[1978-10-18-AJPW] Abdullah the Butcher vs Billy Robinson

[Kronos]

2/3 Falls for the PWF Heavyweight Title

 

Three times longer than their Dec '76 brawl, this one's got some actual wrestling and is 10x funner to watch.

 

The first fall is pretty traditional, with the guys trading strikes, chokes, and various standing holds. Billy hits a backbreaker to set up the first fall. For the second fall, things get nuts. Robinson beats the crap out of Abby's head, using kicks and elbows. Eventually, it turns into a brawl in and out of the ring. Robinson gets hung by his foot -- with his head on the floor. Abby headbutts BR's knee over and over while the officials try to untangle the ropes.

 

The rest of the match is about Robinson's fucked up knee. Can he continue? He gets it re-wrapped and fights his way back into the ring. From there, it's Abby vs Knee and Billy vs Head. Robinson never forgets to sell the bad knee. The best moment comes when he tries another backbreaker onto the bad knee, and it collapses under him.

 

In the end, he can't continue, and Abdullah wins the match and the title.

 

One of my favorite bits is the squeal Abby makes when he's being hurt. It sounds like a mix between a pig and the Wilhelm Scream.

[dawho5]

I really liked Robinson's neutralizing of Abby's strikes early, only for Abby to hit him by surprise from the wrong side of a rope break. Abby looks to capitalize, but gets way more back than he bargained for when Robinson gets mad. That leads to the end of fall 1 and it's very good.

 

Fall 2 Robinson busts Abby open and is ruthless on the cut. Wouldn't you be if you were up against a guy with 'the Butcher" in his name? I think this highlights one thing about Abby that most people don't mention often and that's his selling. The man is absolutely great at it when he wants to be. Robinson gets hung up in the ropes and Abby is clearly trying to not hurt the knee and his strikes look a little light, but I actually respect that. A man could get seriously fucked up and out of wrestling on a mistake there. Robinson gets counted out to even things up.

 

Third fall Robinson is both selling his leg like a champ and continuing his beating on Abby's head. Abby keeps going to the leg to survive and finally Robinson is unable to stand up on his own and the match is called. One nice touch was Abby using the belt to tease Robinson as if he were playing with a dog post-match and the look on his face right before and during. Great heel move.

 

Really great match with Robinson playing to Abdullah's strengths in a way I've not seen many wrestlers do.