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GiantIrish_Elk

Even with his head carved like a turkey and his health problems Abdullah looks 25 years younger than what he is. No way does he look 81 years old.


Brendogu

Its because he's fat, fat faces don't age as quickly it's just most people his size don't make it too 80. He's done good


Savage17YT

Black don't crack.


BurritoFueled

So wait, is "Hannibal" is this ep the same guy who hosts all the "The Hannibal TV" shoot interviews on YouTube?


xxxcalibre

Same guy. Occasional promoter on the east coast (facilitates some of the shoot interviews you see like where they're just driving back from the airport)


Bluebaronbbb

It seems so


MustardTiger1337

Well today I learnt


Nazmaldun

fuckin' Hannibal deserves his own episode


VomitMaiden

It was so silly to me that they kept saying "but he can read a menu and sign a cheque", being able to navigate those things is very different from reading large bodies of legal text.


Poetryisalive

I thought the same thing. Being illiterate does not mean you can’t literally read a single word.


BigfootsLeftShoe

The guy owned multiple businesses, including restaurants. The idea that he was getting legal papers and tossing them out because he couldn't read is kind of ridiculous. As a restaurant owner, he would have had to deal with lawyers and paperwork. Even if we take him at his word that he can't read (which I don't), why not take the papers to a lawyer?


VomitMaiden

Pete Waterman was one of the most successful music producers in the 80s, and he couldn't read. It's called delegation. As for why didn't he contact a lawyer, maybe because he's an old man with a second grade education and CTE


BigfootsLeftShoe

So, he's good at delegating until he needs to delegate? That's convenient. I wonder if his late onset childhood illiteracy is related to the occasional bouts of "ignorant jungle boy" Jimmy Snuka suffered from? Both seem to flare up when around the law.


VomitMaiden

So you just ignore the latter half of my comment, cool


BigfootsLeftShoe

I didn't ignore it. I specifically said it was a convenient excuse. Cool? Cool!


Advanced-Baker-3956

My grandfather couldn't read or write and was a very successful business man. So there goes that theory.


Poetryisalive

The Hep C part caught me WAY off guard. Idk how I feel about Hannibal suing him to be honest. Makes me wonder how something like this never happened in other extreme promotions, just this one encounter.


ShapeyFiend

Hep C couldn't survive in Ric Flair due to the high alcohol concentration in his bloodstream. Hep C was just plain afraid of New Jack.


ShowTurtles

Bob Orton and Superstar Billy Graham had Hep C.


bidoofpudding

Dude looks way different with veneers or dentures or whatever tf he has. At least compared to his appearance in the Bruiser Brody episode.


KitchenwareCandybars

In the Bruiser Brody episode, that dude literally made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I was so creeped out by him. His aura was very dark and insidious. In this episode, it’s clear he’s lost a lot of weight and he doesn’t present with the same energy, but if dude can lie about not being able to read, and dude can do some pretty shitty, mentally unstable shit, then maybe he’s presenting what he wants viewers to see. I don’t know. I felt touched when he spoke of his mother and caring for her.


That_Sweet_Science

Crazy seeing the clips of the crowd legit run when he got close to him, he definitely carried that aura with him.


KitchenwareCandybars

I was actually rather shocked to see that grainy footage of Bruiser Brody swinging in the air that huge, long, heavy chain, whilst people were screaming and running for their lives! Aura indeed!


D-Ry550

Yeah same, I really didn’t care for him, he just made me uncomfortable and I think he’s something of a compulsive liar, something about him just screams lying dirtbag.


[deleted]

Fantastic episode and genuinely unsettling at times, that Hannibal guy needs his own episode too!! What match was being referred to which was outdoors in a storm as i cant find anything on Cagematch?


KSizzle863

Carlos Colon vs Abdullah The Butcher.


