Abdullah the Butcher
| Abdullah the Butcher | |
|---|---|
Abdullah the Butcher in 2011
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| Birth name | Lawrence Robert Shreve |
| Born |
January 11, 1941 Windsor, Ontario, Canada |
| Residence | Atlanta, Georgia, United States |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) |
Abdullah the Butcher Kuroi Jujutsushi Saladin Pikens The Madman from the Sudan Zeras Amala |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) |
| Billed weight | 360 lb (163 kg) |
| Billed from | Sudan |
| Debut | 1958 |
Lawrence Robert "Larry" Shreve (born January 11, 1941), better known by the ring name Abdullah the Butcher, is a semi-retired Canadian 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.
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.
Standing 6 feet tall and weighing 360 pounds, Shreve caught the attention of Montreal promoter Jack Britton, and he soon made his professional wrestling debut at age 17 in 1958. He initially competed in numerous independent territories in Canada under such various monikers as Pussycat Pickens, Kuroi Jujutsushi (The Black Wizard) and Zelis Amara. However, he ultimately created his gimmick of an evil Arabian sadist; and in a match against Gino Brito (Jack Britton’s real-life son), the Abdullah the Butcher character first distinguished himself as one of the world’s most feared rule breakers when he broke a chair over Brito’s head and then beat him senseless with the leg.
Since his gimmick required that he speak no English (though it was in actuality his native tongue), he possessed a number of managers over the course of his long career, including Gary Hart, Paul Jones, Eddie Creatchman, Black Baron, The Grand Wizard, J.J. Dillon, Damien Kane, Larry Sharpe, Chicky Starr, Oliver Humperdink, Buddy Colt, George Cannon, Bearcat Wright, Big Bad John, Gentleman Jim Holiday, and Rock Hunter, who were all portrayed as “handlers” commissioned to control the Sudanese madman, while also doing most of the talking in promos and interviews. He has, however, spoken for himself in promos while in Japan.
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