The Sheik, as most Middle Eastern gimmicks in the WWE are, was an incredible heel. He portrayed a wealthy Syrian man in the ring, who was very well known for using illegal moves. He would attack his opponent with hidden implements such as pencils, or throw fireballs at them. The Sheik never spoke on camera except in a pseudo-Arabic gibberish. He sometimes had managers which spoke on his behalf.

 

The Sheik's evil character, and the amount of heat and hatred he generated from his audiences was absolutely invaluable for the company. He did not speak, so his entire gimmick was communicated in his mannerisms; his evil gaze, his menacing walk, and his illegal moves in the ring (Workman 1977, 128). The Sheik's Islamic generated heat just by being.

 

The Sheik is an early example of many similar gimmicks which would succeed him. Heat is valuable to wrestling companies. When audiences hate a gimmick, especially with the passion they hated The Sheik, they will be very attentive to wrestling programming, in hopes of seeing good prevail in the form of a babyface victory.