Butcher

A butcher's, Tacuinum sanitatis casanatensis (XIV (14th) century)
Occupation
Activity sectors	Manufacturing
Description

A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or do any combination of these three tasks.^[1] They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish, and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments. A butcher may be employed by supermarkets, grocery stores, butcher shops and fish markets or may be self-employed.^[2]

An ancient trade, whose duties may date back to the domestication of livestock, butchers formed guilds in England as far back as 1272.^[3] Today, many jurisdictions offer trade certifications for butchers. Some areas expect a three-year apprenticeship followed by the option of becoming a master butcher.^[4][5]

Duties[link]

Primary butchery in a meat packing plant, 1873

Butchery is a traditional work. In the industrialized world, slaughterhouses use butchers (slaughtermen, in British English) to slaughter the animals, performing one or a few of the steps repeatedly as specialists on a semiautomated disassembly line. The steps include stunning (rendering the animal incapacitated), exsanguination (severing the carotid or brachial arteries to facilitate blood removal), skinning (removing the hide or pelt) or scalding and dehairing (pork), evisceration (removing the viscera) and splitting (dividing the carcass in half longitudinally).

After the carcasses are chilled (unless "hot-boned"), primary butchery consists of selecting carcasses, sides, or quarters from which primal cuts can be produced with the minimum of wastage, separate the primal cuts from the carcasses using the appropriate tools and equipment following company procedures, trim primal cuts and prepare for secondary butchery or sale, and store cut meats. Secondary butchery involves boning and trimming primal cuts in preparation for sale. Historically, primary and secondary butchery were performed in the same establishment, but the advent of methods of preservation and low cost transportation has largely separated them.

In the rest of the world, it is common for butchers to perform many or all of the butcher's duties. Where refrigeration is less common, these skills are required to sell the meat of slaughtered animals.

Butcher shop[link]

Two butchers at work.

Some butchers sell their goods in specialized stores, commonly termed a butcher shop (American English) or butcher's shop (British English). Butchers at a butcher shop may perform primary butchery, but will typically perform secondary butchery to prepare fresh cuts of meat for sale. These shops may also sell related products, such as food preparation supplies, baked goods and grocery items. Butcher shops can have a wider variety of animal types, meat cuts and quality of cuts. Additionally, butcher shops may focus on a particular culture, or nationality, of meat production. Some butcher shops, termed "meat delis", may also include a delicatessen.^[6]

In the United States, butcher shops are becoming less common because of the increasing popularity of supermarkets. Supermarkets employ butchers for secondary butchery, but in the United States even that role is diminished with the advent of "case-ready" meat, where the product is packaged for retail sale at the packinghouse or specialized central processing plants.

Primal cut[link]

See also, Cut of beef

See also, Cut of lamb

See also, Cut of pork

A primal cut is a piece of meat initially separated from the carcass during butchering. Different countries and cultures make these cuts in different ways, and primal cuts also differ between type of carcass. The British, American and French primal cuts all differ in some respects. A notable example is fatback, which in Europe is an important primal cut of pork, but in North America is regarded as trimmings to be used in sausage or rendered into lard. The primal cuts may be sold complete or cut further.

Metaphorical use[link]

See also Butcher (disambiguation)

In various periods and cultures, the term "butcher" has been applied to people who act cruelly to other human beings or slaughter them. For example, Pompey, a prominent Roman general and politician of the first century BC, got the Latin nickname adulescentulus carnifex, translated as "The Teenage Butcher" or "The Butcher Boy", due to brutal treatment of political opponents in the early part of his career.

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Butchers

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Butchers

Look up butcher in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Beef ring
• Charcuterie
• Meat cutter
• Sausage making
• Slaughterhouse

