “I Like to Hurt People” 1985 film
316 5/5/95 58K fans, 48 years wrestling, heart attack next day
318 Last Days … Ted Turner wrestling
322 Wonderful retirement ceremony 12/11/98 Ambled delicately to ring, flowing robes and head-scarf, hurling fireballs, chasing fans with scimitar. 10-bell salute, waves to crowd ”Allah! Bye-bye!”
325 McMahon bought ECW and WCW assets in 2001, fulfilled mad dream of having the only show in town (North America)
326 Bedridden last year and a half of life, but never not smiling.
329 1/18/2003, said it was time, and asked to be taken off the respirator … 76 years old
Bobo died 1/20/98 in St. Joseph
330 Friend and manager Dave Burzynski the only person from pro wrestling who came to pay their respects.
340 In that era, you protected your persona – “gimmick” is too small a word —in order to protect your livelihood. In a class with icons / enigmas like Mae West, Liberace, Mr. T., Vampira, Andy Kaufman, and Leon Redbone … The real person known only to a few.
341 Xenophobia, provoking fear and hate (Muslim & Arabs), wouldn’t fly today Culture wars, identity issues…. Sheik a product of a different time. … Fans’ catharsis.
Thesz and Muchnick pearl-clutching.
344 Teddy Roosevelt: The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; …
372 “Ballad of Bobo Brazil” Bob Finnigan
368 Drew blood from arms as well as head. Invented. Copied by Dusty Rhodes.
371 At 16, Burzynski called out Brazil’s injustices during a TV taping, causing Bobo to break character and have him ejected.
Notes:
30 Army wrestling
42 TV … Unlike competitive sports, wrestling could provide colorful antics and personalities.
52 To make the persona work, Farhat had to BECOME the character
Brazil the Jackie Robinson of wrestling
68 He and Pedro Martinez, Buffalo, were the only promoters of color in America.
88 Pencil wrapped in athletic tape. Used to cut? To beat? … A leader in blading.
116 After a normal encounter in the dressing room, came out and chased Scott Teal around the ring.
129 Bobby Davis took over Haft’s Columbus territory Reclusive, died Jan 2021.
140 In Haft’s HQ, closed 1970. Amateur, 43 years old, died in ring against Kark Kox
158 Tightness with Sammartino ($800 vs promised $2k) sabotaged future dealings
203 50, holds replaced by brawling
214 Firpo Fireballed beloved ref Red Shoes Dugan
222 Gallbladder operation lasting effect on health and career
233 Death of Big Time wrestling … Convincing arguments. Reasons both in and out of his control. He didn’t step away. Wouldn’t lose. (Unbeatability isn’t a winning formula. Burnout.) Unvarying roster, poor payoffs, no succession planning, gambling and high living, drugs, stiffing people, demise of Detroit’s auto industry.
280 “I Like to Hurt People” 1985 film
316 5/5/95 58K fans, 48 years wrestling, heart attack next day
318 Last Days … Ted Turner wrestling
322 Wonderful retirement ceremony 12/11/98 Ambled delicately to ring, flowing robes and head-scarf, hurling fireballs, chasing fans with scimitar. 10-bell salute, waves to crowd ”Allah! Bye-bye!”
325 McMahon bought ECW and WCW assets in 2001, fulfilled mad dream of having the only show in town (North America)
326 Bedridden last year and a half of life, but never not smiling.
329 1/18/2003, said it was time, and asked to be taken off the respirator … 76 years old
Bobo died 1/20/98 in St. Joseph
330 Friend and manager Dave Burzynski the only person from pro wrestling who came to pay their respects.
340 In that era, you protected your persona – “gimmick” is too small a word —in order to protect your livelihood. In a class with icons / enigmas like Mae West, Liberace, Mr. T., Vampira, Andy Kaufman, and Leon Redbone … The real person known only to a few.
341 Xenophobia, provoking fear and hate (Muslim & Arabs), wouldn’t fly today Culture wars, identity issues…. Sheik a product of a different time. … Fans’ catharsis.
