Carlos Colon vs. Abdullah the Butcher (March 1986)

[El Boricua]

Carlos Colon vs. Abdullah the Butcher (March 1986)

[elliott]

These two seem to always have good matches. Abby works his ass off against Colon and Colon at this point is pretty obviously a really good babyface worker. This starts quick with both guys blasting each other and Colon getting the advantage so Abby immediately going for the fork but the ref taking it away. Abby’s gotta be on the short list of best facials in wrestling history. Really he may be wrestling best method actor ever in wrestling. Him or Lou Thesz. Abby goes after Colon’s eyes. I mean, I totally understand people not liking something like this. I used to hate Abdullah. He just didn’t appeal to me whatsoever. At some point, probably watching him in All Japan against the Funks, Abby just clicked and now I really like him. I wouldn’t buy a 40 disc Abby comp, but I really like him and these Colon matches have ALL being really good I think with this being the best one. I would compare this feud favorably to Misawa vs Kobashi because these matches seem to get progressively better instead of progressively worse like Misawa vs Kobashi (I think I'm kidding but even I can't tell anymore)

[KB8]

Well, I loved this. Abby has been hugely enjoyable on the set so far (loved the bonus Abby v Al Perez match where Abby is an AMAZING bastard), but this time he really blew me away. On the surface it doesn't feel like he works a whole lot differently in PR than he did in Japan or Texas or wherever else he popped up. He still has the fork. He still bleeds. He more or less still has the same offence, with the elbow drops and the thrusts to the throat. But in PR it all feels like it's done with a little extra piss and vinegar. His thrusts and kicks are a little quicker, his elbow drops a little meatier, his headbutts a little stiffer, and on top of that he seemed to add a bunch of other mean looking shit to his repertoire. The close-up camera shots make all the fork-stabbings look even more nasty than usual, but there are times where, if the fork isn't close to hand, he'll just start gouging peoples' eyes or biting their ears (and I cannot stress enough how much the camera work adds to the ghoulishness of it all). In the Perez match he stabbed Perez in the head with the fork, then he whipped out a bag of salt and threw it in the cut! It was crazy. And man, some of his facial expressions in this were awesome. There was one bit where he was using the bottom rope to try and strangle Colon, while biting the middle rope and staring out at the crowd all bug-eyed and demented. Colon really is the perfect Abby opponent. I've seen Abby matches where his opponent will let him do just about whatever he wants, and it can lead to Abby doing a ton of fork shtick and not a whole lot else. There's no real urgency to what he's doing. When he's not made to work for it, it's not nearly as fun. Like, I get that Abby is a horrible creature who stabs people with cutlery just because he wants to, but it's better when you get the sense he's resorted to the fork because maybe he feels like he needs to. Colon makes him work for it, and when Abby pulls the fork out the boot it feels like he needs it to weather Colon's assault. That the ref' managed to actually grab it and take it from him this time, which led to Abby needing to find another way to take control, was another one of those cool wrinkles in this match-up. It's also a match-up with a ton of great payback spots. Abby takes control by punting Colon in the balls, so later on Colon punts Abby in the balls right back (though this is PR, where everybody punts everybody in the balls). Abby had his fork confiscated early in the match, but later Colon pulls out a fork of his own and stabs Abby in the stomach, then towards the end Abby somehow produces ANOTHER fork and carves up Colon's forehead. Eventually the ref' takes a crazy bump to the floor and Colon and Abby brawl around the place for a while before there's a Dusty Finish, which then leads to more brawling and stabbing. I had an absolute blast with this. Loved it.

[WingedEagle]

Punches, headbutts, forks and blood. These two are at their best together with a frenetic pace, violence and blood. I actually prefer them wildly trading punches and short range attacks with limited weapons to bring on the blood. Abby going after Colon's eyes is just nasty, which is definitely a theme on this disc having already seen Invader/Kamala and the LeDuc barbed wire match.

 

Colon with a nice payback spot as he pulls a fork from his boot and goes to work on Abby. We get a cartwheel because that's crack to these fans, which is a very good thing. Some crazy exaggerated selling on the floor from Abdullah as Colon stays on the attack with punches and slamming him into the table. Ref bump, Colon cover with no ref and eventually Abby steals. I preferred their matches that opened the set and from 6/15/86 to this one but it was still a lot of fun with the blood and was another on this disc that felt like a quick, hot TV match.

 

***

[Migs]

Dig the shot of the ref getting in between them to take the fork away. Dedication!

 

I like the progression (I presume) of Colon deciding to use his own fork to deal with Abby. Again, love Colon's comeback, even if it's mostly just punching and kicking.

 

The body slam looked cool, and the butt drop was nice too. Two separate ref bumps. Oh great, a Dusty finish.

 

Still can't totally get into these Colon-Abby matches.

 

**1/2

[dawho5]

That ref went the extra mile this match. Taking the fork from Abby after a ridiculously long struggle. Then that absurd looking bump to the floor. Only to be back up quicker than most refs after a wrestler merely runs into them. Great strike exchanges throughout and I love this matchup.