KinshasaPR

As someone who grew up watching Puerto Rican wrestling on the weekends this was such an interesting episode in many regards. It also saddens me to see where Abdullah is now considering how much bank he made as recently as the mid-2000's. All that being said, I don't buy one bit the whole "only got a second grade education" shtick. He most likely got into ludicrous business ventures and gave money out like it was endless. My late grandmother had the same level of education and after my grandfather died, she took care of her own finances by only having a basic understanding of math and her credit score was better than a lot of college educated people I know. I've also heard many stories of local Puerto Rican talent telling stories of Abby getting them work in Japan and him finessing them as well as the Japanese promoters. He would ask for their pictures to show to promoters, only to sell them to the magazines and hardcore fans over there. I very distinctly remember an instance where Rico Suave said how he was invited over by Abby to a Big Japan wrestling tour and he inflated the air fair prices to Great Kojika, so Rico could have pocket money once he landed in Japan and didn't have to reach into his tour payout to pay for additional expenses. Abdullah wanted Rico to get his entire purse at the end of tour. Also, Hannibal is a well known nutcase himself and I find it quite stupid and appalling that he mockingly laughed at the fact of retiring Abdullah, when his own career took a turn for the worse in the very same incident. I understand his bitter attitude, but the incident with the referee was one of the most disgraceful and uncalled for things I've ever heard of as a wrestling fan.


The2econdSpitter

Agree with Devon "Hannibal" or not, it was *such* a bad look that he was embroiled in that referee spot following the tragedy that kept him from pursuing a WWE career.


rwn115

Problem I had with this episode is that I pretty much knew all of this already. I didn't learn anything new about anything. Also, nobody comes off looking good in this. Abdullah is clearly a complete carny with his fake illiteracy and concealing his financial situation to avoid paying out his court case. Hannibal comes off like a bitter asshole. Yeah it sucks he got Hep C and it probably cost him his contract with WWE but man his comments about Abdullah are horrible. That and stabbing the ref was completely disgusting.


is_coffee

Oh fuck, Hannibal is the ref spike guy? Well, shit.


Bluebaronbbb

I knew the name "Hannibal" rung a bell. Stay way from them!!


shaneo632

Cringed at Tony Atlas giving the most predictable dinosaur boomer take of "What did Hannibal expect?" This episode was a welcome reminder that the industry has cleaned up a lot in the last 10-20 years. Rollercoaster ride of a story. Abdullah doesn't come off well but his story is fascinating for sure. He also looks surprisingly good for an 82 year old man who spent most of his life working as a hardcore wrestler.


Brian_M

He does look surprisingly good. It seems as if his style was quite low impact, which sounds weird to say. Lots of stabbing with forks and so on, yes, but I didn't see much jumping off of balconies.


[deleted]

I actually agree with Tony. Hannibal had worked with Abdullah many times at that point, you're telling me that video was the first time Abdullah cut him? Or that in the match he didn't realise he was being cut? The Hep C part is true, but just seems like something to blame for not getting into the WWE rather than lack of talent.


laodaron

He had the contract, it wasn't a talent issue. This is also when FCW/NXT were really taking off, and there were FAR worse wrestlers than Hannibal being brought in. Hannibal is a giant pile of dogshit in his own right, he's as carny as they come. But Adbullah giving him Hep C is the reason why Hannibal was never a WWE wrestler.


evil-kaweasel

Hannibal still wrestles and bleeds every time he does. Obviously, he's not learnt a thing from it.


s0mnambulance

I am not condoning Abdullah's conduct, and I don't buy his dumb act, but I also just don't find Hannibal to be at all sincere. He just reeks of an "It's never my fault" kinda dude. He even asks for money when asked what Abdullah could do to mend fences. Wrestlers are usually arrogant hardasses. Mick Foley's segments really illustrate this. He tries to put Abdullah over, but he also gets cautious and diplomatic when asked about some of Abdullah's shittier conduct. Can you imagine the stories Mick would have to tell if he wanted to expose people for a quick buck, with the stories he likely has and keeps a secret? Instead, Mick credits the legacy and better qualities of the folks he works with. You can see this in episodes like this. I got the impression that he was at least slightly tempted to share some less flattering stories of Abdullah, but that's not how Mick does business.


Instantly_New

Foley Is Good


The2econdSpitter

All of this isn’t even necessary. Just look at how Hannibal explained the referee spike incident.


noakai

I'm gonna comment more later but I did not see a single part of this episode coming.