Thesz and Muchnick pearl-clutching.
344 Teddy Roosevelt: The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; …
372 “Ballad of Bobo Brazil” Bob Finnigan
368 Drew blood from arms as well as head. Invented. Copied by Dusty Rhodes.
371 At 16, Burzynski called out Brazil’s injustices during a TV taping, causing Bobo to break character and have him ejected.
April 12, 2022
There are few books that were as much a pleasure to read as BLOOD AND FIRE. The main reason is when I was growing up and wrestling on television held such special fascination, one of the most feared and famous wrestlers happened to be The Sheik. He was an enigma, someone who was complex and complicated, speaking gibberish, but cutting a bloody path through his opponents.
I used to watch him on Maple Leaf Wrestling Saturday afternoons at 1PM on CHCH TV, out of Hamilton Ontario. Hosted by Lord Athol Layton, although there were other wrestlers, time seemed to stand still when The Sheik appeared accompanied by Abdullah Farouk his manager.
The book captures the life and time of The Sheik, better known as Eddie Farhat. Of Lebanese parentage, he fought in World War II and came with his parents ending up in Detroit. Brian Solomon follows the man’s career from the earliest days, and when he became The Sheik, rarely out of character in public, that image menacing to fans who thought he truly was bloodthirsty and not to be crossed under any circumstances. His wife Joyce became part of his act as Princess Salima, a sort of manager whom The Sheik treated poorly, like a possession.
The book talks extensively of his earliest matches, and then his desire to become the face of Big Time Wrestling in Detroit and other territories, booking the matches and the wrestlers who would come to the area. There was cutthroat competition as other wrestling alliances fought for dominance. The Sheik usually won out with his insane tactics, penchant for cutting himself with a concealed blade, and even throwing fireballs into the face of opponents.
The book often reads like a who’s who of wrestling, with The Sheik battling them all, usually with his hand raised in victory. But it was not all happiness and cupcakes, as often The Sheik instilled hostility in some of his opponents by believing he was the face of the circuit, and put himself over at the expense of others. It was lucrative in the beginning, but soon the Sheik was travelling to other circuits to keep the money flowing. Some say he was stingy with payouts, others called him most generous. He made friends and enemies in so many ways.
The book also looks at his substance abuse and infidelity, along with the other missteps in his career. It talks of his popularity in Japan, and how almost to the end he lived and breathed that character. You don’t have to be a wrestling fan to appreciate the thoroughness of the book. It is a grand tribute to one of the most popular heels in wrestling history.
I used to watch him on Maple Leaf Wrestling Saturday afternoons at 1PM on CHCH TV, out of Hamilton Ontario. Hosted by Lord Athol Layton, although there were other wrestlers, time seemed to stand still when The Sheik appeared accompanied by Abdullah Farouk his manager.
The book captures the life and time of The Sheik, better known as Eddie Farhat. Of Lebanese parentage, he fought in World War II and came with his parents ending up in Detroit. Brian Solomon follows the man’s career from the earliest days, and when he became The Sheik, rarely out of character in public, that image menacing to fans who thought he truly was bloodthirsty and not to be crossed under any circumstances. His wife Joyce became part of his act as Princess Salima, a sort of manager whom The Sheik treated poorly, like a possession.
The book talks extensively of his earliest matches, and then his desire to become the face of Big Time Wrestling in Detroit and other territories, booking the matches and the wrestlers who would come to the area. There was cutthroat competition as other wrestling alliances fought for dominance. The Sheik usually won out with his insane tactics, penchant for cutting himself with a concealed blade, and even throwing fireballs into the face of opponents.
The book often reads like a who’s who of wrestling, with The Sheik battling them all, usually with his hand raised in victory. But it was not all happiness and cupcakes, as often The Sheik instilled hostility in some of his opponents by believing he was the face of the circuit, and put himself over at the expense of others. It was lucrative in the beginning, but soon the Sheik was travelling to other circuits to keep the money flowing. Some say he was stingy with payouts, others called him most generous. He made friends and enemies in so many ways.
