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Abdullah the Butcher: The Madman from Sudan

Posted: Nov 13th 2024 By: Robert Segedy - RingTheDamnBell.Wordpress.com

Born as Lawrence Robert Shreve on January 11, 1941, he later found fame and fortune as one of the most feared wrestlers to enter the ring. His reputation of being involved in some of the most violent and bloody hardcore wrestling matches precedes him. Tipping the scales at a reported 360 pounds, Abdullah was a monster in the ring, seemingly impervious to pain; one of his trademarks is a series of divot-like scars that riddle his forehead from excessive blading. I have witnessed shoot videos of Abdullah inserting a half dollar into his scars. Shreve is also a noted amateur martial artist and has a fairly extensive knowledge of judo and karate which he has included into his repartee of assorted throws and chops. Shreve learned karate and judo at a young age and claims to have earned the title of seventh-degree grandmaster.

Shreve’s career started in Montreal at the age of 17 in 1958. After wrestling under numerous monikers, he eventually settled on the gimmick of an evil Arabian sadist. His gimmick did not require him to speak English, so it was necessary that he have a number of managers over the years including Gary Hart, Paul Jones, The Grand Wizard, J.J. Dillion and many others. These men were portrayed as “handlers” all hired to exert control over the monster of a man. However, in Japan, he himself has spoken English while recording promos.

Due to his constant traveling schedule, Shreve was typically billed a special attraction and consequently he would never capture a World Heavyweight Championship throughout his career, however he would capture various regional titles during his stay in a territory. On October 23, 1967, he teamed with Dr. Jerry Graham, and they won the NWA’s Canadian Tag Team titles in Vancouver. Between 1969 and 1972, he had three title reigns as the IWA International Heavyweight Champion often battling foes such as Ivan Koloff and Johnny Rougeau. Later on he became one of the most feared rule breakers in Calgary’s Stampede territory; he captured the NWA Canadian Championship as well as having six North American Heavyweight title reigns during the 1970’s. Constantly on the move, Abdullah bounced around from territory to territory including a brief stint wrestling for the WWWF in 1972. He also appeared in Stampede Wrestling from 1970 to 1974. Many times, he would appear in Detroit, Michigan’s Big Time Wrestling territory where he would battle The Sheik. Abdullah partnered with Killer Tim Brooks to win the region’s version of the NWA World Tag Team titles, and he went on to defeat Bobo Brazil on February 8, 1975, for the NWA United States Championship.

Abdullah traveled extensively, often making stops in the Far East, Europe, the Caribbean, Australia and Africa. However, it was in All Japan where Abdullah’s reputation was sealed as he was part of a round-robin tournament where he was ultimately crowned as All Japan’s Inaugural PWF champion by owner Giant Baba in February 1973. On October 18,1978, Abdullah won the same PWF belt after he defeated former European AWA Champion Billy Robinson. On October 13,1980, he defeated Jumbo Tsuruta to capture the NWA United National Heavyweight Title. During this time in Japan, Abdullah had several matches with Terry Funk; consequently, Funk has claimed that he had one of his top three all time greatest matches against Abdullah.

Abdullah arrived in World Class Championship Wrestling in 1986 where he defeated The Great Kabuki for the Texas Brass Knuckles Title, and he fought Bruiser Brody numerous times. In Puerto Rico, he was declared the first WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion in July 1982.

Next Abdullah appeared in WCW in a giant gift-wrapped box as a present to Sing from Cactus Jack. Feuding with Cactus led to the dreadful “Chamber of Horrors” match at Halloween Havoc in 1991 where Cactus accidentally electrocuted Abdullah in an electric chair.

In 1993, Abdullah arrived in ECW where he participated in a storyline with Kevin Sullivan, Terry Funk, and Stan Hansen. He also wrestled at Ultra Clash and Blood Fest.

On October 20, 2018, it was announced that Abdullah would finally retire, and a ceremony was held during the Giant Baba 20th Anniversary Memorial Show on February 19, 2019, at Sumo Hall in Tokyo.

WWE Hall of Fame, Class of 2011.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame, Class of 1996.

Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (PWHF), 2019, Television Era.

Abdullah was famous for pulling a fork from his boot and consequently shredding his opponent’s forehead.

He opened up two restaurants, one in Japan, and one in Atlanta area called Abdullh the Butcher’s House of Ribs and Chinese Food.

Shreve has been accused of infecting other wrestlers with hepatitis C through sharing a blade or cutting other wrestlers without their knowledge. On June 3, 2014, an Ontario court ruled in favor of Devon Nicholson (Hannibal) and ordered Shreve to pay 2.3 million in damages.

Abdullah the Butcher drew criticism from fellow Hall of Famer Superstar Billy Graham who referred to Abby as “a blood thirsty animal” and the WWE as a “shameless organization” and he demanded that his name be removed from the WWE Hall of Fame.

One of my favorite memories of Abdullah was during his time at World Class Championship Wrestling facing Bruiser Brody. Abdullah was standing in the center of the ring and Brody had removed his boot and was using it to hammer away at Abdullah’s forehead which of course was pulsing with fresh blood. Abdullah had that infamous thousand-yard stare going and he simply unleashed a karate thrust into Brody’s throat.

Finishing Moves:

Sudanese Meat Cleaver (Running Elbow Drop)

Headbutt

Abdullah’s legacy includes that alongside The Sheik, he was responsible for inventing Hardcore Wrestling. Abdullah bled many times for the fans.