Black History Month DAY 11

Billy Robinson vs. Abdullah the Butcher
AJPW - 10/18/1978
PWF Heavyweight Title Match

An unruly wildman from a 3rd-world African nation working plucky underdog babyface against subtle heel champion from a wealthy European ex-colonial power seems like a pretty obvious match to look at for a black history month project. What isn't obvious is that I'd ever use the term "plucky underdog babyface" to describe Abdullah the Butcher, or for that matter, that a nearly 20-minute long, best 2/3 falls Abby match where he's working against type could be as good as this is. It helps that he's in there with Billy Robinson, who probably could have had a great match with my grandmother at this point. But this didn't strike me as an out-and-out carryjob. Abby just didn't do anything he couldn't do well.

First fall is built around Robinson exposing Abby's weaknesses - namely, his lack of speed and lack of technical expertise - and exploiting them thusly, dodging and blocking his slow-as-molasses throat thrusts and schooling him with Britastic chain wrestling. Then, when Abby makes his comeback and starts trying to twist his head off, he out-brawls him (!) and takes the first fall with a backbreaker from a backdrop position. Second fall, Robinson keeps going to town on Abby, keeping him down or in the corner for the most part, where Abby gets to sell without having to exert himself too much physically. Naturally, he blades, and eventually finds himself outside the ring, where Bill can slam his head into a table. But Robinson is a little too slow getting back in the ring, and Abby takes his advantage, throat-thrusting him and making him topple over backwards with his ankle caught in the ropes. Hanging upside down outside the ring, Robinson gets attacked by a resurgent Abby, who forearms, headbutts, and even bites his knee. He's let loose, but he can't make it into the ring on time, and Abby takes the second fall by count-out. Abby keeps going after the knee in the third fall, and Robinson frantically tries to stay in the match. He scores some errant shots, but can't maintain any kind of advantage as his knee keeps buckling, ultimately forcing the ref to stop the match and award the deciding fall to Abby. Fun post-match, too, as the pissed-off Robinson keeps trying to charge Abdullah, only for his knee to give out whenever he tries to put weight on it, and Abdullah egging him on by dragging his new title along the mat in front of him like bait.