The book also looks at his substance abuse and infidelity, along with the other missteps in his career. It talks of his popularity in Japan, and how almost to the end he lived and breathed that character. You don’t have to be a wrestling fan to appreciate the thoroughness of the book. It is a grand tribute to one of the most popular heels in wrestling history.
April 16, 2022
Subtitle: The Unbelievable Real-Life Story of Wrestling’s Original Sheik
Blood and Fire is the biography of Ed Farhat, better known as the former Detroit-based wrestler and promoter ‘The Sheik.’ I first became aware of the Sheik in the mid-70s when episodes of his Big Time Wrestling television show aired on KDNL – Channel 30 in St. Louis. I don’t recall seeing him attack any of his opponents with a pencil at that time, but definitely remember his throwing one of his patented fireballs at a particularly unlucky opponent (Pompero Firpo, I think). Then, about 20 years ago, I purchased a copy on eBay of I Like To Hurt People, the cult classic quasi-mockumentary film about The Sheik and the Detroit wrestling promotion that was filmed in the mid- to late-70s but not completed and made available to the public until 1985.
In Blood and Fire, author Solomon covers the Sheiks lengthy in-ring career as well as his career as a promoter that ended a little more than five years before Vince McMahon’s takeover of the wrestling industry put most other promotions out of business, the primary reasons being the struggles of Detroit’s auto industry at the time and the Sheik’s insistence on maintaining his status as the top performer in the territory. The Sheik continued to be a top draw after the promotion closed and was in demand in several other territories through the U.S. and overseas.
The Sheik began his wrestling career in 1949 and officially retired in 1998. During that time, he encountered many of wrestling’s biggest names, many of whom I was familiar with from working with Harley Race and Bob Geigel on a series of documentary videos in the late 90s. Solomon does a great job of filling in background on these personalities, and I learned a great deal about people I had only previous known of by name or sometimes by photograph as well. Personally, I’ve never really understood the appeal of the Sheik’s wrestling style (or lack thereof), but there is no denying his status as one of the biggest box office attractions of his era and as one of the most significant personalities in wrestling history. He not only lived his gimmick, he also was a pioneer in what is now known as ‘hardcore’ wrestling.
I gave Blood and Fire five stars on Goodreads. This was one of my most anticipated reads thus far in 2022, and it certainly met all of my expectations and more. Readers who are not fans of wrestling may not take as much from it as I did, but readers who would like to learn more about the history of the wrestling industry will not find a better resource.
Blood and Fire is the biography of Ed Farhat, better known as the former Detroit-based wrestler and promoter ‘The Sheik.’ I first became aware of the Sheik in the mid-70s when episodes of his Big Time Wrestling television show aired on KDNL – Channel 30 in St. Louis. I don’t recall seeing him attack any of his opponents with a pencil at that time, but definitely remember his throwing one of his patented fireballs at a particularly unlucky opponent (Pompero Firpo, I think). Then, about 20 years ago, I purchased a copy on eBay of I Like To Hurt People, the cult classic quasi-mockumentary film about The Sheik and the Detroit wrestling promotion that was filmed in the mid- to late-70s but not completed and made available to the public until 1985.
In Blood and Fire, author Solomon covers the Sheiks lengthy in-ring career as well as his career as a promoter that ended a little more than five years before Vince McMahon’s takeover of the wrestling industry put most other promotions out of business, the primary reasons being the struggles of Detroit’s auto industry at the time and the Sheik’s insistence on maintaining his status as the top performer in the territory. The Sheik continued to be a top draw after the promotion closed and was in demand in several other territories through the U.S. and overseas.
The Sheik began his wrestling career in 1949 and officially retired in 1998. During that time, he encountered many of wrestling’s biggest names, many of whom I was familiar with from working with Harley Race and Bob Geigel on a series of documentary videos in the late 90s. Solomon does a great job of filling in background on these personalities, and I learned a great deal about people I had only previous known of by name or sometimes by photograph as well. Personally, I’ve never really understood the appeal of the Sheik’s wrestling style (or lack thereof), but there is no denying his status as one of the biggest box office attractions of his era and as one of the most significant personalities in wrestling history. He not only lived his gimmick, he also was a pioneer in what is now known as ‘hardcore’ wrestling.
