LAHORE MIRROR — Wrestling Icon Adnan bin Abdul Kareem Ahmed Alkaissie El Farthie Billy White Wolf known as General, and Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie, has passed away at the age of 84.
Sgt. Slaughter, a close friend and former wrestling partner, paid a heartfelt tribute to the former tag team champion in a tweet on Wednesday.
Born in Baghdad, Iraq, Adnan was a former WWF (now WWE) and AWA star. His journey in the wrestling world eventually brought him back to the World Wrestling Federation, where he had previously competed as an amateur wrestler and even played football alongside Saddam Hussein, the future dictator of Iraq.
Adnan is most famously remembered for his role managing Sgt. Slaughter during the early 1990s, when Slaughter portrayed an Iraqi sympathizer. However, in a 2019 interview with Ken Resnick, the fictional general revealed that his expressions about America at the time actually reflected his genuine sentiments for the nation, calling them “No bulls**t.”
Adnan’s arrival in the United States was initially facilitated by his athletic background in Iraq. He made his way from Houston to Oklahoma, where he pursued wrestling and football at Oklahoma State University, narrowly missing out on an Olympic opportunity.
His professional wrestling career began with roles as Chief Jay Strongbow and Native American Billy White Wolf, culminating in winning the World Wide Wrestling Federation (the precursor to WWF and WWE) Tag Team Championship in 1976.
Adnan later transitioned to Verne Gagne’s American Wrestling Association as Sheikh Adnan Al-Kaissie. Although he never held an AWA championship, Al-Kaissie remained a prominent figure in the wrestling scene throughout the 1980s. In recognition of his contributions to the sport, he was inducted into the Thesz-Tragos Hall of Fame in 2021.
