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Adnan Alkaissy, who was a two-time NCAA All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State, will be inducted into the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame during the July 23-25 weekend, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Dan Gable Museum announced Friday.
Alkaissy was born and raised in Iran before he came to the United States, where he played football at Houston then transferred to OSU in 1957. He finished fourth at the NCAA tournament, and helped the Cowboys win back-to-back team championship in ’58 and ’59.
Alkaissy then took his wrestling talents to the squared circle, where he won multiple world heavyweight and tag team championships across several promotions. He’s most well known for managing Sgt. Slaughter as “General Adnan” in the World Wrestling Federation during the 1990s.
We are happy to announce “Shiek” Adnan Al Kaissie is a 2020 inductee into the @TNTHOF. He was an outstanding amateur @CowboyWrestling, The alma matar of @Fgbrisco. He also had a storied professional wrestling career. Wed we make another huge announcement regarding the 2020 class. pic.twitter.com/BRdfGrwWOn
— TNTHOF (@TNTHOF) January 21, 2020
The George Tragos-Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame is dedicated to successful professional wrestlers with an amateur wrestling background. Former Cowboy and WWE Hall of Famer Gerald Brisco, who was inducted in 2005, is the head of the selection committee for the Hall of Fame. Brisco’s older brother, Jack Brisco (2001), Leroy McGuirk (2004) and Earl McCready (2005) are also enshrined along with George Thragos Award winners Randy Couture (2014) and Daniel Cormier (2019).