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Jimmy Saied Wehba, wrestler who ruled the ring as 'Skandar Akbar,' dies at 75

Posted: Aug 26th 2010 By: CMBurnham

Jimmy Saied Wehba was "Skandar Akbar" ? the man wrestling fans around the world loved to hate in the 1970s and '80s.

Mr. Wehba was good enough at being bad that he often needed real-life police protection from wrestling fans eager to right his wrongs.

But his private life was quiet, and he lived largely unnoticed in the same Garland home for 40 years.

Mr. Wehba, 75, died Thursday at Baylor Medical Center Garland of complications of a fall earlier this summer in North Carolina.

Services will be at 10 a.m. today at Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church in Wichita Falls.

He kept working over the past 30 years in wrestling circles, in semi-retirement, but still remaining very private, said his son, Darryl Wehba of Duncan, Okla.

"He pretty much stayed in the profession all of his life," his son said. "It was like a hobby. It was all he knew. It was his whole life."

Mr. Wehba continued to attract attention decades after his fame faded, doing the "local thing around here," his son said.

Fans figured he lived in the area and would try to follow him home after an event.

"Every night he'd have to lose somebody," his son said. "He'd lose them. ... He knew Dallas like the back of his hand."

Mr. Wehba as "Akbar" was booed around the world ? from Singapore to New Zealand, Australia to Japan.

"It was just beautiful," he recalled in a 2000 Dallas Morning News story.

In 1974, he won the National Wrestling Alliance's North American Heavyweight Title Belt. Three years later, he started focusing on managing teams ? the Masked Medics and, later, Devastation Incorporated ? and training young wrestlers.

Mr. Wehba was born in Wichita Falls and grew up in Vernon, where he graduated from high school in 1952.

He started lifting weights when he was 12, a hobby he continued the rest of his life. Mr. Wehba first entered the wrestling ring at the 4-H Barn in Wichita Falls. After serving two years in the Army, Mr. Wehba found his professional calling after watching two of his cousins in the ring. He got his wrestling license in 1963.

Fritz Von Erich, patriarch of the Von Erich wrestling clan, helped Mr. Wehba prefect his villain persona in 1966, suggesting he use an Arabic-sounding ring name.

With the help of a Dallas radio announcer, Mr. Wehba ? whose father was from Lebanon ? selected "Skandar Akbar," or Alexander the Great.

Akbar became known for his dastardly deeds, which he often topped off with his signature "Camel Clutch," seizing his opponent's chin from behind and pulling back on the head.

Akbar performed in Madison Square Garden and the Superdome and "went to war" against the Von Erichs at the Sportatorium in Dallas, where they were the main event.

In addition to his son, Mr. Wehba is survived by a sister, Dianne Cluley of Wichita Falls; a stepdaughter, Debie Whelan; and one grandchild.

Tags: Skandar Akbar, NWa, Medics, Devastation, Inc., Fritz Von Erich