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Pat Whelan, 2010, 'An Irish Butcher Shop, Collins Press
• Slovak Pig Slaughter, Butchering, and Traditional Sausage Making - article in English with detailed pictures of Slovak family following traditional procedures
• Butcher / Meat Cutter Career Guide

v t e Meat Poultry and game Chicken Duck Turkey Goose Pheasant Grouse Ostrich Quail Partridge Rabbit Venison Livestock Beef and Veal Bison Dog Goat Guinea pig Horse Kangaroo Lamb and mutton Llama Pork Yak Fish and seafood Crab Crayfish Lobster Prawn Shrimp Anchovy Basa Bass Catfish Carp Cod Crappie Dolphin Eel Flounder Grouper Haddock Halibut Herring Kingfish Mackerel Mahi Mahi Marlin Milkfish Orange roughy Perch Pike Pollock Salmon Sardine Sole Swordfish Tilapia Trout Tuna Walleye Whale Cuts and preparation Bacon Barbecued Braised Burgers Chop Corned Cured Fondue Fried Haggis Ham Aged Marinated Offal Pepperoni Pickled Poached Roasted Salami Sausage Salt-cured Smoked Steak Stewed Tartare Tenderized Other Butchery Ethics Preservation Slaughter Red meat White meat

Daniel Day-Lewis
Day-Lewis in New York, 2007
Born	Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (1957-04-29) 29 April 1957 (age 55) London, England, UK
Citizenship	British, Irish
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1970–present
Spouse	Rebecca Miller (1996–present)

Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (born 29 April 1957) is an English actor with both British and Irish citizenship.^[1] His portrayals of Christy Brown in My Left Foot (1989) and Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood (2007) won Academy and BAFTA Awards for Best Actor, and Screen Actors' Guild as well as Golden Globe Awards for the latter. His role as Bill "The Butcher" Cutting in Gangs of New York (2002) earned him the BAFTA Award and a Screen Actors' Guild Award.

Day-Lewis, who grew up in London, is the son of actress Jill Balcon and the Anglo-Irish Poet Laureate, Cecil Day-Lewis. Despite his training in the classical presentational acting style at the Bristol Old Vic, he is a method actor, known for his constant devotion to and research of his roles.^[2] Often, he will remain completely in character for the duration of the shooting schedule of his films, even to the point of adversely affecting his health.^[3] He is known as one of the most selective actors in the film industry, having starred in only five films since 1997,^[3] with as many as five years between roles.^[2]

Early life[link]

Day-Lewis was born in London, the son of poet Cecil Day-Lewis and actress Jill Balcon. His father, who was of Anglo-Irish background, lived mainly in England from the age of two and later became the United Kingdom's Poet Laureate. His mother was Jewish, and his maternal grandparents' families had emigrated to Britain from Latvia and Poland.^[4][5] His maternal grandfather, Sir Michael Balcon, was the head of Ealing Studios.^[6] Two years after his birth, the family moved to Croom's Hill, Greenwich, where Day-Lewis grew up along with his older sister, Tamasin Day-Lewis, who became a documentary filmmaker and television chef.^[7]

Living in middle class Greenwich, Day-Lewis found himself among tough South London kids, and, being of part Jewish ancestry and posh, he was often bullied.^[8] He mastered the local accent and mannerisms and credits that with being his first convincing performances.^[8][9] Later in life, he was known to speak of himself as very much a disorderly character in his younger years, often in trouble for shoplifting and other petty crimes.^[9][10]

In 1968, Day-Lewis's parents, finding his behaviour to be too wild, sent him to the independent Sevenoaks School in Kent, as a boarder.^[10] Though he detested the school, he was introduced to his three most prominent interests, woodworking, acting and fishing. His disdain for the school grew, and after two years at Sevenoaks, he was transferred to another independent school, Bedales in Petersfield, Hampshire, which his sister attended, and which had a more relaxed and creative ethos.^[10] The transfer led to his film debut at the age of 14 in Sunday Bloody Sunday in which he played a vandal in an uncredited role. He described the experience as "heaven", for getting paid £2 to vandalise expensive cars parked outside his local church.^[7]

Leaving Bedales in 1975, his unruly attitude had faded and he needed to make a career choice. Although he had excelled on stage at the National Youth Theatre, he decided to become a cabinet-maker, applying for a five-year apprenticeship. However, due to lack of experience, he was not accepted.^[10] He then applied (and was accepted) at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which he attended for three years, eventually performing at the Bristol Old Vic itself.^[10] At one point he played understudy to Pete Postlethwaite, opposite whom he would later play in In the Name of the Father.^[11]

Career[link]

1980s[link]

