Abdullah The Butcher & Kevin Sullivan Talk Territory Days, Drawing Money, Thoughts On WWE & TNA

Veteran independent wrestler Diafullah Dobashi welcomed Kevin Sullivan and WWE Hall of Famer Abdullah the Butcher to the most recent episode of his podcast, "Dobashi's Radio Takedown" (Episode 25). The wrestlers talked about working together in NWA, ECW, Puerto Rico and beyond.

Sullivan kicked off the discussion by sharing that he thinks of Abdullah every time he looks at his left pinky finger, as Abdullah broke it with a hammer during a match together many years ago. He then talked about how Abdullah helped him get over in the business.

"I got over pretty good in Atlanta in an angle with Austin Idol," Sullivan recalled. "Idol was a heel, I was a babyface. ?He was working with Mark Lewin and Abdullah was supposed to run in. And they wanted me to run in and jump on Abdullah. And Ole Anderson gave the thing and Abdullah being straight up like he is said, 'No disrespect to you but I don't think I can sell for him. He's too small.' I was only about 210 pounds at the time, okay? I said, 'Well, I can make a comeback, Abby," and he said, 'No, you're just not big enough for me to sell.' I said, 'Okay'? Ole said, 'Go ahead and do it anyway.' So, Abdullah ran into the ring, Mark was kicking the sh-t out of Idol; I run and cut Abdullah off halfway down the aisle and I lay into Abdullah as hard as I can and Abby, to his credit says, 'Keep coming, kid! Keep coming!'? There was blood everywhere? We get (to the) back and the first guy meeting me was Abdullah the Butcher and he said, 'Kid, I made a mistake. We're going to draw some money.' And we did."

Sullivan added that Abdullah helped him considerably in his career, remembering that he didn't like Abdullah for years until he came to appreciate the Hall of Famer's style and work ethic. Abdullah spoke in some detail about how Sullivan initially tried to work as a "pretty boy" but didn't really come into his own until he learned to work as a heel. He also said that Sullivan learned a lot by working with Mark Lewin.

Sullivan then talked about Abdullah's work with Carlos Colon in Puerto Rico.

"Abdullah was involved in the greatest angle of all time: When Carlos Colon got beat up in Puerto Rico by (Stan) Hansen and (Bruiser) Brody," Sullivan said. Carlos Colon and Abdullah had wrestled probably 10 years in bloodbaths. Everything. Drew nothing but money? They turned away more people then they got in the building?probably twice as many people. I know because Abdullah was trying to find sheets and have one of his jabronis put up a sheet and film it and charge people 10 bucks outside so he could pocket the extra money. It was the best angle ever. He was a babyface and over and all he had to do?Carlos was selling and he tagged Abby and Abby came in and did his karate real quick and the place blew. He did nothing. Abby did nothing and he was over so big."

Abdullah talked about giving advice to Carlos Colon about booking and said that once he gets his hip surgery, he wants to return to promoting with Sullivan and Dobashi because he's confident that can put something good together. He added that it's clear that wrestling fans aren't getting what they want these days and suggested that Kevin Sullivan would be an asset to the big companies if they picked him up and used him properly.

"If they would let Sullivan go in there right now?even with TNA?go in there and do his sh-t, and beat the sh-t out of a couple of their top guys, they'd pack the places. But they're scared of him. They fear him? Sullivan is businessman. This is what they've got to get back."

You can listen to the entire episode of Dobashi's Radio Takedown at this link.