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If Abdullah the Butcher Has Hepatitis C, How Bad Is the Fallout?

Posted: Jan 13th 2012 By: mikeiles

It was only last year that Abdullah the Butcher was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. He was able to do it in spite of the fact that he never wrestled for the company.

The only people who can do that are those that have not only worked in the business their entire life, but have done so at the highest level. Addullah did that, wrestling for several decades and doing it while engaging in some of the most brutal matches a man can compete in.

Scripted or not the abuse he put his body through is astounding. The man is known for bleeding profusely in every bout he has ever started.

Any wrestler who does that instantly has fans' respect, from older fans, to the hardcore fans, to those that just started watching wrestling. Nothing can take that respect away from him.

Unless he willingly and knowingly endangered other wrestlers he worked with and infected them with a disease that would end their wrestling careers.

Abdullah the Butcher is being sued by a wrestler who claims that he was given Hepatitis C by the Hall of Fame wrestler a few years ago which ended his career.

The wrestler, Devon Nicholson, isn't the only one to lay these charges against Abdullah.

Famed wrestler Billy Graham has also stated that he believes Abdullah has Hepatitis C.

Now Devon Nicolson's lawyer says that Abdullah has tested positive for Hepatitis C.

If this is proven to be true, it damages Abdullah's reputation.

Hepatitis C damages the liver and is transferred through blood-to-blood contact. Many people can be treated for the disease, but it takes years to cure.

Others may not be able to be cured at all, though they are in the minority.

Still, for years, it might have meant that Abdullah was infecting the livers of healthy wrestlers and taking years off their career if not destroying them outright.

Time is precious for athletes like wrestlers who have only a set amount of time to make money and compete. Any time taken off damages their chances of success.

If Abdullah is tested positive for Hepatitis C then he ignored that and cut both himself and his opponent to have a great match while destroying their future.

That means that he continued to compete either for the money it brought him or for the fame and adulation of the crowd even when it became unsafe for any of his opponents.

If the allegations are proven true, the WWE would need to remove him from the Hall of Fame or risk getting bad press for keeping someone who willingly infected others with a dangerous disease in an elevated spot.

Judging how the WWE handles controversial figures, it will probably happen.

It would be embarrassing for Abdullah and destroy his legacy and good will in the wrestling world.

If the allegations are true, and he has infected young wrestlers, it would be a fitting punishment.