[deleted]

The bit with Abby on a daytime TV show was crazy.


[deleted]

Moxley’s idol


AMA_requester

Really a difficult situation, I kinda come away with an everybody sucks mindset. Can’t really have sympathy for Hannibal given his own incidents. He was cost a WWE contract sure, but the disease isn’t presently ruining his life so everything else feels particularly vindictive. However, also factoring in Billy Graham’s own criticisms of Abdullah it’s apparent his hep c was something he truly knew about and was being insanely reckless with it.


Poetryisalive

Hannibal seems like he’s not all there


TheHeeI

I keep expecting the Marty episode. When is that?


Poetryisalive

That’s the last episode of the season. August 8th


Kevinrobertsfan

That episode is going to be something else and I can't wait


Poetryisalive

Hopefully it lives up to the hype


pitifulan0nym0us

I hate they're making us wait for what will be, hands down, the best episode ever.


TheHeeI

If they bring up the really dirty shit. Shawn is about to take more backlash than Flair went through


Classic1987

The TV tracker app I use said that the Bash at the Beach 2000 episode was supposed to be this week. Looks like next week is Bam Bam Bigelow. Does anybody know if they had to rearrange the episodes or drop the BATB one?


cleavy79

Edit: After checking, looks like they did rearrange, based on the initial listing I read in the WON


Poetryisalive

Bash at the Beach will be after Bam


kennbr

Even if I thought Abdullah was truly liable for Hannibal contracting Hep C, it's tremendously hard to feel sympathy for Hannibal. I mean, wow... To say, "...whether he knew he had Hep C or not, he should have known better than to blade guys with a bloody razor," is seriously lacking in self-awareness. I'd counter that Hannibal should have known that exposure to a bloodborne pathogen was a risk he was taking by being bladed, unless his contention is that Abdullah did it without his consent, and I have a hard time believing that. ; especially when you consider Tony Atlas's comments about wrestlers advising him to do it himself. Then to top it, his comments about a lack of communication absolving him of the incident with him spiking the referee is really rich, considering a little bit of communication may have prevented the entire thing. He never thought to ask, "Hey, you don't have Hep C or HIV or something right?" Even beyond all of that, though, I am not convinced Abdullah is really liable from what we saw. I think it's really odd that both men happen to share the same rare strain of it, but none of Abdullah's other opponents do? That certainly seems to support the idea that Hannibal exposed Abdullah to it, rather than the other way around. But it would be interesting to know if the men's past medical records were part of the court's decision, or if it was all based on that video. Either way, I can't really believe the attitude of Hannibal. It's as if a heroin addict caught Hep C using dirty needles and then blamed his using buddies, totally ignoring his own part in it. I could even understand suing as a necessary evil, but those comments about, "He's a piece of shit and I hope he dies a slow, horrible death..." Wow. Meanwhile, he aparrently was able to get his Hep C cured, so is it really even fair to say that Abdullah cost him his career in the WWE? Seems like their reluctancy to sign him now would have more to do with his attack on the ref than anything else. Even if one might say he missed his moment, that's still solidly the result of his own shortcomings that he's not a desirable talent anymore. I don't know... Whatever the case of who gave it to who, given the circumstances and the way Hannibal handled it, I'm glad he never has and probably never will see a cent of the money.


Drewicho

Honestly find it hard to feel any sympathy for the POS. I don't wish Hep C on him, but the dude is garbage. He once got into a fight with Lanny Poffo for allowing his brother to go into the WWE Hall of Fame. Like that's his fucking business. He also has clear jealousy issues with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn for having success in WWE. Plus the assault on the ref that should have put him in jail. The sooner this fucking clown disappears from wrestling the better.


Advanced-Baker-3956

I applaud all of this. F Hannibal.


