Ali Bey

Ali "Terrible Turk" Bey drifted into Arizona in 1972 and stayed for a time. He looked menacing enough with a shaved head and slight tassel of hair dropping down from the center of his bald skull. He had this gap in his teeth that made him look like a jack o lantern when he smiled. He did a prayer ritual like The Sheik, where he faced Mecca and pawed the ground. He had all the pose of a super villain, but in truth seldom won his matches.

Usually placed  on the undercard, where he faced Jimmy Valentine, Sergio Saravia, Chief Big Heart, Paul Harvey and Danny Johnson, he invariably ended up pinned.

No one seems certain what his finisher hold was in retrospect, as he never got to use one.

Though he always came out on the losing end, the odd thing was the people never stopped hating him. Each week, they jeered him with renewed gusto and loved it when his losing streak was kept alive.

One of Bey's better matches was a twenty minute opener at the  Phoenix Madison Square Garden in which he held his own. He even had the poplar masked Mexican down for a few two counts and seemed close to winning when the luchador made a comeback. Bey was pinned when Flama Roja did a Mil mascaras type of dive off the top rope and brought things to a close.

Sinister in appearance, but a lovable loser in the ring, Ali Bey remains one of the most oddball characters out of many to ever drift into Arizona.