During the early '80s, Day-Lewis worked in theatre and television including Frost in May (where he played an impotent man-child) and How Many Miles to Babylon? as a World War I^[12] officer torn between allegiances to Britain and Ireland) for the BBC. Eleven years after his film debut, Day-Lewis continued his film career with a small part in Gandhi (1982) as Colin, a street thug who bullies the title character, only to be immediately chastised by his high-strung mother. In late 1982 he had his big theatre break when he took over the lead in Another Country. The following year, he had a supporting role as the conflicted, but ultimately loyal first mate in The Bounty, after which he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, playing Romeo in Romeo and Juliet and Flute in A Midsummer Night's Dream.^[10]

Next he played a gay man in an interracial relationship in the film My Beautiful Laundrette. Day-Lewis gained further public notice with A Room with a View (1986), in which he portrayed an entirely different character: Cecil Vyse, the proper upper class fiancé of the main character (played by Helena Bonham Carter).^[13]

In 1987, Day-Lewis assumed leading-man status by starring in Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being, co-starring Lena Olin and Juliette Binoche, as a Czech surgeon whose hyperactive and purely physical sex life is thrown into disarray when he allows himself to become emotionally involved with a woman. During the eight-month shoot he learned Czech and first began to refuse to break character on or off the set for the entire shooting schedule.^[10]

Day-Lewis threw his personal version of "method acting" into full throttle in 1989 with his performance as Christy Brown in Jim Sheridan's My Left Foot which garnered him numerous awards, including the Academy Award for Best Actor. Daniel prepared for his role by frequent visits to Sandymount School Clinic in Dublin, where he formed friendships with several people with disabilities, some of whom had no speech.^[14] During filming, his eccentricities came to the fore, due to his refusal to break character.^[10] Playing a severely paralysed character on screen, off screen Day-Lewis had to be moved around the set in his wheelchair, and crew members would curse at having to lift him over camera and lighting wires, all so that he might gain insight into all aspects of Brown's life, including the embarrassments.^[9] He broke two ribs during filming from assuming a hunched-over position in his wheelchair for so many weeks.^[15]

Day-Lewis returned to the stage in 1989 to work with Richard Eyre, in Hamlet at the National Theatre, but collapsed in the middle of a scene where the ghost of Hamlet's father first appears to his son.^[10] He began sobbing uncontrollably and refused to go back on stage;^[16] he was replaced by Ian Charleson before a then-unknown Jeremy Northam finished what little was left of the production's run. Although the incident was officially attributed to exhaustion, one rumour following the incident was that Day-Lewis had seen the ghost of his own father.^[10][17] He confirmed on the British celebrity chat show Parkinson, that this was true.^[18] He has not appeared on stage since.^[18]

1990s[link]

In 1992, three years after his Oscar win, The Last of the Mohicans was released. Day-Lewis's character research for this film was well-publicized; he reportedly underwent rigorous weight training and learned to live off the land and forest where his character lived, camping, hunting and fishing.^[10] He even carried a long rifle at all times during filming in order to remain in character and learned how to skin animals.^[10][19]

He returned to work with Jim Sheridan on In the Name of the Father, in which he played Gerry Conlon, one of the Guildford Four who were wrongfully convicted of a bombing carried out by the Provisional IRA. He lost a substantial amount of weight for the part, kept his Northern Irish accent on and off the set for the entire shooting schedule, and spent stretches of time in a prison cell.^[19] He also insisted that crew members throw cold water at him and verbally abuse him.^[19] The film earned him his second Academy Award nomination, his third BAFTA nomination, and his second Golden Globe nomination.

Day-Lewis returned in 1993, playing Newland Archer in Martin Scorsese's adaptation of the Edith Wharton novel The Age of Innocence, opposite Winona Ryder and Michelle Pfeiffer. To prepare for the film, set in America's Gilded Age, he wore 1870s-period aristocratic clothing around New York City for two months, including top hat, cane and cape in cold weather.^[20]

In 1996, Day-Lewis starred in a film version of The Crucible, the play by Arthur Miller, again opposite Winona Ryder. Daniel met his wife, Rebecca Miller, while filming "The Crucible".^[21] He followed that with Jim Sheridan's The Boxer as a former boxer and IRA member recently released from prison. His preparation included training with former boxing world champion Barry McGuigan.^[22]