I gave Blood and Fire five stars on Goodreads. This was one of my most anticipated reads thus far in 2022, and it certainly met all of my expectations and more. Readers who are not fans of wrestling may not take as much from it as I did, but readers who would like to learn more about the history of the wrestling industry will not find a better resource.
December 27, 2021
This is a biography of the wrestler and promoter Ed Farhat better known to wrestling fans as The Sheik. It tells the story of his early life, his extremely long career as a wrestler and his time as a promoter of the Detroit wrestling territory. The biography also details issues out of the ring such as how his body was affected by his decades as a wrestler, how he coped with the pain his body was put through plus his relationships with others inside the wrestling business and his own somewhat eventful relations with his own family.
Being extremely interested in wrestling history I knew of The Sheik but very little about him apart from his tendency to have his matches generally descend into a bloody, brawling style so was pleased to see so much detail about his life and career. I had no idea that despite being such a popular drawing card for many years in the wrestling business that many of his fellow wrestlers and promoters seemed to look down on him. I found it so interesting reading the good and bad of his life. A lot of the quotes from others who were part of the wrestling business as well stated that they found The Sheik totally believable even though they knew him. He lived his gimmick to quote a phrase and would remain in character in public pretending to be the non English speaking heel.
The book did a great job of linking The Sheik's wrestling style to the current hardcore style that is popular in some quarters and enjoyed the quotes at the start of the chapters.
This is highly recommended, it tells you so much about Ed Farhat the man, The Sheik as the wrestler, how a successful wrestling territory can be run and also the dangers of trying to keep control for too long with advancing age and repetitive booking leading to the downfall of his business.
Being extremely interested in wrestling history I knew of The Sheik but very little about him apart from his tendency to have his matches generally descend into a bloody, brawling style so was pleased to see so much detail about his life and career. I had no idea that despite being such a popular drawing card for many years in the wrestling business that many of his fellow wrestlers and promoters seemed to look down on him. I found it so interesting reading the good and bad of his life. A lot of the quotes from others who were part of the wrestling business as well stated that they found The Sheik totally believable even though they knew him. He lived his gimmick to quote a phrase and would remain in character in public pretending to be the non English speaking heel.
The book did a great job of linking The Sheik's wrestling style to the current hardcore style that is popular in some quarters and enjoyed the quotes at the start of the chapters.
This is highly recommended, it tells you so much about Ed Farhat the man, The Sheik as the wrestler, how a successful wrestling territory can be run and also the dangers of trying to keep control for too long with advancing age and repetitive booking leading to the downfall of his business.
December 26, 2025
What a Legend
I only cracked this book open because I had heard of the legend of the Shiek as I live in Ontario and Shiek had spent considerable time here as part of the Toronto territory and I wanted to know more. I was also curious about the author as Brian Solomon has recently released another book on Gorilla Monsoon which I own as well. I wasn't expecting too much. I was just curious. Brian Solomon far exceeded all expectations. I know that I own the Gorilla Monsoon book, but I am hoping that he stays writing books like these two. I already know that the Gorilla book would have to be as good as Shiek's. As far as Shiek goes though, now I understand the legend. Just wow! RIP Shiek. Your memory will live on forever.
I only cracked this book open because I had heard of the legend of the Shiek as I live in Ontario and Shiek had spent considerable time here as part of the Toronto territory and I wanted to know more. I was also curious about the author as Brian Solomon has recently released another book on Gorilla Monsoon which I own as well. I wasn't expecting too much. I was just curious. Brian Solomon far exceeded all expectations. I know that I own the Gorilla Monsoon book, but I am hoping that he stays writing books like these two. I already know that the Gorilla book would have to be as good as Shiek's. As far as Shiek goes though, now I understand the legend. Just wow! RIP Shiek. Your memory will live on forever.
