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More on the career and passing of Skandar Akbar

Posted: Aug 20th 2010 By: mikeiles

I am very sad to report the passing of longtime Texas wrestling legend General Skandar Akbar, real name James Wehba at the age of 75. Akbar was found yesterday in his Garland, Texas home.

Akbar, who was active on the independent wrestling scene until his passing, actually broke into the business as a wrestler in the early 1960s and often credited the late Lou Thesz with teaching him a lot about the business, although his official trainer was Jimmy Young. Akbar initially wrestled under his real name but at the suggestion of Fritz Von Erich, later adopted the Akbar moniker to play off of his legitimate Lebanese background to garner heel heat as a foreigner.

During his in-ring career, Akbar worked for WCW in Australia, the WWWF and a number of NWA based territories in Texas, Oklahoma and Georgia, among others.

As his in-ring career slowed down, Akbar, who had a great gift for gab, became a manager, the role he is most remembered for today. As the turban wearing leader of Devastation, Inc. Akbar led many a heel into battle in both Mid-South and World Class Championship Wrestling, feuding with the likes of The Von Erichs and Eric Embry, among others as the evil Arabic Sheik bankrolled by the Middle Eastern oil companies trying to defeat the babyface forces. In the Southwest, where Oil was a major industry, Akbar's heat was off the charts.

When World Class morphed into USWA and later left Texas (Jerry Jarrett owned the promotion by this point), Akbar worked for Global Wrestling and countless others Texas based promotions. He ended up becoming one of the senior voices and locker room leaders for multiple generations of performers.

In recent years, Akbar had appeared in many of the different documentaries made about the glory days of the World Class promotion and had recorded a number of shoot interviews. Akbar had just appeared at the NWA Legends Fanfest several weeks back, where he had the chance to reunite with former tag team partner and good friend Danny Hodge as well as his former WCCW charge Kamala.

On behalf of everyone at PWInsider.com, I wish to express our deepest condolences to Akbar's family and friends, and to everyone in the Texas wrestling scene where he was an institution.

Tags: Skandar Akbar, James Wehba, Lou Thesz, Fritz Von Erich, NWA, Devastation, Inc., MSW, WCCW, Von Erichs, Eric Embry, Danny Hodge, Kamala

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Spotlight in History

1969 Fritz Von Erich became the WCCW American Heavyweight Champion
1985 King Parsons def. John Tatum for the WCCW Television Title
2005 Mitch Carter def. Kenny Campbell for the SRPW X Division Title
2006 J. T. LaMotta def. John O'Malley for the IZW Cruiserweight Title
2017 MVP def. Damon Windsor for the IWR Heavyweight Title
2017 Spirit Squad (Kenny [1st] & Mikey [1st]) def. Excellence Personified (Duke Swellington & Dustin Heritage) for the ComPro Tag Team Titles
2022 Tego def. Mr. Wobble for the TexPro Texas Title
2023 Wolf of War def. Martin Justice for the EPW International Title
2023 Johnny Dynamite def. Johnny Lightning for the WFC Prime Title
2023 Native Law (Sheriff Schultz & Nashoba) def. K. O. A. (Caine Carter & Devion Black) for the NCWO Tag Team Titles
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Week of Sun 10-18 to Sat: 10-24

