Tommy Rich shared the full story of his career-shaping relationship with Abdullah The Butcher during a recent appearance on the Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw show, going from his 30-second Atlanta debut loss to the Thanksgiving night main event that put him over the top in Georgia Championship Wrestling.
The Atlanta Debut: 30 Seconds, Bleeding, And A Crying Mother
Rich had just arrived in Atlanta from his Tennessee territory run and brought his family to see his Georgia debut.
“I had me a new long robe made my first night. My draw, who I drawed that night, was Abdullah The Butcher. My mama and her friend, my little brother, I brought them down. He beat me in 30 seconds. Bust my head, made me bleed everywhere. My mama was crying. My brother was, I don’t know what they was doing. I thought I just get out of here, live, I’ll be okay.”
Tony Atlas Got His Name That Same Night
Rich revealed that his Atlanta debut was the night Tony Atlas became Tony Atlas. Atlas had been wrestling masked under the name Black Atmosphere.
“Ole told him to come down and help Abdullah get out of the ring. Tony hits the ring, and he’s hitting him. Abdullah went to do something, hit the mask. The mask flew off Tony’s head. That’s when they started calling him Tony Atlas.”
Atlas would also be the one who pulled Rich aside in the locker room and explained what had really happened.
“I get back to the back. I didn’t really know nobody. I’m sitting at the locker by myself. Probably had my head hanging down a little bit, thinking, damn, I’m already going to have to call him. I’m ready to come home. Tony come over and he said, hey, you’re looking at it the wrong way. You didn’t lose that match. You just got over like a son of a gun.”
Right before Atlas approached him, Abdullah himself had stopped by with words that wouldn’t make sense for another two years.
“Right before that, Abdullah come by. He said, hey, thank you, kid. I’ll give it back to you one day. I’m thinking to myself, yeah, right.”
The Thanksgiving Night Payoff
Two years later, Abdullah was originally booked to face Wahoo McDaniel on Thanksgiving night at the Atlanta Civic Auditorium. McDaniel didn’t show up.
“Wahoo and Ole, they got into it. Wahoo didn’t show up. Ole said, give me the kid. Tommy Rich, he said, we got Dusty here. He said, no, I want the kid. I’ll never forget this. Ole said, come here, you’re going to work with Abby in the main event tonight.”
Abdullah didn’t waste a second when the bell rang.
“First thing he said to me, he said, hey kid, tonight, I told you I was going to give it back to you. I thought, oh, biscuit eater. We get in that ring, the people made it know how mad. Before that night was over, Abdullah kept his word with everything he said.”
“You know how they had this little rail around the ring over at the auditorium? You weren’t supposed to go on the floor outside that rail. He said, follow me. We go out. This time he goes over that rail. He said, come on. We fight up through them stands, and it’s like a Red Sea part.”
The Bodyslam That Made Him A Star
“He says, slam me, kid, slam me. I’m boom, boom, boom. He says, slam me, kid, slam me back. I’m saying, boy, he got picking to give it back to me. He said, slam me. I give him that big body slam. As big as he was, that whole ring sunk and bounced back up.”
The crowd reaction was unlike anything Rich had experienced.
“The people, I had never heard it since. It was like a, ooh, the crowd. I get goosebumps still. I was over, but that got me over the top. Abdullah did what he said.”
Rich Sends Well Wishes To Abdullah
Rich took a moment during the interview to send support to Abdullah, who is reportedly not in good health.
“Big shout out to him right now. Hope it gets better, and everything. I know he’s not doing very well, but big shout out to him.”
Rich also addressed the polarizing reputation Abdullah has in the wrestling world.
“You got those that talk bad about him. He treated me just like he treated you. He had a knack of picking out guys that he would work with, that he could make guys a star. If he liked you, man, he was a pleasure to work with.”
Abdullah The Butcher, real name Lawrence Shreve, was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011.