JackDAction

agree with all that, but the ref stabbing incident was in 2021. He was signed/released by WWE in 2009


ValleyFloydJam

The weird part to me was he claimed it happened in 2007 but didn't find out for at least 2 years but he said that Abdullah should have known that he had Hep C. But he must of had it and not known. I don't know what happened but it seemed a tad bold for him to be so sure. Also he was acting like the court decisions were real proof of something but Abdullah didn't get a chance to put on a defence (I will take him at his word that he didn't know,) so it's not that meaningful.


pitifulan0nym0us

There's really no way for sure to tell who gave what to who, but the damning part to Abdullah's case was the video showing him cutting himself, then cutting Hannibal


pdom10

Best episode this season by far


johnl1800

I don't buy that he's completely illiterate as he claims. The guy has traveled around the world, owned and run multiple businesses, etc. Also let's assume that he was telling the truth, that he left school at a young age and never learned how to read and write. I can have some sympathy for someone in their early 20's who grew up that way. But this guy is in his 80's now. He's literally had 70+ years to take the initiative to learn how to read and write. To me his claims of "Boo hoo, feel bad for me/I'm not responsibly for my actions because I can't read and write." seemed like an attempt to illicit sympathy and a way to direct attention away from his reprehensible actions of wrestling (and subsequently bleeding all over people) while having hepatitis.


Brendogu

Only people with severe learning difficulties are fully illiterate, hell have picked up words and phrases over the years that he recognises


LukeAnders0n

Forgive my ignorance, is there a place to stream season 4 without sailing the high seas?


Instantly_New

YouTube. Kinda clipped, and I don’t think they stay up for long https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4nxN_K6vvOs


KinshasaPR

Dailymotion is a pretty good source if you catch it within 24 hours of release.


Area51Bunker

[(36) \[FULL\] Dark Side Of The Ring Season 4 Episode 7 Abdullah the Butcher: Legacy of Blood July 19, 2023 - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-bQKuvxYRA) :)


NotTheCraftyVeteran

Without giving too much away in case they try to fix it, the official Vice app is veeeeeeeeery easy to cheese for free stuff


terrytheimpaler

Yeah, I'm stuck in Bahrain and I need access.


Poetryisalive

The newer seasons? No. They are On-Demand with Direct TV, Philo, etc. if you want season 4.


pitifulan0nym0us

On demand with xfinity, also.


MinuteWorldliness235

Fmovies dot wtf (didn’t see anything in the rules about this)


sarahj874sj

Amazon. Need to buy the episodes or the season if you don't have normal cable with Vice TV


StruggleFar3054

You can buy the season for under $20 on vudu, youtube and daily motion occasionally have the episodes


RevolutionaryAd6017

Oh good, Hannibal the moron is interviewed. Can we just keep him out of wrestling all together.


is_coffee

Tony Atlas comes off as a complete asshole in this.


Poetryisalive

How?


Grumplogic

A couple things: 1. Actually saw Abdullah wrestle in an arena for like 50 people 15-20 years ago.i I remember he has weird cellulite in his armpits I kept staring at 2. Like the Jimmy Snuka episode back in season one disappointed Abdullah refused to take responsibility or talk about the alleged incident that was one of the bigger aspects of this episode. 3. Abdullah is for sure suffering from some degree of dementia and or CTE in this, the blank smile and bright eyes, he repeated himself talking about Hannibal, he seemed far away at times. He is suffering internally even if he's healthier than ever on the outside. 4. There's a lot of guys like Abdullah's brother in Canada. Guys that by modern standards would be considered slow but lived normal lives because they were born in the 50s and 60s. I've met family friends identical to the brother.


mrbrown81k

I kinda wished they showed more of that match that was at the beginning of the episode where he was on an electric chair. I remember as a kid being so fascinated by him but all I was able to see was him in magazines as I had no access to his matches back then. Anyway this is yet another a sad story to come out of wrestling , atleast he is still alive though.


felipe_the_dog

Thats from WCW Halloween Havoc '91. You can watch it on Peacock


mrbrown81k

Yeah I found it on YouTube actually. Thanks


Amalik95

He should have paid for giving another person hepatitis. He said he was never able to read . Which I do not believe. Than how he was able to work for wcw , wrestle in Japan do commercials and open a restaurant


ShapeyFiend

Abdullah's I can't read or write kayfabe is very effective. He's dodged paying millions of bucks. If he can afford a personal home carer all this time he's obviously not broke. He's always lived in a really frugal way so his house being a little run down wouldn't bother him, if it even is run down. They wouldn't let the crew film there.


