Wrestling Legends of Yesteryear: General Skandor Akbar

James Webha is the son of a Lebanese father and a Syrian mother. He was born in 1934, in Wichita Falls, Texas. Starting at age 12, Jimmy began lifting weights and training his body. In 1963, Jimmy was encouraged by two of his uncles to consider professional wrestling as a career. The two uncles, who were themselves wrestlers, introduced Jimmy to the legendary Lou Thesz. Thesz was impressed with Jimmy's physique and Arabic features. Jimmy began working for Thesz as Wildman Webha.

In 1966, Webha was sent to the Dallas territory. Fritz Von Erich, the territory owner, wanted to create a character that was more Arabic. After doing some research into the Arabic languages, Jimmy and Fritz came up with the name, Skandor Akbar. The translation of the name is "Great Alexander" or "Alexander the Great". Akbar's first name has been spelled in two ways, Skandor and Skandar. Akbar began as a face (fan favorite), but Fritz always planned to use Webha's middle eastern heritage as the catalyst to turn him into the most hated man in the Dallas territory.

Akbar spent about 15 years as an active wrestler. During that time, he toured the country. He held the Georgia tag titles with Ox Baker. He also held the US tag team titles with Danny Hodge. It was turning against Hodge that turned Akbar into a heel. Akbar also toured the world during his career. He held the Australian version of the NWA heavyweight title.

By the mid 70's, Akbar had returned to the Fritz Von Erich's Big Time Wrestling organization. Fritz approached Akbar to take the role as a wrestling manager. Embracing the para-military ideologies that many middle eastern countries used at the time, Akbar was dubbed "The General" Skandor Akbar. He created a stable of wrestlers known as Devastation, Inc. More than 50 men and women have been members of Akbar's army.