}

Larry Shreve (Born Lawrence Shreve on November 2, 1936 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada), best known as Abdullah the Butcher, and also at times the Madman from Sudan, was one of the most famous heels in professional wrestling history.

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 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 70's where he had matches with The 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 and soon after 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 a restaurant 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.

Wrestling facts

*Finishing and signature moves:*Sudanese Meat Cleaver (Running Elbow Drop) :*Jumping Headbutt :*Double foot stomp:*Hand thrust to the throat:*Dropkick:*Fork
*Managers:*Paul Jones :*Gary Hart :*James J. Dillon:*Jimmy Hart :*Paul E. Dangerously :*Paul Ellering :*Skandor Akbar :*Harley Race and Sheik :*Adnan El Kassey :*Jim Holliday :*Hugo Savinovich:*Eddy Creatchman:*Chicky Starr:*Rip Rogers:*Tully Blanchard:*Mike Rotunda:*Cuban Assassin:*Frenchy Martin:*Damien Kane:*Honest John

Championships and accomplishments

*National Wrestling Alliance:*1-Time NWA United States Heavyweight Champion (Detroit version):*1-Time NWA World Tag Team Champion (Detroit version) (with Killer Tim Brooks):*1-Time NWA World Tag Team Champion (Vancouver version) (with Dr. Jerry Graham)
*All Japan Pro Wrestling:*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
*Stampede Wrestling:*5-Time Stampede North American Champion
*World Class Championship Wrestling:*2-Time WCCW Texas Brass Knuckles Champion
*World Wrestling Council:*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
*Pro Wrestling Illustrated:*Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) ranked him # 54 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003.
*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

Championship succession

NWA Tag Team Championship (Detroit version)

Preceded by:
Bobo Brazil and Tony Marino

First, with Killer Tim Brooks

Succeeded by:
Bobo Brazil and Tony Marino

NWA U.S. Championship (Detroit version)

Preceded by:
Bobo Brazil

First

Succeeded by:
Bobo Brazil

Trivia

* Shreve knows judo and often displayed some of his judo knowledge in his matches. He also knows karate.
* The canadian wrestler Vampiro was once trained by Abdullah. Even though he was mostly trained in Mexico Vampiro considers Abdullah to be his original trainer.
* 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 freak people out at casinos.

External links

*Public Broadcasting Atlanta News article on Shreve (includes video)

Email this page

About Us | Advertise on This Site | User Agreement | Privacy Policy | Kids' Privacy Policy | Help
About and About.com are registered trademarks of About, Inc. The About logo is a trademark of About, Inc. All rights reserved.
This is the "GNU Free Documentation License" reference article from the English Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.

Abdullah the Butcher: Encyclopedia BETA