Abdullah the Butcher

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Larry Shreve
Statistics
Ring name(s) Abdullah the Butcher
Madman from Sudan
Pussycat Pickens
Black Wizard
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.

Abdullah The Butcher was introduced in World Championship Wrestling when he was in a giant box with gift wrapping. This giant box full of wrapping was to be Sting's birthday gift from Cactus Jack. Sting unwrapped his gift and it turned out to be Abdullah the Butcher as both feuded 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 WCW 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
  • Signature illegal weapon
  • Managers

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

  • 1-Time AJPW United National Champion
  • 1-Time AJPW International Tag Team Champion (with Ray Candy)
  • 1-Time PWF Heavyweight Champion
  • 1-Time PWF United States Champion
  • 5-Time Stampede North American Champion
  • 4-Time WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion
  • 3-Time WWC Puerto Rican Champion
  • 3-Time WWC North American Champion
  • 2-Time WWC Caribbean Champion
  • 1-Time WWC Hardcore Champion
  • Other Titles
  • 2-Time Canadian Tag Team Champion (with Dr. Jerry Graham and Armand Hussein)
  • 1-Time NWF International Champion
  • 2-Time NWF Heavyweight Champion
  • 1-Time New Zealand British Commonwealth Champion
  • 1-Time Georgia Heavyweight Champion
  • 1-Time Georgia Television Champion
  • 1-Time IWA Heavyweight Champion
  • 1-Time NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship
  • 1-Time Canadian International Heavyweight Champion
  • 2-Time WWA Tag Team Champion (with Ali Hassan and Jerry Valiant)
  • 2-Time Central States Tag Team Champion (with Roger Kirby)
  • 1-Time Tokyo Pro Wrestling Tag Team Champion (with Benkei)
  • 1-Time Big Japan Wrestling Death Match Champion

[edit] Wrestling Observer Newsletter

[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 Harley Race 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

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