Foreign Object Friday: Abdullah the Butcher's fork

Abdullah the Butcher & his fork

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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One of the most sadistic men to step into the squared circle is Abdullah the Butcher. The more than 400-pound Sudanese mad man made a career out of slicing and dicing his opponents. His usual weapon of choice was something we all use every day: a fork.

With a name like "the Butcher", you would expect a violent temperant. Abdullah provided that for decades as he carved up the foreheads of opponents like Bruiser Brody, Dusty Rhodes and Carlos Colon. Gallons of blood spilled in countless rings, not just from Butcher's opponents, but from his own head. It always looked so painful and the scars that were left behind remain. Of course, barbed wire, chairs and other weapons played a role in these infamous feuds for the Butcher.

Hogan gets forked

Until I started doing some background searching for this blog, I didn't know Hulk Hogan was also "forked" by Abdullah the Butcher. The two battled it out in Japan in 1982 and as you can see, The Hulkster (before he was the Hulkster) bled like a stuck pig that night. And one of the few men bigger than Abdullah, Andre the Giant also got a taste of the fork as well.

My fork tie at Hall of Fame 2011

In 2011 I paid homage to Abdullah with my wardrobe choices that night. I secured a fork to my tie for the WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony. Fellow Hall of Famer Terry Funk inducted Abdullah that night and I believe it was the first time I'd heard the Butcher speak at a wrestling related event. He always had such a mystique about him, but he's really a gentle giant, or so it seems.

Abdullah the Butcher will be a guest this weekend at the SICW show in East Carondelet, Illinois. That night features the Bruiser Brody Memorial Battle Royal. 

Rumble Rambings: 1993

Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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I'm hoping (but not committing) to watch several Royal Rumbles leading up to the 2016 event and just posting random thoughts of the match.  I'm not doing these in any order.  Today I'm starting with 1993.  I decided to watch it because I hadn't seen it since it first aired 23 years ago.  This was also the first time the stipulation included a championship match at Wrestlemania for the winner.

I miss these two...
Courtesy: WWE

• I miss Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon as a team.  It's nice watching a show and the entire time the commentary team is focused on the action at hand.  No Network shills.  No "Royal Rumble is trending on Twitter!" comments.  The back and forth between these two was always magical.  Heenan's quick wit has never been matched, ever.  And Monsoon's responses were always great.  "Will you stop?!?"

Flair, Backlund and DiBiase
Courtesy: WWE

• Ric Flair was days away from leaving WWF and started the Rumble as number one.  The second entrant was another former champion: Bob Backlund.  Keep in mind Flair is about six months older than Backlund, but Heenan and Monsoon focused on Backlund's age and his comeback.  They weren't the only two to do that during Backlund's return.  I just found it funny how Backlund was a hero for being so "old" and returning, while Flair had just finished a run as champ.

Carlos Colon
Courtesy: WWE

• Speaking of age, when Carlos Colon hit the ring, Gorilla referred to the Caribbean champion as a "youngster."  He was older than Backlund and Flair and had been wrestling nearly 30 years by the time the '93 Rumble rolled around.  This was his first appearance on WWF TV I believe, so maybe he was a youngster to the company???

Introducing Giant Gonzalez
Courtesy: WWE

• I hate when a guy gets eliminated by someone who has already been tossed from the match.  In this particular event it was Mr. Perfect.  He got taken out by Jerry "The King" Lawler who had been dumped to the floor moments earlier.  But the biggest miscarriage of justice (a Gorilliaism) was when the Giant Gonzalez appeared out of no where and took out the Undertaker.  Gonzalez wasn't even in the match and was making his debut that night.  How does that work?  

• Typhoon and Earthquake collectively were known as the Natural Disasters.  The two had a run as tag team champions.  But for some reason when Earthquake entered the match he immediately went after his partner and eliminated him.  I'm certain nothing ever developed from this.  Just a weird moment in the Rumble I guess.

The final two
Courtesy: WWE

• How did "Macho Man" Randy Savage go from the second to the last man in the ring to working on the announce team at Wrestlemania IX?  Considering Savage's pedigree I still don't know what happened there (keep in mind he wrestled a year later at Wrestlemania X).  And while I'm on it, why was the 1989 winner, Big John Studd merely a guest referee at Wrestlemania V?
  

It's fun looking back on these now "classic" Rumble matches.  Until next time...

Caribbean King

Carlos Colon

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

WWE announced on Friday Night SmackDown! that legendary Puerto Rican star Carlos Colon is joining the Ultimate Warrior, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Lita, and Paul Bearer in the Hall of Fame Class of 2014.  Colon is a deserving inductee, who is still considered a wrestling god on his native island.

Brody gnaws away

Growing up in the midwest, we didn't get Colon's World Wrestling Council program.  But I remember reading about him in all the wrestling magazines I could get my hands on.  There would be full color spreads of him battling Abdullah the Butcher, Bruiser Brody, and Ric Flair.  Each time, Carlos was bleeding like a stuck pig.  One magazine photo still burned in my brain featured Colon vs. Abdullah with barbed wire ropes.  I can't find it online and my magazine collection is way to large to go through and find today.  The guy was tough as a two dollar steak (thanks JR) and had dozens of scars to prove it.  By the looks of his forehead his scars even have scars.

Action figures

In the mid 80s, the AWA came up with a line of action figures to compete with the WWF's line of LJN figures.  Their guys were smaller, but poseable.  They reminded me of the Masters of the Universe toys, only smaller.  The company behind the wrestlers released a two pack of Abdullah and Carlos.  I remember using a tube of fake blood to smear across both their heads when they'd wrestle.  The cloth ring cover was soaked in that blood as it looked like real wars happened there.

1993 Royal Rumble
Photo courtesy: WWE

I remember him doing some work in the AWA, at least I think it was.  Then there was also the 1993 Royal Rumble. I believe that was the one and only time Carlos wrestled for the WWF/E.  He was one of the surprise entrants (at least I think he was unannounced).  It was nice to see someone I had read so much about and only actually wrestle a few times, appear on the big stage of the WWF.  

Now of course, Carlos' two sons Carlito and Primo are household names in the wrestling world, having held the WWE tag team titles.  Rumor has it Carlito will be one of the inductors for his father next month in New Orleans. It'll be good to see him again and hear more about the legendary career of Carlos Colon.