General Adnan (Adnan El Farthie; aka Adnan Al-Kaissie, Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissey, Billy White Wolf) was a veteran pro wrestler and manager who died at the age of 84.
There is no word on Adnan’s cause of death, but former WWE/AWA announcer and interviewer Ken Resnick posted on Facebook on Wednesday morning that his good friend had died. “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’.”
Adnan, who made his wrestling debut in 1959, was friends with former Iraq Prime Minister Saddam Hussein in high school. Adnan left his distinguished Iraqi family to play college football at the University of Houston, and then transferred to Oklahoma State University as an amateur wrestler, after playing soccer and competing as an amateur wrestler in Iraq. Adnan began working as a pro wrestler in Oklahoma in 1959, portraying a Native American character named Billy White Wolf. In the 1960s, Adnan worked for Pacific Northwest Wrestling and became an American citizen in 1964 after marrying an American woman named Kathy Davis.
Adnan introduced professional wrestling to Iraq in the 1970s under Saddam’s direction. During a show in Baghdad in 1971, he defeated WWE Hall of Famer Andre the Giant in front of Saddam Hussein. Adnan’s victories in Iraq earned him significant fame in his home country, leading to government gifts such as money, cars, and palaces. Adnan fled Iraq in 1980, feeling used by Saddam and fearful for his safety after overhearing conversations from his nephews in the Iraqi army.
Adnan made his WWE debut in 1976, wearing the Billy White Wolf gimmick, and became the first Iraqi and Arab to compete in a WWE ring. In December 1976, he won the WWE Tag Team Titles with WWE Hall of Famer Chief Jay Strongbow. Their reign lasted 237 days before they were forced to leave due to Adnan’s neck surgery. In 1990, he returned to WWE to manage WWE Hall of Famer Sgt. Slaughter during his pro-Iraqi storyline, which included a WWE Title reign.
Adnan’s history with Saddam was mentioned in the build-up to the 1990 Survivor Series, as photos of Adnan with Saddam were shown, and the storyline was that the top secret photos were provided by the Pentagon and CIA. The group was known as The Triangle of Terror, and Slaughter and Adnan were joined by WWE Hall of Famer The Iron Sheik, who was re-packaged as Colonel Mustafa. Adnan was then DQ’d by Hogan at the Stars & Stripes Forever event in March 1991. Adnan, Mustafa, and Slaughter competed in the main event of the 1991 SummerSlam, losing the 2-on-3 Handicap Match to WWE Hall of Famers Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior. Adnan eventually left WWE in early 1992, but he has appeared in the video games WWE 2K15 and WWE 2K16.
Adnan has also wrestled for NJPW, Championship Wrestling from Florida, the AWA, and other promotions. Adnan had several singles and tag team reigns while working in various NWA territories and the IWA in Australia, in addition to his run with the WWE Tag Team Titles. In 2020, he will be inducted into the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. Adnan and Patera also co-owned the World All-Star Wrestling Alliance. Adnan left the company in 1998.
Below are a few videos from Adnan’s career:
