Slam Wrestling’s Greg Oliver shared earlier today (Jan. 1) that Sweet Daddy Siki died yesterday at the age of 91. Siki had Alzheimer’s disease and spent his last moments at a Toronto hospital.
Oliver, who wrote a 2017 CBC documentary on Siki, received the news in an email from Siki’s son. “He lived a long life, did what he wanted to do, and made a successful career out of entertainment,” Reg James wrote to Oliver about his dad.
After moving to Toronto in 1961, Siki wrestled atop the card for promotions like Maple Leaf Wrestling, Grand Prix Wrestling, and Stampede Wrestling through the 60s and 70s. He would later train wrestlers out of Sully’s Gym in the city, including WWE Hall of Famer Adam “Edge” Copeland and former NWA & WWE World Heavyweight champion Christian Cage, both now with AEW.
Siki was also a singer. He wrote and sang the theme song he used in the latter part of his career, and ran a karaoke night at a Toronto bar until the pandemic.
Most believed Siki was born in 1940 under the name Reginald Siki, but Oliver says he kept his real backstory quiet and “he was born Elkin James, on June 16, 1933, in Grimes, Texas, northwest of Houston, to parents who were 60 hours-a-week farm laborers”.
Remembrances and tributes have begun to circulate online:
MAPLE LEAF PRO sends its condolences to the family, friends, and fans of a true Maple Leaf Wrestling ICON, Sweet Daddy Siki, who passed away on December 31 at the age of 91. Siki arrived in Toronto in 1961 and over the next few decades became an integral part of Canadian wrestling history and one of our country’s greatest entertainers and a true ambassador for what Canadian wrestling was and could be! Rest in Peace, Sweet Daddy!
On behalf of the Cageside Seats community, our thoughts are with everyone missing Sweet Daddy Siki today. May he rest in peace.