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10-18 2019 Tego def. Prince Mahalli for the ASP Inter-County Title
10-18 2019 Will Allday def. J. D. Griffey for the TexPro Heavyweight Title
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10-19 2013 Tyson Jaymes def. Brock Landers for the SWCW All-American Title
10-19 2013 The K. C. Wolves (Graham Bell & Luke Langley) def. Nasty Swag (Ace Archuleta & Robert Lee) for the UWE Tag Team Titles
10-19 2013 Jon Cross def. Anarchy [2nd] for the UWE Heavyweight Title
10-19 2014 Jon Cross def. Robert Lee for the WFC Hometown Heroes Title
10-19 2019 Luke Langley became the WFC Hometown Heroes Champion
10-19 2024 Anarchy [2nd] def. Damien Morte for the EPW Internet Television Title
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10-20 1971 Bill Watts became the TSW North American Champion
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10-20 2001 The Texas Outlaws (Beau Dalton & Butch Dalton) def. The VIP Crew (Rocco Valentino & Vinnie Valentino) for the OPW Oklahoma Tag Team Titles
10-20 2001 Amanda St. George became the OPW Oklahoma Womens Champion
10-20 2001 Big Daddy Moore became the OPW Oklahoma Hardcore Champion
10-20 2007 Chris Fury became the SECW Light Heavyweight Champion
10-20 2007 Impact, Inc. (John Zorthos & Bernie Donderwitz) def. Team Shenanigans (Tyler Bateman & Kenny Campbell) for the IZW Tag Team Titles
10-20 2007 Tyson Armstrong became the SECW Heavyweight Champion
10-20 2007 The Texas Outlaws (Bobby Burns & Dan Wilder) became the SECW Tag Team Champions
10-20 2012 Kevin James Sanchez def. Austin Tacious for the SWCW All-American Title
10-20 2012 The Static Knights (X-Statik & Keith Knight) def. Dynamic Storm (Justin Dynamic & Daemon Storm) for the UWE Tag Team Titles
10-20 2018 Fuel def. Alex Royal for the UWE Heavyweight Title
10-20 2018 Galaxy Cruzers (Paul Puertorico & Steven Cruze) became the UWE Tag Team Champions
10-20 2018 Dusty Gold became the UWE Apex Champion
10-20 2018 Anarchy [2nd] def. Dusty Gold for the UWE Apex Title
10-21 1969 Fritz Von Erich became the WCCW American Heavyweight Champion
10-21 1985 King Parsons def. John Tatum for the WCCW Television Title
10-21 2005 Mitch Carter def. Kenny Campbell for the SRPW X Division Title
10-21 2006 J. T. LaMotta def. John O'Malley for the IZW Cruiserweight Title
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10-22 2005 Big Van Vader def. Aaron Neil for the IZW Heavyweight Title
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10-22 2022 Justin Lee def. Koko for the WFC Hometown Heroes Title
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10-24 2004 Se7en def. John O'Malley for the ACW Hardcore Title
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10-21

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Bushwacker Butch Oct 21st Today!
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Bobby Lambert Oct 24th
Bill Dundee Oct 24th
Ray Durán Oct 24th
Daniel Powers Oct 24th
Phil Shark Oct 25th
Sheriff Schultz Oct 25th
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Double D Oct 25th
Halo Oct 26th
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MVP Oct 28th
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Mike Davis [2nd] Nov 2nd
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Kenny Silva Nov 3rd
Dylan Michaels Nov 3rd
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Korstia Korchenko Nov 3rd

1969 Fritz Von Erich became the WCCW American Heavyweight Champion
1985 King Parsons def. John Tatum for the WCCW Television Title
2005 Mitch Carter def. Kenny Campbell for the SRPW X Division Title
2006 J. T. LaMotta def. John O'Malley for the IZW Cruiserweight Title
2017 MVP def. Damon Windsor for the IWR Heavyweight Title
2017 Spirit Squad (Kenny [1st] & Mikey [1st]) def. Excellence Personified (Duke Swellington & Dustin Heritage) for the ComPro Tag Team Titles
2022 Tego def. Mr. Wobble for the TexPro Texas Title
2023 Wolf of War def. Martin Justice for the EPW International Title
2023 Johnny Dynamite def. Johnny Lightning for the WFC Prime Title
2023 Native Law (Sheriff Schultz & Nashoba) def. K. O. A. (Caine Carter & Devion Black) for the NCWO Tag Team Titles
2023 Malik Mayfield def. Clayton Bloodstone for the NCWO Choctaw Nation Title
2023 Dominik Whiteheart def. Luke Richmond for the NCWO United States Title

More Look Back In History

Oklafan.com v5 Beta

More on the career and passing of Skandar Akbar

Posted: Aug 20th 2010 By: mikeiles

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