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Josef Samael

Joseph Cabibbo[2] (born May 21, 1974) is an American professional wrestler currently wrestling under the ring names Josef and Josef Samael on the independent circuit and in Major League Wrestling (MLW) as a member of Contra Unit with Jacob Fatu, Simon Gotch, and Ikuro Kwon. He is a one-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and (Zero1) World Heavyweight Champion.

Josef Samael
Josef Samael at MLW Saturday Night SuperFight 2019
Birth nameJoseph Cabibbo
Born (1974-05-21) May 21, 1974 (age 50)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)The Almighty Sheik[1]
Joey Machete
Josef
Josef Samael
The Sheik[2]
Sheik Ali Azzad[2]
NASDAQ
Billed height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2]
Billed weight225 lb (102 kg)[2]
Billed fromNew York City, New York
Damascus, Syria
Trained byThe Blackharts
DebutAugust 1998

Professional wrestling career

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Early career (1998–2005)

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Cabibbo worked early in his career in Florida independent promotions such as Future Of Wrestling, IPW Hardcore Wrestling, Maximum Xtreme Pro Wrestling and Coastal Championship Wrestling. In 2001, he made his debut in Puerto Rico for World Wrestling Council (WWC) as NASDAQ.

Full Impact Pro Wrestling (2005–2008)

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Cabibbo debuted in Full Impact Pro (FIP) as Joey Machete in November 2005, teaming up with Shawn Murphy and losing to Seth Delay and Chasyn Rance. They won their first match against Tony Mamaluke and Chad Parham the following day. In April, they won a three-way tag team match, featuring the Heartbreak Express and the Y.R.R. They began a streak of victories and beat the Heartbreak Express to become tag team champions. They lost their titles against the Heartbreak Express. They left the promotion in August 2008, after losing a hardcore match against The Dark City Fight Club.

Pro Wrestling Fusion (2008–2010)

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Cabibbo, working under the ring name The Sheik, has made the Florida promotion Pro Wrestling Fusion his home. Originally going by the new Sheik Ali Azzad, Cabibbo shortened the name, after receiving the blessing of Sabu, the nephew of the original Sheik.[2] He won the NWA Florida Heavyweight Title by defeating Freedom Ryder on the inaugural show on May 3, 2008, in Ft. Pierce Florida. He also developed a feud with Steve Madison, who defeated the Sheik for the NWA Florida Heavyweight Title on February 2, 2009, inside a steel cage. The Sheik regained the NWA Florida Heavyweight Title from Madison on August 1, 2009.

National Wrestling Alliance (2009–2011)

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The Sheik debuted in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Midwest in September 2009, attacking NWA Midwest Heavyweight champion, Silas Young at a RWF (Rebellious Wrestling Federation) show in Ashton IL. He then defeated Silas to win the championship. He was scheduled for a World Title match against Blue Demon, Jr. to be held in Cicero Stadium in Chicago Illinois, but Blue Demon backed out of the match.[3][unreliable source?] Silas Young, on the other hand, did sign up to wrestle the Sheik and defeated him in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on December 4, 2009, at ACW Homecoming. Sheik defeated Young to become a two-time NWA Midwest Heavyweight Champion on December 5, 2009.

On January 30, 2010, The Sheik defeated "El Gran" Apollo to become the new NWA North American Heavyweight Champion. On April 23, 2011, he defeated Colt Cabana in Jacksonville, Florida to become the 44th officially recognized NWA World Heavyweight Champion.[4] He was stripped of the title on July 11, 2011. Officially, the NWA announced that Sheik had refused to defend the title on July 31, 2011, in Ohio,[5] however Sheik's camp says he was never scheduled for the title defense.

Pro Wrestling Zero1 (2011–2012)

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On May 23, 2011, The Sheik made his debut in Japan for Pro Wrestling Zero1. He returned to the promotion on July 3, defeating Ryouji Sai in a match, where both his NWA World Heavyweight Championship and Sai's World Heavyweight Championship were on the line, to become the new World Heavyweight Champion. He would go on to lose the title to Kohei Sato on November 6, 2011.

Independent circuit (2013–present)

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Sheik only wrestled about a dozen matches between 2013 and the end of 2015. Starting in January 2016 he started wrestling frequently for a newly founded Southern California promotion PCW Ultra. His first matches for the promotion involved a feud between himself and Montel Vontavious Porter. On January 20, 2017, his newly formed team Warbeast, with Jacob Fatu won the PCW Tag Team Championship. The faction would grow to include Brody King and they would defend them under Freebirds rules. King has since left the promotion, signing with Ring of Honor in 2019, but Fatu and Sheik still hold the tag titles to this day.[6]

Major League Wrestling (2019–present)

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Sheik debuted for Major League Wrestling (MLW) under the name Josef Samael, in February 2019 at SuperFight, alongside his frequent tag team partner Jacob Fatu. However, this match would not be aired on MLW Fusion. The duo of Fatu and Josef would make their debut appearance on Fusion on March 2, 2019, forming the heel stable Contra Unit with Simon Gotch. They debuted by attacking MLW World Heavyweight Champion Tom Lawlor following his cage match against Low Ki.[7] The following week, Contra Unit attacked Ace Romero during his match with Gotch.[8] After that, they had various feuds, but suddenly disappeared before War Chamber, not witnessing the end of his stable.

Championships and accomplishments

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References

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  1. ^ Caldwell, James (January 14, 2012). "Corgan promotion crowns first Hvt. champion". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 19, 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Van Der Griend, Blaine (February 2, 2009). "The Sheik still lives ... in Florida". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved April 25, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ^ "World Title Controversy". theinsider.com. October 25, 2009. Archived from the original on October 12, 2009. Retrieved February 6, 2010.
  4. ^ a b c Caldwell, James (April 23, 2011). "NWA News: New NWA World Hvt. champion, ending Cabana's title reign, one wrestler calls it a "terrible mistake"". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 24, 2011.
  5. ^ "Breaking News! NWA World Title Stripped". NWA Wrestling on Facebook. July 11, 2011. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
  6. ^ "Reference at www.cagematch.net".
  7. ^ "MLW TV taping spoilers: Intimidation Games". WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, UFC News, UFC results. March 3, 2019. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  8. ^ "Powell's MLW Fusion TV Review: Simon Gotch vs. Ace Romero, DJZ vs. Ace Austin in a Battle Riot qualifying match, Alex Hammerstone vs. Isaias Velasquez - Pro Wrestling Dot Net". Prowrestling.net. March 10, 2019. Retrieved March 15, 2019.
  9. ^ Johnson, Steve (April 5, 2015). "Many years of hard work pay off for Dennis Brent with CAC's historian award". Slam Wrestling. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  10. ^ "Reference at www.cagematch.net".
  11. ^ ""PWI 500": 101–200". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. August 8, 2011. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
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