15 Things Wrestling Fans Should Know About Abdullah The Butcher
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- When looking at modern-day madmen in professional wrestling such as Nick Gage, Jon Moxley, and countless others who enjoy violence and blood, Abdullah the Butcher is someone who is often singled out as being crazier than them all, and perhaps even someone who influenced them. He is someone who had a very long and noteworthy career in the business, so there is a whole lot to know about him. From notable feuds, to crazy moments, to some interesting facts about him, there is plenty to know about the WWE Hall of Famer and one of the more divisive and controversial names inside the business.
Highlights
- Abdullah The Butcher had a legit fighting background in judo and karate, making him a tough guy both inside and outside the ring.
- He had some of the greatest managers in pro wrestling history, including J.J Dillon, the Grand Wizard, and Oliver Humperdink.
- Despite his iconic status and countless titles, Abdullah never won a world championship due to his special attraction status and reluctance to lose.
Before “hardcore” was a regular part of the pro wrestling lexicon, there were a number of innovators who helped bring about the genre. Among legends like the Funks and Atsushi Onita is another icon: Abdullah the Butcher, who spilled countless amounts of blood — both his and that of his opponents — over the course of a 52-year career.
Abby retired in 2010, so there are likely many fans today who don’t know much about such an infamous legend. Let’s take a look at Abdullah The Butcher’s life and career and what fans should know about “The Madman from the Sudan,” including his time with World Championship Wrestling, his exploits in Japan, and his venture as a restauranteur.
UPDATE: 2023/10/29 07:30 EST BY ANDREW KELLY
When looking at modern-day madmen in professional wrestling such as Nick Gage, Jon Moxley, and countless others who enjoy violence and blood, Abdullah the Butcher is someone who is often singled out as being crazier than them all, and perhaps even someone who influenced them. He is someone who had a very long and noteworthy career in the business, so there is a whole lot to know about him. From notable feuds, to crazy moments, to some interesting facts about him, there is plenty to know about the WWE Hall of Famer and one of the more divisive and controversial names inside the business.
15 Legit Fighting Background
Abdullah The Butcher isn’t just someone who was feared inside the professional wrestling ring, but he was also someone who was a legit tough guy outside of the ring too. Abdullah trained in both judo and karate, which sometimes lent into his professional wrestling style. With his massive frame, being able to throw him around the ring would prove to be most impossible for any Judo fighter we can imagine.
He trained in this area a lot in his youth, being a mentor to many others around that time too.
14 Had Some All-Time Great Managers
Abdullah The Butcher had the character of a monster who couldn’t be tamed, so he needed a manager by his side to control him, many of whom were referred to as “handlers”. He was accompanied to the ring by some of the all-time greatest managers.
These included names like J.J Dillon, the Grand Wizard, Oliver Humperdink, and several others across the years too.
13 Never Won A World Title
Despite wrestling in seven different decades throughout the course of his ridiculously long career (his first match coming in 1959 and his last in 2010), Abdullah The Butcher never had the honor of becoming a world champion in professional wrestling.
A big reason for this was due to his status as a special attraction, and the fact that winning a belt meant that he had to at some point lose. Similar to an unstoppable monster like Andre The Giant, he was rarely booked to be in title matches, let alone win them. He won many other belts, but never a major one.
12 He Was Once A Birthday Gift For Sting
The list of crazy things Abdullah The Butcher has done in professional wrestling is too long to even make note of, but one of the weirdest for sure was when he was wrapped up in a big box as a birthday gift to Sting.
Cactus Jack used Abdullah as a means to launch an attack on Sting during their feud in 1991. It was a bizarre yet notable moment which would lead to the infamous Chamber of Horrors match. Sting recently was presented a "gift" by Tony Khan in the form of Ric Flair, so it seems like people really like gifting people to the Stinger.
11 Took Part In The Worst Wrestling PPV Of All Time
Heroes Of Wrestling has the reputation for being one of the most disastrous shows of all time. It featured some notable names but amidst many production issues, no-shows, horrendous commentary, the farce behind Jake Roberts’ intoxicated appearance, and the poor quality of matches, it is considered one of the worst events ever.
Abdullah was a part of this card, and he took on One Man Gang in a double countout, making himself a part of history, though it wasn’t in a good way.
10 Debuted As A Teenager
Born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada in 1941, Lawrence Shreve grew up studying judo and karate, and eventually was discovered by wrestling promoter Jack Britton — not to be confused with the boxer of the same name — and made his debut as a teenager. From there, the future Abdullah the Butcher worked all over Canada under a variety of gimmicks before developing the gimmick that would make him an icon in the sport. As one might expect, Abby established his in-ring reputation with a ridiculous act of violence, severely beating Brittons’ son Gino Brito with a broken chair leg.
