Abdullah The Butcher

At 83 years old, Abdullah The Butcher has this physical status:

Lawrence Robert Shreve (born January 11, 1941), better known by the ring name Abdullah the Butcher, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler.

He has a reputation for being involved in some of the most violent and bloody hardcore wrestling matches of all time. One of Shreve's trademarks is a series of divot-like scars on his head that he has due to excessive use of blading during his career.

The scars are so deep that, according to Mick Foley, Shreve is able to put gambling chips into them.

An amateur martial artist, Shreve also has knowledge of judo and karate, often including this knowledge in his wrestling matches.

This knowledge was mainly displayed by him using judo throws and karate chops.

Early life

Shreve was born on January 11, 1941 and raised in Windsor, Ontario, as part of a family of ten people in a deeply impoverished household. He learned karate and judo as a youth and, teaching fellow children in the backyard, claims to have eventually earned the title of seventh-degree grandmaster.

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Professional wrestling career

Shreve attracted the attention of Montreal promoter Jack Britton, who made his professional wrestling debut at the age of 17 in 1958. He appeared in numerous independent territories in Canada under such monikers as Pussycat Pickens, Kuroi Jujutsushi (the Black Wizard), and Zelis Amara. However, he created his gimmick of an evil Arabian sadist, and in a match against Gino Britton's real-life son, the Abdullah the Butcher character first established himself as one of the world's most feared rule breakers when he sacked a chair over Brito's head and then beat him senseless with the leg.

Since his gimmick told him no English (although it was in fact his native tongue), he possessed a slew of managers over his long career, including Gary Hart, Paul Jones, Eddie Creatchman, Black Baron, J. J. Dillon, Damien Kane, John Savinovich, Hugo Savinovich, BIG Bad John, Brown Babson, Jerry Smith, Jim Morris, J. J. Dillon, Manuel Manuel, Mohammed Cannon, When in Japan, he has nevertheless appeared in English-language advertisements.

Abdullah the Butcher was more of a tourist attraction than a consistent champion in a marathon, due to his frequent travel. Abdullah never did win a world heavyweight championship, though he did win several regional titles during his career. On October 23, 1967, he captured his first major championship, alongside Dr. Jerry Graham to defeat John & Carlos Tolos of the NWA in Vancouver. A few years later, he returned to Montreal, where he spent three years as the IWA World Heavyweight Champion between 1969 and 1972, feuding against Ivan Koloff and Johnny Rougeau. He later served as one of Calgary's top reign breakers, winning the NWA Canadian Championship and six North American Heavyweight Championship titles since the 1970s. He defeated Ernie Laddd in Akron, Ohio, on June 24, 1972, defeating him for his first of two NWF Heavyweight Championships. He participated in a few matches for the World Wide Wrestling Federation in 1972. He also worked with Stampede Wrestling from 1970 to 1974. He appeared in Detroit, Michigan's Big-Time Wrestling zone, where he participated in a feud against The Sheik during the mid-1970s. He teamed with Killer Tim Brooks to win the region's NEC World Tag Team Championships before defeating Bobo Brazil in 1975 for the NWA World Tag Team Championships.

Abdullah the Butcher has also appeared in the Far East, Europe, the Caribbean, Australia, and Africa, in addition to his North America success. He travelled all the way to New Zealand on March 12, 1974, defeating country's champion John DaSilva. Abdullah has also established himself as one of Japan's top attractions, where he ultimately crowned Giant Baba as the All-Japan's inaugural PWF Heavyweight Champion in February 1973. Abdullah was crowned European former AWA champion Billy Robinson on October 18, 1978, and then defeated Jumbo Tsuruta to win the NWA National Heavyweight Championship. Funk also feuded with Terry Funk in Japan, and Funk claims to have been in one of his top three all-time best matches with Abdullah the Butcher.

He joined World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) in 1986, where he defeated The Great Kabuki for the Texas Brass Knuckles Title and waged war against the equally wild Bruiser Brody. He was named the very first WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion in Puerto Rico in July 1982, after three reigns as the Puerto Rican champion from 1978 to 1981. In a huge, gift-wrapped box, he was introduced in World Championship Wrestling. This massive box was supposed to be Cactus Jack's birthday gift to Sting. Sting unwrapped his gift and Abdullah assaulted him, resulting in the clash between Abdullah and Sting. The feud came to an end in a "Chamber of Horrors" match at Halloween Havoc 1991, in which Cactus mistakenly electrocuted Abdullah in an electric chair, resulting in a brief feud between the two allies. Abdullah was born in 1993, where he appeared in ECW, Terry Funk and Stan Hansen, and wrestled at Ultra Clash and Bloodfest. Abdullah was a participant of the ill-fated Heroes of Wrestling pay-per-view match against the One Man Gang in October 1999. The game came to a close with a double count out. Abdullah made a one-night appearance in Ring of Honor as Homicide's accomplice, facing the Carnage Crew in a bloody Bunkhouse Brawl at ROH's Night of the Butcher in late 2002. Shreve took on Balls Mahoney in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, on December 13, 2008, during the annual event WWC Lockout.

He wrestled in Dragon Gate and Hustle in July 2009. On January 4, 2010, he appeared at the New Japan Pro-Wrestling supershow Wrestle Kingdom IV in Tokyo Dome, as well as wrestling for Japanese independent promotion Osaka Pro Wrestling. Abdullah appeared at the Decatur Book Festival in 2009, battling author Michael Muhammad Knight. Not even stepping into the ring, Abdullah pounded Knight with chairs, forks, and a water cooler. In an ambulance, the knight was removed from the festival and received 46 stitches. It was right after wrestling, hosted by Arda Ocal and Jimmy Korderas in March 2011, Abdullah confessed that his favorite wrestler to face was actually Lou Thesz. At GCW Southern Legends Fan Fest, his last match was on October 9, 2010. Abdullah has returned to Georgia Championship Wrestling as a mentor and advisor to a local wrestler known as The Congo Warrior. Abdullah will celebrate his retirement at the Giant Baba 20th Anniversary Memorial Exhibition in Tokyo on October 20, 2018.

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