Perhaps no one in the history of professional wrestling can lay claim to nearly single-handedly creating a fighting style in the genre the way that the legendary Abdullah the Butcher can. ”The Wildman From The Sudan” innovated hardcore, before anyone knew what hardcore was. Physical violence and brutal unpredictability were the two things that you could always count on when watching this larger than life individual perform. As a child, Abdullah was one of the few wrestlers that absolutely terrified me. He looked crazy, he acted insane, and he seemed remorseless in his intense and extraordinary approach to entertaining the masses. It wasn’t until I became older and started to appreciate the style of entrainment as storytelling, the ring psychology, and the characteristics and unique traits of each performer that kept me intrigued and engaged that I could appreciate his revolutionary style that quite literally paved the way for a whole new generation of “extreme” grapplers.
Even if you took away his infamously violent persona, Abdullah the Butcher had three key factors that would have still made him a force to be reckoned with… his utilization of martial arts in the ring, his physically dominating size advantage, and the fact that he could tell a story with his crazed eyes alone. Abdullah was mysterious and manic, had was colossal and intense, he was savage and barbaric… and in personifying these and so many more traits, he became a world famous sensation and must-see attraction who established himself as a true legend in the sports-entertainment business. Perhaps more than any other inductee this year, it’ll be a fantastic “full circle” story for me to see this incredible innovating performer honored in person, as he terrified me as a child, he entertained and intrigued me as a teenager, and earned my respect and appreciation for his contributions to this business as an adult!!
Congratulations to Abdullah the Butcher on being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, Class of 2011!!