Following The Boxer, Day-Lewis took a leave of absence from acting by going into "semi-retirement" and returning to his old passion of woodworking.^[22] He moved to Florence, Italy, where he became intrigued by the craft of shoemaking, eventually apprenticing as a shoemaker.^[10] For a time his exact whereabouts and actions were not made publicly known.^[23] Day-Lewis has declined to discuss this period of his life, stating that "it was a period of my life that I had a right to without any intervention of that kind."^[1]

2000s[link]

After a five-year absence from filming, Day-Lewis returned to act in multiple Academy Award-nominated films such as Gangs of New York, a film directed by Martin Scorsese (with whom he had worked on The Age of Innocence) and produced by Harvey Weinstein. In his role as the villain gang leader "Bill the Butcher", he starred along with Leonardo DiCaprio, who played Bill's young protegé. He began his lengthy, self-disciplined process by taking lessons as an apprentice butcher, and while filming, he was never out of character between takes (including keeping his character's New York accent).^[10] At one point during filming, having been diagnosed with pneumonia, he refused to wear a warmer coat or to take treatment because it was not in keeping with the period; however, he was eventually persuaded to seek medical treatment.^[24] His performance in Gangs of New York earned him his third Academy Award nomination and won him the BAFTA Award for Best Actor.

After Gangs of New York, Day-Lewis's wife, director Rebecca Miller (daughter of playwright Arthur Miller), offered him the lead role in her film The Ballad of Jack and Rose, in which he played a dying man with regrets over how his life had evolved and over how he had brought up his teenage daughter. During filming he arranged to live separately from his wife in order to achieve the "isolation" needed to focus on his own character's reality.^[7] The film received mixed reviews.^[25]

In 2007, Day-Lewis appeared in director Paul Thomas Anderson's loose adaptation of the Upton Sinclair novel Oil!, titled There Will Be Blood.^[26] Day-Lewis received the Academy Award for Best Actor, BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role - Motion Picture (which he dedicated to Heath Ledger, saying that he was inspired by Ledger's acting and calling the actor's performance in Brokeback Mountain "unique, perfect"),^[27][28] and a variety of film critics' circle awards for the role. In winning the Best Actor Oscar, Day-Lewis joined Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson as the only Best Actor winners awarded an Oscar in two non-consecutive decades.

In 2009, Day-Lewis starred in Rob Marshall's musical adaptation Nine as film director Guido Contini.^[29] Day-Lewis was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his role, as well as sharing nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast and the Satellite Award for Best Cast – Motion Picture with the rest of the cast members.

2010s[link]

In November 2010, it was announced that Day-Lewis was cast to play Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's upcoming biographical film Lincoln.^[30] Based on the book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, the film began shooting in Richmond, Virginia in October 2011,^[31] and is scheduled for release in late 2012.

Personal life[link]

Day-Lewis rarely talks publicly about his personal life. He had a relationship with French actress Isabelle Adjani, which lasted six years and eventually ended after a split and reconciliation.^[10][16] Their son Gabriel Day-Lewis was born in 1995 in New York, several months after the relationship between the two actors had ended. Gabriel now lives with him in New York, attending Elisabeth Irwin High School.^[16]

In 1996, while working on the film version of the stage-play The Crucible, he visited the home of playwright Arthur Miller where he was introduced to the writer's daughter, Rebecca Miller. They married later that year. The couple have two sons, Ronan Cal Day-Lewis (born 14 June 1998) and Cashel Blake Day-Lewis (born in May 2002) and divide their time between their homes in the U.S. and Ireland.^[7] Day-Lewis currently holds dual British and Irish citizenship;^[32][33] he became an Irish citizen in 1993.^[34] He is a supporter of Millwall Football Club.^[35] On 15 July 2010, he received an honorary doctorate in letters from the University of Bristol, in part because of his attendance at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in his youth.^[36] Day-Lewis is an agnostic.^[37]

Filmography[link]

See also[link]

• List of people on stamps of Ireland

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Daniel Day-Lewis

• Daniel Day-Lewis at the Internet Movie Database
• Extensive Biography at Tiscali UK
• Peter Stanford, The enigma of Day-Lewis, The Observer, 13 January 2008

This article has been nominated to be checked for its neutrality. Discussion of this nomination can be found on the talk page. (February 2012)

