Abdullah the Butcher
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| Larry Shreve | |
|---|---|
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| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Abdullah the Butcher Madman from Sudan Pussycat Pickens Kuroi Jujutsushi Zelis Amara |
| Billed height | 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) |
| Billed weight | 163 kg (360 lb) |
| Born | November 2, 1936 Windsor, Ontario |
| Trained by | Gino Brito Stu Hart |
| Debut | 1958 |
Larry Shreve (Born Lawrence Shreve on November 2, 1936), best known as Abdullah the Butcher, and also at times the Madman from Sudan, is a professional wrestler.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Shreve began his wrestling career in Canada in 1958. During his career he had bloody matches with stars like Carlos Colon, Bruiser Brody and The Original Sheik. His feud with Terry Funk is still considered one of the hottest feuds in Japan. (in which Funk claims to have a personal top 3 all time greatest match with Abdullah the Butcher) Shreve is almost always paired with a manager (most notably "Playboy" Gary Hart in Texas, Georgia, and Florida, and Hugo Savinovich in Puerto Rico) and never speaks in U.S. territories. He has spoken in Japanese interviews, where promos aren't as important to get a wrestler over.
Abdullah the Butcher had spent time in All Japan Pro Wrestling during the 1970s where he had matches with Shohei "Giant" Baba and The Destroyer. His battles with The Original Sheik are regarded as some of the greatest hardcore matches in professional wrestling history.
He was introduced in World Championship Wrestling in a giant, gift-wrapped box. This giant box was to be Sting's birthday gift from Cactus Jack. Sting unwrapped his gift and it turned out to be Shreve, leading to both feuding with Sting after the incident, culminating in a "Chamber of Horrors" match at Halloween Havoc in 1991, in which Cactus accidentally "electrocuted" Abdullah in an electric chair. Afterwards, he had a brief feud with his old ally, Cactus Jack, in 1992.
Abdullah often bloodied his opponents with foreign objects that he concealed in his pants (he frequently used a fork as his trademark weapon).
Abdullah worked in nearly every major wrestling promotion in the world, except WWE, but never stayed in one place for very long. He has also taken part of Juggalo Championshit Wrestling owned by the Insane Clown Posse. Even at his age, he still makes wrestling appearances and still works matches as brutal as he did in his youth accompanied by his signature fork.
Besides wrestling, Shreve owns two restaurants in southwest Atlanta called "Abdullah the Butcher's House of Ribs & Chinese Food." Shreve is often onhand to meet fans and sign autographs, and the restaurant has become something of a local attraction. Shreve and his restaurant make a cameo appearance in the music video for the song "Damn!" by Atlanta recording artists Youngbloodz.
[edit] Wrestling facts
- Finishing and signature moves
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- Sudanese Meat Cleaver (Running elbow drop to the throat)
- Bottom turnbuckle splash
- Jumping headbutt
- Diving double foot stomp
- Throat thrust
- Dropkick- on rare occasions
- Signature illegal weapon
- Managers
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- Paul Jones
- Gary Hart
- James J. Dillon
- Jimmy Hart
- Paul E. Dangerously
- Paul Ellering
- Skandor Akbar
- Harley Race and The Sheik
- Adnan El Kassey
- Jim Holliday
- Hugo Savinovich
- Eddie Creatchman
- Chicky Starr
- Rip Rogers
- Tully Blanchard
- Mike Rotunda
- The Cuban Assassin
- Frenchy Martin
- Damien Kane
- Sir Dudley Clemens
- Honest John
[edit] Championships and accomplishments
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- NWA International Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Ray Candy
- PWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- PWF United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Champion's Carnival (1976)
- Champion's Carnival (1979)
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- BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- International Wrestling
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- IW International Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- International Wrestling Association
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- IWA International Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
- World
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (Detroit version) (1 time) - with Killer Tim Brooks
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (1 time) - with Dr. Jerry Graham
- National
- NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship (Calgary version) (1 time)
- NWA Canadian International Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Dr. Jerry Graham (1) and Armand Hussein (1)
- NWA New Zealand British Commonwealth Championship (1 time)
- NWA United National Championship (1 time)
- NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Detroit version) (1 time)
- Regional
- NWA Central States Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Roger Kirby
- NWA Columbus (Georgia) Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Georgia Television Championship (1 time)
- NWA Macon (Georgia) Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Texas Hardcore Championship (1 time)
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- NWF Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- NWF International Championship (1 time)
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- PWI ranked him # 54 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003
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- TPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Benkei
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- WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- WWC Hardcore Championship (1 time)
- WWC North American Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
- WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
- WWC World/Universal Heavyweight Championship (4 times) (First Ever)
[edit] Trivia
- Shreve knows a minimal amount of judo and karate. He often included the majority of this judo and karate knowledge in his professional wrestling matches. This knowledge was mainly displayed by him using judo "style" throws, and karate "chops".
- Canadian wrestler Vampiro considers Abdullah to be his trainer, even though he received very little training before turning pro.
- He was the last person to have a match with Bruiser Brody.
- According to Mick Foley, Shreve used to put gambling chips into the deep divots in his head to entertain (or scare) people at casinos.
- The scars in his forehead are said to have occurred during frequent blading using the bolts surrounding the ring posts
- He and Mad Man Jim Olson of Ann Arbor, Michigan were forbidden by law to face each other in Japan due to an incident where they battled outside the arena, into the street and stopped traffic.
[edit] External links
- Public Broadcasting Atlanta News article on Shreve (includes video)
- Abdullah the Butcher BIO from SLAM! Wrestling
