Thank you, Sabu: A roundtable tribute
In this roundtable, the team share their thoughts and memories of the homicidal, suicidal and genocidal wrestling legend, Sabu!
What were your earliest memories of seeing Sabu and what did you think witnessing Sabu’s crazy style for the first time?
Chad Gelfand:
The first time I remember seeing Sabu was on the Rise and Fall of the ECW DVD shortly before his 2006 WWE run. I remember him feeling like almost this mythical creature and his style was unlike any other that I’d ever seen. Controlled chaos would be how I would describe Sabu’s style, and sometimes it wasn’t controlled, but it made him all the more fun to watch.
Jack Goodwillie:
Earliest memory of Sabu, for me, was Legends of Wrestling II on the GameCube. It was the first wrestling game I owned (this was just before Day of Reckoning came out, mind you), and while I knew Hulk Hogan was real, and I knew Eddie Guerrero, who was also in the game was real, every other wrestler in the game felt so outrageous to me that I thought they were made up — that is, until my mom’s friend brought over all her old PWI and WWF Magazine issues one day and I got to see this wrestlers live and in living color.
I got to watch him a little bit in TNA, where I feel he was booked perfectly as this separate attraction that could work with the crazier wrestlers on the roster. It was maybe two years later that he came to WWE, and while I’d heard stories about him from ECW, I was surprised to find just how strong he was booked (initially) upon signing with WWE.
Eventually he would find his way onto the new ECW brand, but key to remember that he worked a short program with John Cena. If Bruce Prichard is to be believed, Vince McMahon actually took a liking to Sabu. Knowing what I know about both, that actually doesn’t surprise me (even if Vince once called Sabu a member of the Taliban on network television).
Juan Bautista:
The first time I got to see Sabu was when he got the run in WWE and a little bit of TNA. The feud with John Cena is very underrated. It’s a shame that ECW wasn’t gonna be anything more than a cash grab that they were slowly gonna kill. He could’ve done so much more. The way he could balance on the top rope was amazing.
James Klonowski:
I was never an ECW fan so wasn’t even aware of Sabu properly until he showed up in WWE in 2006. I thought he looked crazy. He looked ancient, too. Hardly surprising considering his style and substance abuse. His crazed ring style was also off-putting, and looked dangerous, but not in a good way. He looked reckless and out of control, but if that was by design then, bravo, he had me fooled.
Lavie Margolin:
Interestingly it was not directly though watching a tape or attending a show. It was through the pro wrestling magazines. Those Sabu video tape ads in the Apter magazines were classic- seeing him chained to a board with a Hannibal Lecter mask made it clear that something special was going on. I may not have seen a match on television until his brief run in WCW in 1995.
Steven Jackson:
I’ve been thinking about when I first saw Sabu. I initially thought it was during the 2006 WWE vs. ECW feud, but racking my brain, it was around 2003 on The Wrestling Channel. They used to show 3PW (an indie run by The Blue Meanie) and I think it was on one of their shows I saw Sabu for the first time.
Seeing Sabu’s style for the first time blew my mind! The way Sabu ran across the ring and used his body as a weapon was crazy. Watching someone with such little regard for their own safety in the ring was scary, but it didn’t stop me watching. I was also amazed how smooth Sabu could be jumping from the ropes to the floor. Sabu’s Asai Moonsault was a thing of beauty.
Have you got a favourite match or moment from Sabu’s career?
Gelfand:
I didn’t get to see his ECW run live, so seeing him on Raw propel off a chair, balance himself on the top rope and leg drop John Cena through the announce table was one of the craziest things I had seen in my young wrestling watching career up until that point.
I’ve gone back and watched some of Sabu’s feud with Taz in ECW and almost 30 years later it still holds up. Sabu returning to confront Taz at November To Remember 1996, the lights going out, coming back on and Sabu being greeted by a stone-faced cross armed Taz is still an epic moment.
Goodwillie:
Sabu was an excellent foil and partner for Rob Van Dam. If you take away all the weapons and hardcore elements, when you strip down Sabu’s career, that’s what you’re left with — his partnership and rivalry with RVD, AND his incredible feud with Taz, which, for me, is the best thing Sabu ever did.
He and Taz were so different, but the things that drove them were so similar. Thanks to Paul Heyman, Taz was someone who believed his own hype in the ECW heyday. No matter how Taz carried himself, Sabu’s refusal to acknowledge him as the badass Taz saw himself as carried the feud, and even watching it back today, you can cut the tension with a knife.