Abdullah the Butcher
Shreve devastating Andy Ellison in 2004.
Ring name(s)	Abdullah the Butcher Madman from the Sudan[1] Saladin Pikens[1] Zeras Amala[1] Kuroi Jujutsushi[1]
Billed height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1]
Billed weight	360 lb (160 kg)[1]
Born	(1941-01-11) January 11, 1941 (age 71)[1] Windsor, Ontario[1]
Resides	Atlanta, Georgia
Billed from	The Sudan[1]
Debut	1958[1]

Lawrence Robert "Larry" Shreve^[1] (born on January 11, 1941^[1]) best known as Abdullah the Butcher, and also at times The Madman from the Sudan, is a semi-retired Canadian professional wrestler known as one of the most brutal or "hardcore" professional wrestlers of all-time.

The scars on his forehead are the result of frequent blading. According to Mick Foley, Shreve used to put gambling chips into the deep divots in his head to entertain (or scare) people at casinos. However, New Jack claimed in his RF Video shoot interview that the grooves in Shreve's head were surgically implemented.^[2]

An amateur martial artist, Shreve also has knowledge of judo and karate, often including this knowledge in his professional wrestling matches. This knowledge was mainly displayed by him using judo style throws, and karate chops.

Career[link]

Shreve grew up in Windsor, Ontario, Canada as part of a family of ten people in a deeply impoverished household.^[3] He learned karate and judo as a youth and, teaching fellow children in the backyard, claims to have eventually earned the title of seventh-degree grandmaster.^[3]

Standing 6 feet tall and weighing a robust 260 pounds, Shreve caught the attention of Montreal promoter Jack Britton,^[3] and he soon made his professional wrestling debut at age 17 in 1958. He initially competed in numerous independent territories north of the border under such various monikers as Pussycat Pickens, Kuroi Jujutsushi (The Black Wizard) and Zelis Amara. However, he ultimately created his legendary gimmick of an evil Arabian sadist; and in a match against Gino Brito^[3] (Jack Britton’s real-life son), Abdullah the Butcher 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 the leg.

Such acts of violence were only the beginning for the terrifying Abdullah the Butcher, whose menacing figure, excessive violence, and complete disregard for the safety of himself or his opponents quickly established his reputation for ruthless brutality. Abdullah’s matches almost always turned into bloodbaths, and he was infamous for stabbing his opponent’s wounds with his trademark fork (or any other foreign weapon that he could get his hands on). In addition to his hardcore style, Abdullah the Butcher was revolutionary with his habit of never staying in any one territory for too long, to avoid wearing out the novelty, and maintaining the notoriety, of his character. Constantly roaming from region to region, Abdullah propagated his reputation as the most violent wrestler in the world. Consequently, he was often brought into a territory as a hired gun to destroy a popular fan favorite, and his appearances usually sparked local interest.

Since his gimmick required that he speak no English (though it was in actuality his native tongue), he possessed an extraordinary number of managers over the course of his long career, including Gary Hart, Paul Jones, Eddie Creatchman, Black Baron, the Grand Wizard, J.J. Dillon, Damien Kane, Larry Sharpe, Oliver Humperdink, Buddy Colt, George Cannon, Bearcat Wright, Big Bad John, Gentleman Jim Holiday, and Rock Hunter, who were all 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 promos while in Japan.

As a result of 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 a myriad of regional titles during his career. He won his first major championship on October 23, 1967 when he teamed with Dr. Jerry Graham to defeat John & Carlos Tolos for the NWA Canadian Tag Team Titles in Vancouver. A few years later, he ventured to the Montreal region, where he had three reigns as the IWA International Heavyweight Champion between 1969 and 1972, feuding against Ivan Koloff and Johnny Rougeau. He later served as one of the premier rule breakers in Calgary’s Stampede territory, capturing the NWA Canadian Championship, as well as having six North American Heavyweight Title reigns during the early 1970s. On June 24, 1972, he defeated Ernie Ladd in Akron, Ohio to capture his first of two NWF World Heavyweight Titles. During the mid-1970s, he frequently performed in Detroit, Michigan’s Big-Time Wrestling territory, where he engaged in a classic rivalry against local legend, The Sheik. He teamed with “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.

