Early career (1959–1971) . Al-Kaissy began wrestling in the state of Oklahoma in 1959 under the
ring name Billy White Wolf, a Native American character. Kaissey wrestled for Pacific Northwest Wrestling in the 1960s. In 1964, Adnan, who had married an American woman, became a United States citizen. He also wrestled for
Joint Promotions in the United Kingdom in 1969 as White Wolf. In 1969, he appeared in the
Hawaii Five-O episode “Just Lucky, I Guess,” under his ring name, Billy Whitewolf, as the associate of a mob boss.
Iraqi wrestling (1971–1974) During the 1970s, he took professional wrestling to Iraq under the direction of Saddam Hussein. In one such match, he defeated
André the Giant in Baghdad in 1971 and he defeated the Scottish Ian Campbell, Frenchman and the Canadian champion
George Gordienko in
Baghdad. He also wrestled Bob Roop there in 1972. Al-Kaissy became enormously popular in his home country, being gifted palaces, a fleet of
Mercedes-Benz cars, and money from the government. He began to fear for his safety after overhearing conversations from his nephews in the
Republican Guard and later felt he was being used by Saddam. He left Iraq for the last time in 1980.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Florida (1974–1975) In 1974, Adnan debuted in
New Japan Pro-Wrestling as the Sheik of Sheiks of Baghdad, he teamed with
Nikolai Volkoff and they tried to win the NWA North American Tag Team but they failed after losing the Best Two Out Of Three Falls match against
Antonio Inoki and
Seiji Sakaguchi at
Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in
Aichi, Japan. Later he feuded with the likes of Antonio Inoki, Seiji Sakaguchi,
Kantaro Hoshino,
Osamu Kido,
Haruka Eigen. After he left NJPW, Adnan returned to the United States, where he wrestled in
Eddie Graham's promotion
Championship Wrestling from Florida under his real name.
World Wide Wrestling Federation (1976–1977) In the World Wide Wrestling Federation, in 1976, under the Native American gimmick Billy White Wolf, he won the
World Tag Team Championship with
Chief Jay Strongbow. Needing neck surgery, Kassey agreed to work an injury angle where he had his neck broken by
Ken Patera via the
Swinging Neckbreaker on television. After he left the territory for his neck surgery in 1977, the "Indians" were stripped of the title.
Various promotions (1977–1981) In 1978, he was presented in Hawaii as the master of the "Indian Death Match" until his arch-rival,
Tor Kamata, defeated him. Changing gimmicks, he was billed as "The Sheik" in the United Kingdom in 1979. He then returned to Iraq, where his old classmate Saddam Hussein had taken power. Kaissey was popular and helped introduce professional wrestling to Iraq, but Hussein viewed him as a potential rival. Kaissey fled to the United States and never returned, though he maintained contact with his family in Baghdad.
American Wrestling Association (1981–1989) In 1981, with tensions between the US and Middle East running high, he debuted in the
American Wrestling Association as "Sheik Adnan El Kaissey," where his stated goal was to win the AWA title from champion
Nick Bockwinkel. He failed at that task, so he then enlisted
Jerry Blackwell, now wearing a sheik's outfit and renamed Sheik Ayatollah Jerry Blackwell, to team with him to try to win the AWA Tag Team Championship. That failed, too, so Adnan bought Ken Patera from manager
Bobby Heenan to team with Blackwell, and Adnan would act as Blackwell and Patera's manager. The team of Blackwell and Patera captured the
AWA World tag team title from
Greg Gagne and
Jim Brunzell. Adnan had to quit wrestling when he was injured, which is the real reason Patera was brought in to team with Blackwell. On April 23, 1983, at the
AWA Super Sunday, he teamed with Blackwell in a tag team match against
Verne Gagne and
Mad Dog Vachon which they lost. In 1986 at AWA WrestleRock he lost to Verne Gagne in a steel cage; he then teamed with
Boris Zhukov in a tag team match against
The Midnight Rockers (
Marty Jannetty &
Shawn Michaels). Kassie later left the AWA, but returned on a November 26, 1988, card in
Bloomington, Minnesota, when he managed
The Iron Sheik (who he would also later manage in the
WWF) in a match against
Sgt. Slaughter. in the early 1970s
World Wrestling Federation (1990–1992) In the World Wrestling Federation, during the summer of 1990, he allied with
Sgt. Slaughter as "General Adnan," and managed him during his pro-Iraqi gimmick in a feud with
Hulk Hogan and
The Ultimate Warrior. During this feud, Slaughter won the WWF title from the Warrior at the
1991 Royal Rumble, and lost it a couple of months later to Hogan at
WrestleMania VII. The pair were then joined by Slaughter's former nemesis,
The Iron Sheik, who was repackaged as Colonel Mustafa, to form the Triangle of Terror. Adnan also headlined
SummerSlam 1991 with Slaughter and Mustafa against Hogan and Warrior. During the build-up to
Survivor Series 1990, the WWE showed what they claimed were "classified top secret photos released by the Pentagon/CIA" that featured General Adnan with Saddam Hussein. After Slaughter turned face, Adnan continued to manage Col. Mustafa until leaving the WWF shortly after
Royal Rumble 1992. Al-Kaissie is also featured as a playable character in the
WWE 2K15 video game; in where he appears as a downloadable character as part of the "Path of the Warrior" Showcase. He was once again featured as a playable character in
WWE 2K16.
Late career (1992–1998) After WWF he then joined
American Wrestling Federation (AWF) where he managed "The Rat Pack" of
Bob Orton Jr,
Mr. Hughes &
Manny Fernandez. He also managed
Hercules Hernandez. Al-Kaissie retired from wrestling in 1998. ==Personal life and death==