The earliest matches I’ve seen  involving Abby the Butcher in International Wrestling come from late 1985, from the time he was teaming with former foe Jos Leduc to feud with the Rougeaus.  I talked about that in a previous column, so I won’t repeat myself again. I just want to say that this must have been one of the largest  and, most of all, scariest pairings in IW history—Jos Leduc was a helluva scary man too!  Both men teaming against the Rougeaus was simply unequal, but I guess Brito had a lot of plans  for Jacques and Raymond, because they won the war against Leduc and Abby… I remember seeing matches of Abby against Jacques, Jr., setting the table for their main event match-up of  December 1985, and Jacques didn’t even BLEED! 

I also talked about the tragedy that took place on December 24^th 1985 involving Tarzan Tyler, Mad Dog Lefebvre and referee Srrien Desbois’ deaths in a car crash.  That  accident  messed up a bit the match-up between the Rougeaus and the Leduc/Abby pairing, since, if memory serves me well, there was no real  follow-up  on that feud after the card held in Sudbury, Ontario.  Maybe it’s because the Rougeaus were  targeting the WWF too—I must admit that  art of history is kind of confused in my memory. 

In 1986, Abdullah the Butcher became a major player on Quebecer ground, after the departure of the best talent IW had to offer (Bravo, the Rougeaus, King Tonga, later Rick Martel).  Managed by all-time great Eddy “The Brain” Creatchman, Abby took pleasure taking on smaller guys once the big names were gone. His first target was Gino Brito, Jr., whom he attacked after one of Brito’s matches with no apparent  motive but to irate his father Gino, Sr.—a trick that worked  pretty  well, I must say.  That feud didn’t last long, as one must admit that Brito, Jr. didn’t have much charisma, even though he seemed to be a hard worker.

Then came an astonishing turn of events. I said previously that International Wrestling had an agreement with the World Wrestling Council, which is why Carribean stars came to Quebec once in a while. On a night where Abdullah the Butcher was paired to fellow big man and WWC performer Kamala (this pair was wild and so scary!), things didn’t  happen  the way Eddy Creatchman wanted them to happen.  Unfortunately, I can’t remember who that team of mammoths was facing, but I do remember that by the end of the brawl, Kamala mistakingly hit Abby with a chop to the throat, a  move that  got Abby mad and both men started going at it.  The following week, I saw Eddy Creatchman on  French television and he said that his man Kamala would get rid of that scum bag  Abdullah the Butcher fo good,  creating something that  the fans over here had never seen before: a babyface Abdullah the Butcher!  Abby had always been the brutal, sneaky, bloody mad maniac people loved to hate up here, in his wars with the Rougeau’s first generation wrestlers, the Leducs, and people cheered for any team  who would be brave enough (or crazy enough) to face Abby and The Sheik when they paired to terrorize the Quebecer territory in better days.  Now, people would start cheering for Abdullah the Butcher, something that was a nonsense! 

After briefly feuding with Kamala, showing he was superior to the so-called Ugandan Giant/Ugandan Headhunter/Kenyan Giant or whatever they billed Jim Harris, Abdullah the Butcher was still alive and well and Eddy Creatchman had to find better brawlers to get rid of the man who, according to “The Brain”, had betrayed the Creatchman  family.  That is when Creatchman came with Steve Strong, who defeated almost  everybody on his path (everybody except for Rick Martel, who had left for the WWF). Strong was surrounded by Eddy and his son, “Pretty Boy” Floyd, and was asked to beat up the Butcher.  Strong looked pretty confident and didn’t seem to be scared of the Butcher, and I was disappointed after watching a Strong/Abby match-up to see that Abby was, once again, the only guy bleeding.  In what became a pure brawl, none of the wrestlers caring about winning or losing, Strong and Abby  fought in what quickly became a melee of all the IW wrestlers who had invaded the ring to separate both men.  No man had mastered the other. Abdullah teh Butcher made his way to the top of the ladder as # 1 babyface on the territory (!!!) and was a clear target for Creatchman’s stable.  That is when the Creatchmans brought in Bruiser Brody and  what was supposed to be his brother, Buster Brody.  That is the only time I remember seeing  Bruiser Brody on Quebecer soil.  Brody, of course, was the heel, directed by Floyd’s “advice”—even though I always expected Brody  to turn around and take a bite at Floyd, whose voice and attitude were annoying.  After a few bloody brawls, Hercules Ayala was added to the plot against Abby and became International Champion in January of 1987. But Abby would defeat him a month later to become the last Canadian International Champion before IW’s demise later that year.  Trying an ultimate solution to destroy Abby, Eddy Creatchman  brought big soldier Kareem Muhammad to Quebec and Gino Brito, Sr. booked a chain match that would take place in Quebec City—something quite unusual, since the Athletic Commission clearly stated that there should not be any chain matches nor any cage matches in Quebec City.  IW defied the law. 

Once again, Abby took over and beat up Muhammad in a short but bloody brawl.  Meanwhile, Abdullah the Butcher had found himself a new manager, former wrestler from India Deepak Singh.  Despite his  gained popularity in Quebec, Abby went back to his roots later  in 1987, turning on Singh and joining, once again, Eddy Creatchman.  This time, Abby would be used to push another rising star, Steve Strong, needed to replace the Martels, the Rougeaus and the Bravos in the hearts  of the fans (I don’t  think the fans could really  find in Abby what they found in those Quebecer superstars: Abby was maniacal, he was a silent murderer; the French speaking wrestlers mentioned previously were their own children). 

In a match where Abby and Strong were put together in a tag team match, Abby would backstab Strong and lead him to babyface status.  The following feud would show Strong and Abby again but in inverted roles; the crowd quickly started to cheer for Strong, who alreday had numerous fans even when he was a rulebreaker.

Later that year, when the promotion folded, Abdullah the Butcher was still International Champion.  I guess IW just couldn’t  keep up with the WWF, losing its major stars one by one.    

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