In addition to his successes in North America, Abdullah the Butcher would also become a true international superstar by performing in the Far East, Europe, the Caribbean, Australia, and Africa. On March 12, 1974, he traveled all the way to New Zealand, where he captured the prestigious British Empire Commonwealth Title by defeating the nation’s legendary champion John DaSilva. Abdullah would also establish himself as one of the premier attractions in Japan, where he competed as part of the round-robin tournament that ultimately crowned Giant Baba as All-Japan’s inaugural PWF Heavyweight Champion in February 1973. On October 18, 1978, Abdullah won that same prestigious PWF belt when he defeated European legend and former AWA champion Billy Robinson; and then on October 13, 1980, he also beat Jumbo Tsuruta to capture the NWA United National Heavyweight Title. His feud with Terry Funk is still considered one of the hottest feuds in Japan, and Funk claims to have had one of his top 3 all time greatest matches with Abdullah the Butcher.

He arrived in World Class Championship Wrestling in 1986, where he defeated The Great Kabuki for the Texas Brass Knuckles Title and waged war against the equally wild Bruiser Brody. However, perhaps Abby’s most memorable encounters occurred in Puerto Rico, where he was declared the very first WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion in July 1982 following three reigns as the Puerto Rican Champion between 1978-81. His violent battles against Carlos Colón and Hercules Ayala are legendary; and he long after remained one of the area’s top attractions, more recently defeating Carly Colón for his fifth Universal Title on January 3, 2004.

He was introduced in World Championship Wrestling in a giant, gift-wrapped box.^[4] This giant box was to be Sting's birthday gift from Cactus Jack.^[4] 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 Halloween Havoc 1991, in which Cactus accidentally electrocuted Abdullah in an electric chair, leading to a brief feud between the former allies.

In 1993, Abdullah arrived in ECW, where he participated in a storyline with Kevin Sullivan, Terry Funk and Stan Hansen, and wrestled at Ultra Clash and Bloodfest.

In late 2002, Abdullah made a one night appearance in Ring of Honor as Homicide's partner, facing the Carnage Crew in a bloody Bunkhouse Brawl at ROH's Night of the Butcher.

In 2007, the WWE and Jakks Pacific released an Abdullah The Butcher "WWE Classic Superstars" figure complete with the famous blade marks on top of his head. A DVD was also released named "The Triumph and Tragedy of World Class Wrestling" which included a bloody cage match between Abdullah and his famous rival Bruiser Brody.

The 2007 WWC's Anniversary show was dedicated to Abdullah the Butcher's legacy and contributions to WWC. On December 13, 2008 Shreve wrestled against Balls Mahoney in Bayamon Puerto Rico during the annual event WWC Lockout.

Abdullah says "I will be active throughout my life in Japan." During July 2009, he wrestled in Dragon Gate and Hustle. He also wrestled at the New Japan Pro Wrestling supershow Wrestle Kingdom IV in Tokyo Dome on January 4, 2010, as well as wrestling for Japanese independent promotion Osaka Pro Wrestling.

His entrance music in Japan is Pink Floyd's instrumental track "One of These Days" from their 1971 album Meddle.

Butcher at WrestleMania XXVII, as a Hall of Famer.

In 2009, Abdullah made an appearance at the Decatur Book Festival, facing off against author Michael Muhammad Knight, marking the first pro wrestling match ever held at a book festival. Abdullah pummeled Knight with chairs, forks, and a water cooler, not even stepping into the ring. Knight was taken from the festival in an ambulance and received 46 stitches. It was Right After Wrestling in March 2011, hosted by Arda Ocal and Jimmy Korderas, that Abdullah admitted his favorite wrestler to face was actually Lou Thesz^[5]

On April 2, 2011 Abdullah The Butcher was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in Atlanta. Subsequent to Abdullah's induction, 'Superstar' Billy Graham requested his name to be removed from the Hall, saying "It is a shameless organization to induct a bloodthirsty animal such as Abdullah The Butcher into their worthless and embarrassing Hall of Fame and I want the name of Superstar Billy Graham to be no part of it." ^[6] (Graham's outrage was due to the longstanding accusations that Abdullah was infecting wrestlers with Hepatitis C through sharing a blade and/or cutting wrestlers without their knowledge.)^[7] Abdullah responded, mentioning his previous friendship with Graham and questioning his outburst.^[8] Also in 2011, Abduallh returned to Georgia Championship Wrestling as a mentor/advisor to a local wrestler known as The Congo Warrior.