April 12, 2022
This wonderful book about Ed Farhat, The Original Sheik (not to be confused with The Iron Sheik) is amazingly well written and full of wrestling history covering the Ohio/Michigan territories, along with Farhat's non wrestling persona , which was very well guarded, all without the help from the surviving family members.
Solomon's book is a must have for wrestling fans, and even those that want to look at the business aspect of wrestling. I enjoyed every page, including the footnotes at the back.
For in depth review, visit my blog at : https://lancewrites.wordpress.com/202...
Solomon's book is a must have for wrestling fans, and even those that want to look at the business aspect of wrestling. I enjoyed every page, including the footnotes at the back.
For in depth review, visit my blog at : https://lancewrites.wordpress.com/202...
June 11, 2022
Diving into this book, my knowledge of the Original Sheik was limited to short references to the territory days and the knowledge of those whom he trained who made it big. The story of the Sheik was captivating, informative and a reminder of a time long past when kayfabe ruled the wrestling world. An interesting lens to see the changing of the wrestling world through and a cautionary tale of believing in one’s own hype, Blood and Fire was fascinating from beginning to end. It is further impressive knowing how difficult it was to gather all of the relevant information to curate this work due to the Sheik’s strict adherence to his character. Fantastic.
June 29, 2022
The Sheik, no not that one, before there was The Iron Sheik, there was The Sheik, Eddie Farhat, who rose to prominence in the 1950s to become one of the biggest drawing heels in the business.
Brian Solomon does a excellent job detailing the rise and fall of The Sheik’s career from Detroit & Big Time Wrestling to his dominance in Toronto at Maple Lear Gardens, to his rise international in Japan. Along with historical rivalries with Dick The Bruiser & Bobo Brazil.
The man never got the recognition he deserves in modern day pro wrestling, just missing out on the boom of the television era, but this book helps to preserve The Sheik’s legacy.
Brian Solomon does a excellent job detailing the rise and fall of The Sheik’s career from Detroit & Big Time Wrestling to his dominance in Toronto at Maple Lear Gardens, to his rise international in Japan. Along with historical rivalries with Dick The Bruiser & Bobo Brazil.
The man never got the recognition he deserves in modern day pro wrestling, just missing out on the boom of the television era, but this book helps to preserve The Sheik’s legacy.
January 13, 2024
One of the best research books I have read on classic wrestler. From a time before modern wrestling there was a Heel wrestler who could generate a fortune, sell out building and make the fans despise him. That wrestler was the original Sheik. To those unformilar with this man. His name still stands as one of the biggest draws in detriot and other areas. During the days of territory wrestling the Sheik would be a massive draw and attraction for any territory. Brain research and writing was fantastic. Taking us trough the life and carreer of the shiek. With greate detail reasrch in to the time and matches. Taking us trough big moments in his carreer and life.
July 17, 2024
Pretty good. The Sheik was intentionally a pretty unknown person, and I think Solomon struggled to truly penetrate the facade into Farhat really was behind the character. That’s a tall task though and he did quite a bit with what he did get from his research and interviews. It was good to understand the influence The Sheik had on future generations in ECW and FMW.
A little too much context setting at times, and the author is a bit too forgiving of his subject’s failures.
I don’t know if I cringed harder when he used Teddy Roosevelt’s “man in the arena” quote to end the book, or when Sorkin did that to end the book “Too Big To Fail”, but in both cases I think it was pretty cliche.
A little too much context setting at times, and the author is a bit too forgiving of his subject’s failures.
I don’t know if I cringed harder when he used Teddy Roosevelt’s “man in the arena” quote to end the book, or when Sorkin did that to end the book “Too Big To Fail”, but in both cases I think it was pretty cliche.
March 19, 2025
Before reading this book, I didn’t know much about The Sheik beyond the fact that he was Sabu’s uncle, a major star in his time, and that he ran Detroit wrestling. In many ways, this book served as my true introduction to him, and I couldn’t be more enthusiastic about it. It dives deep into his life, offering incredible detail while only fueling my fascination with the man and my desire to learn even more. The Sheik was a truly captivating figure in an era of wrestling in the US that I find endlessly intriguing. Written in an engaging, easy-to-read style, this is exactly how I like my wrestling biographies—gripping from the first page to the last.
