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The Bad Guy With A Soft Heart

Posted: Jul 13th 2008 By: CMBurnham

Editor's note: This article was part of a Tulsa World feature entitled "Then and Now", spotlighting several figures from the world of Oklahoma sports in the past and bringing the reader up to date on them

Then: Skandar Akbar (alias Jim Wehba) was the baddest cad around when Mid-South Wrestling ruled these parts. He was a good guy when he launched his career in the 1960s, then he betrayed Danny Hodge and became public enemy No. 1, a flame-throwing "sheik" who played the villain's role to the hilt.

Being a heel was serious business. Rabid fans cut Akbar's car tires and broke his windows. Before a New Orleans gig, he received so many death threats that he wore a bulletproof vest when entering the Superdome. "The last 45 years, I got blamed for everything that happened in the Middle East," said Akbar, who is of Syrian and Lebanese descent.

Now: Akbar, 73, said he loved living in Tulsa at various times during his career as a wrestler and manager. He settled in his home state of Texas (he lives in Garland) and has trained budding wrestlers.

Nostaligia is in vogue, so Akbar often gets asked to make public appearances. Said Akbar, "A lot of people tell me 'I hated you so much, but I loved every minute of it.'"

Akbar said he never cussed at fans or spat at them when leaving arenas. He just ignored them. That just made them madder.

Akbar doesn't think he is a bad guy in real life and indicated he has a soft spot for animals. He wonders what fans would think if they could hear him sweet-talk his critters, including Brigitte (named after Bardot), a dog who will be 16 in August. He has had better luck with dogs than wives. One wife died, and he has been through a few others. "This business, it wasn't really good on marriages."

But Akbar said he owes everything he has to the wrestling biz. Asked whether it was fun to be a bad guy, Akbar said: "You can get away with a lot of things. The good guys, a lot of them really didn't like to sign all those autographs. I teased them about it." Akbar said he just tore up anything fans wanted him to sign. What else would you expect from a good bad guy?