On January 2, 2012 Abdullah hinted that he would be retiring soon.^[9] The current plan is to do a 3/20 Abdullah the Butcher retirement show at Sumo Hall.^[9]

Legacy[link]

In addition to his hardcore style, his dietary habits have also become infamous in the wrestling world. He has been shown to eat announcers' ties, whole raw fish, he once even appeared to bite the head off a live chicken before a shocked crowd. Abdullah's appearances on the NWA's Georgia Championship Wrestling television broadcasts frequently highlighted his gustatory mayhem. While on camera he was shown eating reams of paper, cardboard boxes, the announcer's script, and even half of Gordon Solie's microphone. Prior to a match with local favorite Bob Armstrong he ate an entire live toad in front of Armstrong and his son as an act of intimidation. His unpredictable, ultra-violent style served as inspiration for other wrestlers, including “Maniac” Mark Lewin, Kevin Sullivan, Cactus Jack, Kamala, and Sabu, among others; and he still continues to compete on the independent circuit in a career that has now spanned five decades.

Abdullah has worked in nearly every major wrestling promotion in the world, with the exception of TNA and WWE.

Outside of wrestling, Shreve owns two restaurants (one in southwest Atlanta, the other in Japan) called "Abdullah the Butcher's House of Ribs and Chinese Food." Reviews of the Atlanta restaurant have been mixed. Most diners claim the Chinese portion of the menu is pretty scary, but that the ribs are better than average.^[10][11] Shreve is often on hand to meet fans and sign autographs. Shreve and his restaurant make a cameo appearance in the music video for the song "Damn!" by Atlanta recording artists Youngbloodz. Shreve's restaurant was also referenced in the 2006 Film "ATL" during a scene where the character Ant (played by Evan Ross) and two friends argue over a local barbecue.

WWE had been promoting Abdullah The Butcher more than ever since his Hall of Fame induction. He now has a profile and videos on their website and he is also featured on their "Best Steel Cage Matches" DVD.

In wrestling[link]

• Finishing moves
  • Bottom rope splash
  • Jumping headbutt
  • The Freight Train / The Butcher's Axe (Australia) (Running pointed elbow drop to the throat)^[1]

• Signature moves
  • Diving double foot stomp
  • Dropkick^[1]
  • Throat thrust^[1]

• Entrance themes
  • "One of These Days" by Pink Floyd (Japan)

• Managers

Championships and accomplishments[link]

• All Japan Pro Wrestling

• NWA International Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Ray Candy^[15]
• NWA United National Championship (1 time)^[16]
• PWF United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[17]
• PWF World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[18]
• Champion's Carnival (1976, 1979)^[19][20]
• January 4th Korakuen Hall Heavyweight Battle Royal Winner (2008)^[21]

• Big Japan Pro Wrestling

• BJW Deathmatch Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[22]

• Central States Wrestling

• NWA Central States Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Roger Kirby

• Georgia Championship Wrestling

• NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[23]
• NWA Georgia Television Championship (1 time)^[24]

• International Wrestling Association

• IWA International Heavyweight Championship (3 times)

• Lutte Internationale (Montreal)

• Canadian International Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[25]

• Midwest Wrestling Federation

• MWWF Heavyweight Championship (2 times)^[26]

• NWA All-Star Wrestling

• NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (2 times) - with Dr. Jerry Graham (1) and Armand Hussein (1)^[27]
• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (1 time) - with Dr. Jerry Graham^[28]

• NWA Detroit

• NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Detroit version) (1 time)
• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Detroit version) (1 time) - with Killer Tim Brooks

• NWA New Zealand

• NWA New Zealand British Commonwealth Championship (1 time)

• NWA Southwest

• NWA Texas Hardcore Championship (1 time)^[29]

• National Wrestling Federation

• NWF Heavyweight Championship (2 times)^[30]
• NWF International Championship (1 time)

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• PWI ranked him # 54 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003^[31]

• Stampede Wrestling

• NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship (Calgary version) (1 time)^[32]
• Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship (6 times)^[33]

• Tokyo Pro Wrestling

• TPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Benkei

• World Class Wrestling Association

• WCWA Brass Knuckles Championship (1 time)