May 21, 2022
Biographies of professional wrestlers always offer colorful histories, and this is no exception. Anyone who has seen The Sheik in action will not forget him. Because of the man's belief in maintaining the wall between the character he played and the person behind that character...the "kayfabe"...it can be a little frustrating to try to understand The Sheik and his devotion to bloodletting and violence in the ring. The author does well in trying to explain the layers of an unusual person. A worthy addition to the genre.
June 28, 2022
When they make the film about The Sheik's life, they will adapt if from Brian Solomon's biography. As an ardent reader of all books pro wrestling, Blood and Fire is simply and sincerely one of the best. If you're interested in The Original Sheik, Detroit wrestling or the territory days, this is a definitive collection of extensive, thorough research and anecdotes from the men there. Once Big Time Wrestling starts running the Cobo Arena, I couldn't step away from absorbing the personalities, matches and angles that popped a town -- and eventually killed it. Fantastic work.
June 11, 2023
I grew up watching The Sheik and his reign of terror in Big Time Wrestling, plus my dad knew one of The Sheiks brothers, so this book brought back a lot of childhood memories to me. A meticulously researched and wonderful book. Highly recommended for someone from the mid Michigan area that will recognize many of the names and places. Also, anyone interested in the history of pro wrestling will find much information contained within. Others may not have those same interests so their mileage may vary but for me this is a contender for book of the year.
January 1, 2023
I knew about The Sheik's nephew, Sabu, and one of his students, Rob Van Dam, but not much about the man himself. Solomon does a great job not only tracking The Sheik's life in wrestling but paralleling his life with the dynamics of wrestling in general. When the territories were on a high, so was Sheik. When the territory system was in flux as the WWE started what became a global takeover, as was The Sheik. But he always found a way. A riveting account of a life lived fully in wrestling.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 18, 2023
Even after it won the Observer award for Best Book I was still skeptical as to how good a biography about The Sheik — a man who truly lived the gimmick — could be. My skepticism was unfounded. Incredible book about an incredible subject. I can’t imagine what it was like to watch this guy in his prime; in an era when a vertical suplex was a deadly maneuver he was throwing fire and stabbing people with pencils.
March 22, 2023
The Best Wrestling Book I’ve Ever Read
As someone that grew up in the 70’s in the Northeast, I was only really able to follow The Sheik’s exploits thru the “Apter mags”. I was always drawn to them anytime Sheik was on the cover. This book gives a complete story of the wrestler and the man (as best as can be told) that terrorized the U.S. wrestling landscape for years, if not decades.
As someone that grew up in the 70’s in the Northeast, I was only really able to follow The Sheik’s exploits thru the “Apter mags”. I was always drawn to them anytime Sheik was on the cover. This book gives a complete story of the wrestler and the man (as best as can be told) that terrorized the U.S. wrestling landscape for years, if not decades.
June 10, 2025
This is a fantastic biography! The best wrestler biography I’ve read so far. (Have A Nice Day is still the best autobiography. Calm down Foley fans.)
I’d say this is essential reading for any & all pro wrestling fans. This is so well researched & gives amazing insight into the life & career of the most secretive wrestler of all time. I’ve been a wrestling fan for 41 years & I learned a lot with this.
Highest possible recommend.
I’d say this is essential reading for any & all pro wrestling fans. This is so well researched & gives amazing insight into the life & career of the most secretive wrestler of all time. I’ve been a wrestling fan for 41 years & I learned a lot with this.
Highest possible recommend.
May 19, 2022
This is fascinating book about one of the most mysterious and true professional wrestlers in the sport’s history. In many ways, you can trace Detroit’s history by the career of the Sheik and this book is a biography and city history book in one. Hopefully people pick up this book and there is a resurgence of interest to one pro wrestling’s greatest icons.
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