9 A Special Attraction Wrestler
Billed at 400 pounds and with several gigantic scars on top of his head, Abdullah the Butcher was an intense sight to behold, especially once the bloodshed began. But the Butcher couldn’t be said to have made any particular promotion his home, even though he was able to capture countless titles in his career. Instead, Abdullah the Butcher was a traveling “special attraction” kind of wrestler not unlike Andre the Giant, who’d show up in a territory to take on the crowd favorites for a spell, increase ticket sales, and then move on to the next promotion
8 Armed With a Fork
Even fans of Abdullah the Butcher would likely admit that the legend was pretty limited in the ring, with his offensive repertoire consisting of various strikes incorporated from his martial arts training. But Abby’s in-ring arsenal was often literal, as he regularly made use of various foreign objects, though only one weapon could be considered his trademark: the fork.
He was famous for pulling out that basic piece of cutlery and shredding his opponents’ foreheads, a tendency so iconic that if one googles “wrestler who uses a fork,” the results will yield pages about Abdullah the Butcher.
7 Wrestled For All Japan Pro Wrestling
While it may seem counterintuitive given that the promotion is famous for putting on some of the greatest matches of all time, Abdullah the Butcher was a regular presence in All Japan Pro Wrestling from 1972 to 2008.
More than just a special attraction, in AJPW Abby was able to beat Billy Robinson for the PWF Heavyweight Title, and won the annual Champion Carnival tournament on two occasions. He also had a couple acclaimed matches teaming with the original Sheik against Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk.
6 Rivalry With Bruiser Brody
Abdullah the Butcher had a number of bloody, memorable rivalries over the years, including with Carlos Colon in Puerto Rico. But to many old school fans, one of his greatest was with Bruiser Brody, one of the other innovators of violence of the era. One of their earliest meetings was in the 1981 AJPW Champion Carnival tournament, but Brody and Butcher most often clashed in the west, particularly in Texas for World Class Championship Wrestling and in Puerto Rico for Colon’s World Wrestling Council. While most of their matches ended in double disqualifications and other types of draws, that wasn’t the point — their aim was to deliver a wild brawl that spilled out all over the arena.
5 Wrestled At Several Starrcades
While the old school NWA style of wrestling from the 1980s was pretty violent, it may surprise modern fans to know that Abdullah the Butcher showed up in the biggest National Wrestling Alliance territory on several of its biggest shows. Abby worked for Jim Crockett Promotions — which would later become WCW — at three iterations of the legendary Starrcade event: taking on Carlos Colon in 1983, fighting Manny Fernandez in a bloody sombrero on a pole match in 1985, and competing alongside Sting in the Lethal Lottery tournament in 1991.
4 Wrestled In The Chamber Of Horrors Match
Abdullah the Butcher’s 1991 run with WCW was actually part of a feud between Cactus Jack and the aforementioned Sting. Cactus introduced the Butcher by having him surprise attack Sting while hiding in a comically large gift-wrapped box for Sting’s birthday, leading to the infamous four-on-four Chamber of Horrors match at Halloween Havoc ‘91.
Despite the wild gimmick where the winner is the one who fries his opponent in an electric chair, the bout was not well received, and ended with Cactus Jack accidentally throwing the switch on Abdullah the Butcher — his own teammate.
3 Owned His Own Restaurant
Wrestling fans familiar with Abdullah the Butcher’s macabre exploits in the squared circle may be surprised to find out that the legend ended up opening a restaurant. Before it sadly closed in 2017, Abdullah the Butcher’s House of Ribs & Chinese Food offered just that, a huge menu of ribs, chinese food, soul food, wings, and “fish stuff” to diners in the Atlanta area in a restaurant decorated with wrestling memorabilia and paintings of Abby himself. The Butcher was also a frequent presence in the restaurant, and was reportedly very friendly and personable with customers.
2 Sued Over Hepatitis C
In sharp contrast to the restaurant business, the pro wrestling business is incredibly unsanitary, with a freewheeling approach to blood and other bodily fluids. Unfortunately, Abdullah the Butcher’s bloodletting — both his and that of his opponents — had some rough consequences, as wrestler Devon Nicholson (a.k.a. Hannibal) sued the Butcher, accusing him of giving Nicholson Hepatitis C after some non-consensual blading.
The courts ruled in Nicholson’s favor, requiring Abdullah the Butcher to pay $2.3 million in damages, and the incident itself made the already-controversial legend even more controversial among some fans.
1 A Controversial Hall Of Fame Pick
The controversy over Abdullah the Butcher extended to those in the business as well. In 2011, despite never wrestling for the promotion, WWE inducted the Butcher into its Hall of Fame, which drew criticism from another Hall of Famer in former WWE Champion Superstar Billy Graham. Graham, referring to Abdullah the Butcher as “a bloodthirsty animal” and WWE as “a shameless organization,” demanded to be removed from the WWE Hall of Fame, in which Graham himself was inducted in 2004.
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