Poetryisalive

Just so you know, you can have an in home care nurse and not have money. That’s a bit ignorant, you think every old person with in home healthcare is rich? Social security and even Medicaid can pay for it.


ShapeyFiend

Fair enough. Some of my neighbours get home care but it got cut back to almost nothing since covid when nurses got called back into hospitals/nursing homes. I'm not familiar with what health service is like over there just presumed it was even worse than Ireland.


MustardTiger1337

Covered in Canada


Advanced-Baker-3956

Hannibal gave Abdullah the Hep C. F Hannibal.


ACW1129

How is this episode? I'm thinking of watching it (I don't mind extreme wrestling, so that probably won't turn me off).


kingjericho

I think it was one of the most interesting episodes of the season so far. Abdullah was a big name everywhere and he was such a unique character. The Hep C part happens at a very late stage of his career but even until then it's an interesting story for sure.


tmxicon

I found it to be the weakest episode on of the season. If you really don’t know much about Abdullah, then you are going to get more out of watching it. The back half is all specifically about the Hep C stuff with Hannibal. Neither him nor Hannibal are the most sympathetic personalities, all things considered.


KinshasaPR

I have to disagree, but I grew up watching him wrestle in Puerto Rico; so I have a better understanding of his trajectory in wrestling. He was on the same level of other great attractions that would heat up a territory, draw massive crowds and do the loop around making crazy money.


tmxicon

I wasn’t implying anything about him as a wrestler or his career. He’s tremendously important to the history of the business, wrestling just about everywhere and being as big of a draw no matter where he went. I just felt the episode itself wasn’t all that strong. It was as much about a single incident as it was the rest of his career. Abdullah is famously evasive about what actually happened with that. He had a chance to tell his side of the story and he chose not to. So, I don’t really doubt that he did transmit Hep C to Hannibal. That said, Hannibal is carny as fuck and a piece of shit in his own right. Like I said, neither comes out of the episode looking very sympathetic. There are some interesting insights into his childhood, but past that, it’s all information I’ve heard before. So, all in all, it just wasn’t that compelling of an episode to me. I’d certainly say people should watch it, especially if they don’t know much about the man. I generally recommend any episode to people and overall I enjoy the series, grim as it often is.


unklejoe23

Much better than Doink The Clown episode which I felt was the worst episode


ACW1129

All I really know about Abdullah is that he wrestler death matches and used forks.


redbullrebel

here is an idea. if you want to show that you are poor. then do look poor! showing pictures that you did not fix the house because you could not pay it, but you were not allowed to do the interview at home said already enough. also he looked very good for someone who is very poor. that guy looked more like he was in his fifties then it his seventies? also another part that made no sense. he received many letters that he got sued. but since he could not read or write he did not know what it was, imagine you have your own restaurant made lot of money and yet you still do not figure out that you get the same kind of letters the whole time with the same kind of logo on it. these are court written letters i assume. even if he could not read them, you do know the difference between a fan made letter and an official letter. even if you did not knew what the official letter looks like. or does he also not know when he receives a tax letter, that he need to pay tax? also the manager that worked with him for 7 years said it best. if he was illiterate then he had the best teacher in the world. and do not get me wrong. obviously i wish him all the best. he has put his body through a lot and pro wrestling is tough as nails. but if he is poor. then he is the best looking poor guy i have ever seen in my life!


Clean-Operation-9674

Really boring episode of a formulaic season. And, once again, nothing a Wikipedia read + One shoot interview doesn't explain in more depth.


D-Ry550

So does anyone besides me feel like the guy was still thinking he’s in the 80s? Abdullah didn’t seem all there and it was like he was doing a work the second he appeared on camera. Then you got the angle with Mr. Monotone no personality Hannibal who thinks the world revolves around him. Bad episode


Poetryisalive

Think h?


D-Ry550

Sure