In this week’s Dark Side of the Ring, the show focuses on someone who is still alive. No tragic drug overdoses or accidents in this episode. Instead, there was blood, blood, and more blood. This week, the subject is Abdullah The Butcher.
Born Lawrence Robert Shreve, the man more commonly known as Abdullah grew up in a small home in Windsor, Ontario. One of eight kids in the two-bedroom house, he grew up in poverty and watched both of his parents work very hard to support the family. This made him dedicated to making money from a young age.
Thanks to everyone who tuned in to watch last night’s episode “Abdullah the Butcher: Legacy of Blood” 🩸
Here are some 35mm snapshots taken during the filming of the episode.
📸 stills and lighting by @dansinhifi pic.twitter.com/XJaI1zRrC2
— Dark Side of the Ring (@DarkSideOfRing) July 19, 2023
He Was a Hard Worker
Shreve himself talks about how, once he realized his mother was working hard scrubbing floors at a funeral home to earn money for the family, he stopped caring about anything other than earning money. He started by reselling candy to other kids in school, until this got him in trouble and he ended up dropping out after the second grade.
After that, he started several other ventures, including shining shoes, helping people move, reselling clothes, and much more. He was also a janitor and a karate instructor until someone told him he could make money being a wrestler. So that’s what he decided to do.
He Was Terrifying – and Loved Blood
As a wrestler, Abdullah worked with The Original Sheik and he learned to embrace the hardcore style of wrestling. He took what he learned to Carlos Colon in Puerto Rico and the two engaged in many bloody wars that fans paid a lot of money to see. Tony Atlas mentions that Colon and himself both became hugely over due to their work against Abdullah.
One ever-present theme in Abdullah the Butcher’s matches was blood. He started using a fork as his signature weapon, and he’d stab his opponents in the forehead with it to make them bleed. Abdullah was also very fond of blading. He would tape razor blades on every finger and he’d use them to blade himself and others. Mick Foley mentions that you’d never see Abdullah actually blade himself since he was so good at hiding it.
He Blurred the Lines and Fans Hated Him, Which Meant Money
As is a common theme in many of the Dark Side of the Ring episodes, it’s mentioned how Abdullah was hated by the fans who had a much stronger belief in wrestling at the time. Of course, Abdullah helped make his character extra believable, and many of the guests on the episode talked about how they were unsure of where his character ended and the real person began.
Audiences were often actually terrified of Abdullah, and this meant they would pay to see him as he was a spectacle. He was especially over in Japan where his monster heel gimmick made him incredibly popular. He would end up in commercials, television shows, and video games, and even recorded his own album in Japan.
This meant a lot of money for Abdullah and he made it so that his mother never had to work again. He also started several businesses, including two restaurants, one in Georgia and one in Japan.
His Blood Work Showed a History of Hepatitis C
It has been established that Abdullah the Butcher involved blood in his matches – a lot. This made him incredibly popular, but it also got him into trouble. A large portion of the episode focuses on a situation between Abdullah and a wrestler who competed as Hannibal (real name Devon Nicholson) – a situation that resulted in several major court cases.
In short, Hannibal was a wrestler who had faced Abdullah several times. They would also tag together. In many ways, Abdullah was sort of a mentor to Hannibal. While Abdullah never worked for WWE, Hannibal was hired by the company in 2009. However, his contract was voided after he tested positive for hepatitis C.
Hannibal didn’t know where he contracted the infectious disease, but he believed it could have come from his matches with Abdullah due to the blood involved. Tony Atlas mentions that not only would Abdullah usually blade himself and others, but he would often reuse blades and would even lend them to other wrestlers for their matches. This, of course, wasn’t exactly sanitary.
Hannibal discovered footage of a 2007 match where Abdullah used a blade on himself and then used the same blade to cut Hannibal. He used this footage to pursue legal action against Abdullah.
Abdullah claims that he wasn’t aware of the legal cases until they were over. He says that since he only had a second-grade education, he couldn’t read or write, so he didn’t understand the notices sent to him. He lost in court in Ontario and in Georgia by default. During the legal cases, he was made to take a blood test and they found a history of hepatitis C in his blood. Devon Nicholson was awarded $2.3 million in damages.
Today He’s Faced with Financial Ruin
Abdullah the Butcher today says that he has no money. His caregiver states that his house is in serious disrepair and that he can barely make ends meet. He shows up for wrestling appearances and signings to earn some money to get by. Several wrestlers on the show are shocked that he only had a second-grade education and that he claims to be unable to read or write, but his loved ones back up his claims.
As a result of his financial situation, he hasn’t paid any money to Devon Nicholson. Nicholson believes Abdullah is hiding his assets so he won’t have to pay.
Abdullah ends the episode by saying he did not do the things he was accused of doing and would like respect for being a hard worker and a successful wrestler. What do you think about Abdullah? Does he deserve this respect? What did you learn from this episode of Dark Side of the Ring? Sound off in the comments.
More From LWOS Pro Wrestling
Header photo – Vice. Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. Catch Dark Side of the Ring on VICE, with new episodes airing each Thursday at 9 PM EST.
