Abdullah the Butcher, is a Canadian retired https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_wrestler. He has a reputation for being involved in some of the most violent and bloody https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardcore_wrestling matches of all time. Over his time in wrestling he was given the moniker of "Madman from Sudan". Lawrence Robert Shreve trademarks is a series of divot-like scars on his head that he has due to excessive use of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blading_(professional_wrestling) during his career. The scars are so deep that, according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mick_Foley, Shreve is able to put gambling chips into them. An amateur martial artist, Shreve also has knowledge of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judo and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karate, often including this knowledge in his wrestling matches through throws and chops.
His mother was an African-American from Michigan, and his father was a member of the Native American https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackfoot tribe. He learned https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karate and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judo as a youth and, teaching fellow children in the backyard, claims to have eventually earned the title of seventh-degree grandmaster. Shreve caught the attention of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal promoter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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 various monikers such as Pussycat Pickens, Kuroi Jujutsushi (the Black Wizard) and Zelis Amara. Ultimately, he created his gimmick of an evil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabian https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadistic_personality_disorder, and in a match against https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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 a chair leg.
Since his gimmick required him to speak no English (though it was his native tongue), he had a number of managers over the course of his long career, including https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Hart_(wrestler), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Jones_(wrestler), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Creatchman, Black Baron, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_Roth, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._J._Dillon, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damien_Kane, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Sharpe_(wrestler), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Savinovich, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicky_Starr, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Humperdink, Buddy Colt, George Cannon, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bearcat_Wright, Big Bad John, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Montana_(filmmaker), Gentleman Jim Holiday, and Rock Hunter. All were 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 English-language promos while in Japan.
Due to his frequent traveling, Abdullah the Butcher usually served as more of a special attraction than as a consistent championship contender. Accordingly, Abdullah never did win a world heavyweight championship, though he would capture several regional titles during his career. He won his first major championship on October 23, 1967, when he teamed with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Jerry_Graham to defeat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tolos & Carlos Tolos for the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Wrestling_Alliance's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NWA_Canadian_Tag_Team_Championship_(Vancouver_version). A few years later, he ventured to the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal region, where he had three reigns as the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IWA_International_Heavyweight_Championship Champion between 1969 and 1972, feuding against https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Koloff and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Rougeau. He later served as one of the premier rule breakers in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stampede_Wrestling territory, capturing the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NWA_Canadian_Heavyweight_Championship_(Calgary_version), as well as having six North American Heavyweight Title reigns during the early 1970s. On June 24, 1972, he defeated https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_Ladd in Akron, Ohio, to capture his first of two https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NWF_Heavyweight_Championship. In 1972, he wrestled a few matches for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Wrestling_Federation. Also he worked for https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stampede_Wrestling from 1970 to 1974. During the mid-1970s, he frequently performed in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit,_Michigan's Big-Time Wrestling territory, where he engaged in a rivalry against https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Farhat. He teamed with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_Tim_Brooks to win the region's version of the NWA World Tag Team Titles before defeating Bobo Brazil on February 8, 1975, for the NWA United States Championship.
He arrived in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Class_Championship_Wrestling (WCCW) in 1986, where he defeated https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Kabuki for the Texas Brass Knuckles Title and waged war against the equally wild https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruiser_Brody. In Puerto Rico, he was declared the very first WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion in July 1982 following three reigns as the Puerto Rican champion between 1978 and 1981. He was introduced in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Championship_Wrestling in a giant, gift-wrapped box.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_the_Butcher#cite_note-mf202-8 This giant box was to be https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sting_(wrestler)'s birthday gift from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mick_Foley. Sting unwrapped his gift and Abdullah attacked him, leading to both Abdullah and Cactus feuding with Sting after the incident. The feud culminated in a "Chamber of Horrors" match at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_Havoc_(1991), in which Cactus accidentally electrocuted Abdullah in an https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_chair, leading to a brief https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feud_(professional_wrestling) between the former allies. In 1993, Abdullah arrived in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_Championship_Wrestling, where he participated in a storyline with Kevin Sullivan, Terry Funk and Stan Hansen, and wrestled at Ultra Clash and Bloodfest. In October 1999, Abdullah took part in the ill-fated https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroes_of_Wrestling pay-per-view with a match against the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Man_Gang. The match ended in a double count-out. In late 2002, Abdullah made a one-night appearance in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_of_Honor as Homicide's partner, facing the Carnage Crew in a bloody https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunkhouse_Brawl at ROH's Night of the Butcher. On December 13, 2008, Shreve wrestled against https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balls_Mahoney in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, during the annual event WWC Lockout. Shreve has been accused of infecting other wrestlers with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatitis_C through https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blading_(professional_wrestling) and/or cutting wrestlers without their knowledge.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_the_Butcher#cite_note-cbc-13 Canadian wrestler https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devon_Nicholson, who said he contracted hepatitis C when Shreve bladed him without consent, pursued legal action.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_the_Butcher#cite_note-cbc-13 On June 3, 2014, an Ontario court ruled in favor of Nicholson and ordered Shreve to pay $2.3 million in damages.