Pro wrestler awarded $2.3 million after contracting Hepatitis C in match

George Napolitano
Abdullah the Butcher at the WWE 2011 Hall Of Fame ceremony in 2011.




The surreal world of professional wrestling turned real for Devon Nicholson, whose ring moniker was Hannibal, when he contracted Hepatitis C after a match.


On Tuesday, a judge ruled Nicholson should receive $2.3 million in damages and fees from Abdullah the Butcher, his opponent in the 2007 match in Cochrane, Alberta.



Nicholson claimed he had contracted the disease, which attacks the liver, after the match with Abdullah, real name Lawrence Robert Shreve.



The wrestler from Ottawa claimed that Abdullah the Butcher had '€œbladed' during the match. This is when a wrestler tapes a small razor blade to their finger and cuts themselves.


In 2009, Nicholson signed and then lost a three-year contract with WWE, when the Connecticut-based company discovered he had Hepatitis C.


"Mr. Shreve himself has been saying all along that I'm a liar, that he doesn't have Hepatitis C, he didn't cut me, and I believe the judge made it very clear that, yes, he did cut me ... and yes, he does have a history of Hepatitis C," Nicholson said.


Shreve has 30 days to appeal.


In January 2014, Nicholson said an experimental treatment cured him of Hepatitis C.He hopes to get a chance to become a member of the WWE roster once again.

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My G-d. If all the wrestlers Abby the B bled on throughout the years did something similar, Abby would have to have the resources of a larger Country to pay them off.

Abdullah the butcher is an absolute piece of shit. There are plenty of stories of him cutting people without telling them ahead of time. There is a video of Hulk Hogan saying he was cut without knowing ahead of time. Superstar Billy Graham also claims to have contracted Hep C from this piece of shit.

That's absolutely terrible. It was probably the poor guys dream to be in the WWE and it was ruined by this piece of shit. At least he was awarded the money.