Wajima Wednesday (Not a Thing)

Abdullah the Butcher vs. Hiroshi Wajima (AJPW 1/2/88)

Finally available online! The match that I begged and pleaded to be added to the AJPW 80s set, then when I realized it wasn't going to get the necessary votes I begged and pleased for it to be added to the AJPW 80s Extras. But it was done to no avail. This match did not bring the same level of joy to others as it did to me, and that's okay. It's about 7 minutes long, and it's mostly a squash, and it ends somewhat unsatisfactorily. So plenty of people will be left pretty flat when it's all over. But I love it. I love sumo guys getting into pro wrestling, but not all of them are going to work out well. Wajima is definitely one of the weaker sumo transplants. And 1988 was the tail end of his short couple years in pro wrestling. And Abby was having none of it. He does not treat Wajima as much of a threat in the least, which is kind of what makes the finishing run so much fun. This never feels unprofessional, but I'm curious just what was going on, as Abby pretty much goofs off all while dominating Wajima. Abby throws stiff throat thrusts ("throws throat thrusts" was alliteration I wasn't attempting) and blocks any attempt at Wajima offense. Wajima is playing along and bumping around nicely for Abby strikes, and really putting over all the chops and throat shots. Abby shuts him right down whenever he tries something, either shoving him off, kicking him in the stomach, or just doing wild eyed karate mannerisms. And it all builds up to Wajima finally getting into his sumo comfort zone. They get in close and you can see it happening, see Wajima adjusting his arms, see him hitching up Abby's very very large pants, and finally he gets a great throw, and then another one! And it's an awesome moment! And then Abby puts his curled boot down and beats him down, then squashes him with his perfect elbow drop. In another great moment, Wajima gets his boot on the ropes. And so Abby drops another brutal elbow. Still the boot finds rope. So Abby flies off into the opposite ropes for another squishing, and Joe Higuchi gets in the way to stop some of the punishment, so Abby just shoulderblocks Higuchi into the weekend. Match gets thrown out, elbow drops continue, then Baba and Jumbo come out in teal track suits and TNT comes out and Abby drops threats on the mic while throwing chairs at photographers.

And now you can finally see the match that THEY DIDN'T WANT YOU TO SEE. You know, because they know you value your time, most likely.

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All Japan Motherload - Dory Funk Jr./Masanori Toguchi vs. Abby/Roger Kirby - AJPW 7/26/79

Dory Funk Jr./Masanori Toguchi vs. Abdullah the Butcher/Roger Kirby - AJPW 7/26/79

If anything, a lesson in not judging a book by its cover. That up above does not look like a widely appealing match on paper. Dory often works as if he's shot full of horse tranquilizers, nobody reading this knows who Toguchi is (he is the future Kim Duk), Abby - believe it or not - can be lazy sometimes, and Kirby (not Corvey as the title says) is...who is Roger Kirby? Well, he appears to be an NWA tag division lifer. Or a famous UK prostate surgeon, with an international reputation as a clinician, researcher, communicator, all towards the advancement of prostate care and treatment. Roger Kirby is probably not both of these things.

But I loved the match! It had a weird vibe, like the crowd was in on a joke that I was not, reacting strangely and doing an almost vocal wave every time Abby would step through the ropes. All through the match Abby kept teasing he was getting in the ring and the crowd would go "oooOOOOOOOOoooooo" and then he would stay on the apron and they would get quiet again. And let me tell you, if you're a Dory supporter and looking for proof of Dory being an actual stiff badass, this would be the match. Dory makes it his personal mission to attack Kirby, breaking out more offense than I've ever seen from him, and all done with an immediacy and force that can often be lacking in Dory matches. He really batters Kirby with elbows, does a variety of suplexes (with a cool butterfly suplex appearing to be a deadlift), really just takes it to this guy the whole time. Kirby is game and takes two different super high backdrops. Abby would keep coming in to save Kirby, always giving Dory a nice boot between the eyes. And there was a weird comic undercurrent running throughout where Abby would act like he was going to save Kirby, but then just avoid Kirby's tags and not really save him at all. At one point Kirby wanted to tag out and Abby just rubbed his shoulders and encouraged him to get back in there. Abby in the ring was killer, going after Dory with nasty short uppercuts and then even nastier short uppercuts with the fork. The fork uppercuts looked so awesome. Also, the match was 2/3 falls for reasons I will never know. So yeah, weird vibe, in jokes that I didn't understand, badass Dory performance, fun Abby stuff, and an enthusiastic jobber performance from Kirby (seriously the backdrops are worth the price of admission), it all leads to a match that's far more than it would appear to be.

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All Japan Motherload - Abby

Abdullah the Butcher/Tor Kamata vs. The Sheik/Great Mephisto - AJPW 12/11/80

ER: And you thought this would just be a bunch of guys with bad bodies wandering around, bleeding, hitting each other with spikes, and wandering around some more!! Well, you'd be correct. Great Mephisto is terrible, whiffs on punches and is clearly afraid to bump. How'd he get a ticket to Japan during 1980!? Really feels like a guy who won a sweepstakes. Tor Kamata bleeds and is the only one who really bumps, and Sheik often brings out the worst in Abby. Still, they put on a spectacle and throughout some of this it worked. The beginning especially worked, with streamers still in the ring and people starting to bleed. But I guess these things always start out the best, but don't really have much of a place to go. This really could have been four local bad body indy never weres having this fight in any indy that takes place in a bar. The fact this happened in Tokyo probably does make it more intriguing...



Abdullah the Butcher vs. Dory Funk Jr. - Maple Leaf Wrestling 6/29/80

ER: Not technically from All Japan but it must have been shown on Classics. I wonder how Toronto fans felt about 5 minute main events ending in count outs. I guess they were used to them with Sheik at this point, so it was likely expected. They built a fairly smart and logical short match, with Dory not taking Abby off his feet but instead taking over after a big Abby missed elbow drop. Best part of the match was after they had already been counted out and they're fighting on the rampway, Abby doesn't realize he's close to the edge and almost falls off while taking a Dory elbow. After that it's like he sensed how excited the arena got to see him potentially splat off the ramp so spent the next minute teasing like he was going to fall off while Dory elbowed him. There was actually real drama in there as especially that first time (where it genuinely didn't seem like he realized how close he was) I actually wondered if Abby was gonna fall off the ramp.



Terry Funk vs. Abdullah the Butcher - AJPW 7/15/78

ER: So the quality isn't great on this but it takes me back to my days of tape trading where you'd get a 13th gen copy of a Sabu comp and never even consider that these matches exist in better quality. Here the quality is bad enough that Funk and Abby look animated, like we're seeing the bloodiest version of the Beastie Boys' "Shadrach" video. But whatever, this is Abby stabbing Funk with a spike, both men gushing blood, and Funk punching Abby right in his cut. And you know that nobody puts over Abby's spike like Funk. Funk always knows the best way to stumble around, the best way to grab at his chest after it gets stabbed, the best way to grab Higuchi by the collar and tell him to do his job, the best way to go nuts after being pushed too far. Funk - as you may know - understands how to brawl to comeback and Abby knows how to make men bleed, and it rules.

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