ATLANTA – Larry Shreve, also known as Abdullah the Butcher, spent the 1970s through early 2000s as one of the most brutal pro wrestlers in the industry -- wrestling for many companies across the globe. But despite his success, the WWE Hall of Famer barely has a penny to his name.
“Well, at 82 years old, I sit in my room a lot of times and I say that I’ve worked for nothing,” Abdullah said. “All of what I had worked for in the wrestling business by acting crazy, beating my head against the wall, doing this, doing that -- I might not have nothing pretty soon.”
Abdullah says it goes back to school where he only got, at most, an elementary school education -- never learning to read or write. Eventually, he’d dropped out to work, finding his way into wrestling about a decade later.
“You got a lot of people who try to take what you worked all your life for,” Abdullah said. “In my opinion, I’ve been ripped off so bad it’s unbelievable, and (I’m) still getting ripped off.”
Unfortunately, Abdullah found that out the hard way, losing a $2.3 million lawsuit to another wrestler back in 2014. That’s a totally different story in itself. However, because he couldn’t read or write, he says he had no idea he was being summoned to court and lost the case by default.
“His sister called from Canada and said ‘Abdullah, do you realize you lost some lawsuit in Canada?’ And he said ‘What lawsuit?’” Malikah Marshall said.
Malikah Marshall is his assistant, and has stepped into the role of translator for the wrestler when he needs to read or write.
“He doesn’t understand how to follow directions. He doesn’t even know how to go to an ATM machine,” Marshall said. “This is an 82-year-old man. He’s about to lose everything.”
Back in the glory days, Abdullah the Butcher really believed in giving back to the community. After all, Southwest Atlanta was the location of one of his restaurants that has now closed -- right next door to the William Walker Recreation Center, where he also played a big part.
“He put on a show at our site up there, fundraising to help support our youth program at the gym. He and his wife also donated supplies and equipment for our facility when they built it in 1997. Abdullah was always a mentor to our kids. Everybody loved Abdullah the Butcher. He comes up, all the kids just crowd all around him,” said William Walker Jr.
Other wrestlers like Ranger Ross say he has always tried to give.
“Here’s a guy who would give you the shirt off his back. There’s countless stories of him helping homeless people out and giving them jobs when they had a thriving business. He had a couple of restaurants. He was helping people out,” Ranger Ross said.
And one of Abdullah’s former tag team partners from Japan, Greg Brown.
“He’s still Butch to me. Still Butch. He’s sharp at 82 years old, as sharp as they come,” Greg Brown said.
Sadly the 82-year-old still believes he’s being taken advantage of, and all the profit from the final restaurant that bears his name and likeness goes elsewhere. It’s a sad road he doesn’t want anyone going down.
“I tell every kid, every entertainer make sure you go to school, cause if you don’t go to school, in the long run, you’re the loser,” Abdullah said.
Abdullah the Butcher had to sell his Hall of Fame ring just to make ends meet. If you would like to donate to help him, you can do so by clicking here.