Abdullah the Butcher: Overrated or Underrated?

[It's...Baylariat!]

Abdullah the Butcher scared me as a child. He looked weird, had those horns on the front of his boots and wore his pants funny. But as I did some research on Stan Hansen, I come to find out Abby is a dangerous individual. Using a fork to blade his opponents and having a divot in his head the size of a quarter due to scar tissue is something that makes his legend what it is.

But Abby is also one of the longest running wrestlers in history. At 73 years old, he was STILL going. Touring and stuff. That's just wild to think about. But the bottom line is, as long of a career as he had, he was more of a circus act than a wrestler to most people. I personally think he's underrated for his longevity and his ability to tell a story and play a character real well.

So.. is Abby underrated or overrated?

 

[absent]

I'd say underrated. Yes, he was never a technical wrestler, but he was one of those guys that could truly make you believe he was an unpredictable dangerous psycho. One of the scariest men in the ring, yet when you see him interviewed out of character he seems to be a really nice warm bloke. And to pull that off for so long is a real talent.

In his heyday if I met "Abdullah the Butcher" I'd probably shit my pants, if I met "Lawrence Robert Shreve" he seems like the sort of bloke that would be fun to have a pint with. That's the real "pro" in "pro-wrestling".

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I'd probably have to say he's underrated. When Larry Shreve started doing the Abdullah character in the 60s, NOBODY had seen anything like it. A wild, uniquely unpredictable character that literally scared people. When someone mentions hardcore wrestling, Abdullah the Butcher is one of the first names that immediately just jumps into my head.

He also incorporated some of his martial arts knowledge into his character, which was something else that a lot of the American audience wasn't really familiar with and hadn't been exposed to. Abdullah was a character that was tailor made for the territory system. The guy was a something of a sadistic sideshow freak that would come to a territory, stay a month or so and then move on. Just like Andre the Giant, Abdullah never really seemed to get old because he'd only spend a short amount of time in any given territory during the year and by the time he came back to a certain area, the crowds lined up and were excited to see what he'd do next.

Abdullah was never very athletic and wasn't a great technical wrestler, but the gimmick of Abdullah the Butcher was extremely unique and still stands out today. An Abdullah-esque character in the WWE or TNA wouldn't really work today as the novelty wears off too quickly and there's simply not many places left to go.

I don't really think he gets the credit that he deserves for his innovative character. I mean, if you're someone that wanted to see some blood, you always got your money's worth when Abdullah the Butcher was in town.

 

[NSL]

As a fan of hardcore wrestling, I have to say...He's over-rated. I can't stand watching him in the ring, and even his hardcore stuff was perfected after he did it by so many other guys. He was an innovator, and I give him credit for that, but there's nothing he did, that hasn't been done 10x better since then.

 

[BladeRunner]

He got really big in Japan, maybe even the most big there, so I don't think that many Americans appreciate really what he's done for hardcore and wrestling in general. He's definitely apart of the beginning of hardcore, and that means a lot. A fork was his main weapon. The better to eat you with I would assume. He was a scary dude, I can't say he's under rated, because a lot of people appreciate what he's done, nor can I say he's over rated.

Also, he's got a restaurant thats serves really good barbeque and chinese food here in Atlanta

 

[absent]

A fork was his main weapon.

And that in itself is a very clever gimmick for the character. Cannibalism is one of the basic deep-rooted psychological ways to display total domination of an enemy.

edit for the reason of a spam warning: And such a clever psychological choice for a foreign object is another reason why I think he's underrated.