All that said, one of Sabu’s most underrated opponents was Abyss in TNA. The basis of the feud was unique — after all, in a business that’s driven by talking people into the building, how do you handle a feud between two (mostly) mute characters at the time? You simply need a series of absolute car crash matches. The funny thing is, thumbtacks are traditionally used to end programs.
The thought of falling on a pile of them makes my skin crawl, yet Abyss not only planted Sabu in the tacks in their first pay-per-view match — they went on to have three more! Still, I loved the work these two did together. On one hand, you had a legit powerhouse in Abyss with a sadistic side, and on the other, you had Sabu with his reputation combined with his innovative offense and ability to take the punishment Abyss would dish out. Go back and watch these, they’re free on TNA’s YouTube channel.
Bautista:
When Paul Heyman brought him back to ECW. They were under pressure and all was forgiven for Sabu ditching them. The fans wanted him and he was home.
Klonowski:
I have not. He was never my cup of tea. I’m not a hardcore wrestling fan. I prefer stories and characters. But if I was to choose, it’d have to be his Lumberjack match with John Cena from Vengeance 2006. What a clash of styles that was.
Margolin:
For sure. I wasn’t watching ECW yet but I happened to have been at the 5 year anniversary of Raw at the Manhattan Center. It ended up being the start of the ECW Invasion angle to help ECW promote Barely Legal. Sabu appeared briefly- jumping off the RAW sign. It was so unique at the time.
Jackson:
There are two matches that stand out. One is a favourite match, the other is a favourite moment. My favourite Sabu match is Sabu vs. Cactus Jack from ECW Hardcore TV in Hamburg, PA. It appeared as an extra on Mick Foley’s Greatest Hits and Misses DVD set, and I didn’t expect much, but was I wrong!
The match was totally insane! Sabu and Cactus Jack were polar opposites athletically, but from a mentality standpoint, each of them had no regard for their own safety. There’s so many vicious spots in this match, the most infamous being the shots to the head with the beer bottle. The match doesn’t get talked about enough when I feel it deserves more attention.
My favourite Sabu moment was seeing Sabu and RVD face Jinsei Shinzaki and Hayabusa at ECW Heatwave 1998. Hayabusa was seen as the Japanese Sabu, so having them face one another in the ring was such a cool moment. The match was great too and one of the most famous in ECW history.
Considering how much Sabu sacrificed himself for the wrestling industry, do you feel, like many of Sabu’s peers, that Sabu is underappreciated?
Gelfand:
I do think Sabu is underappreciated. He’s a guy who should have made millions in his career with how much he innovated and helped advance wrestling, but that wasn’t how his career played out. However, he did leave an impact at whatever company he worked in, no matter how short the stint.
Goodwillie:
Amongst the fans and wrestlers? Not at all. Anyone who knows their stuff can tell you how great Sabu was beyond the way he used to put his body on the line. His influence on modern wrestling is also undeniable (more on that later). But I do think he went mostly underappreciated by the real power brokers in wrestling, mostly because he didn’t fit the mold. Make no mistake — Sabu could be his own worst enemy.
Rene Dupree recently told a story of when he wrestled on the same show as Sabu in Europe, and Sabu kept a glass bottle of urine with him that he would use to pass drug test. The urine in that bottle was four years old, and one day, it fell out of his bag and shattered on the ground in the locker room. He also told Paul London once that you can smoke on airplanes if you inhale into the toilet.
He was not for everyone. But unique individuals is what wrestling is ultimately all about, and he was definitely that. His behavior, unfortunately, didn’t mix with him being able to hold a job. That, combined with him spending his best years making no money in ECW, forced him to wrestle long past his expiration date. I’m not going to get into shithousery Joey Janela spewed on X this past week regarding his final match this year at GCW The Collective, but for the memories he gave, it’s undeniable that Sabu gave so much to wrestling only to receive so little in return.
Bautista:
No Sabu wasn’t given his flowers. The upcoming residency for AEW at the 2300 arena will be a love letter to Sabu. When he made his appearance to be by Adam Cole he got some love, but WWE dropped the ball not having him in the Hall of Fame. I’m not sure if any discussions took place, but they can’t keep doing what Baseball is about to do with Pete Rose.
Klonowski:
After doing some research on Sabu following his untimely passing, I was saddened to discover that he wasn’t well compensated for his efforts in the ring. Despite working for every major wrestling promotion on the planet, his bank balance never followed suit. So in that regard, certainly underappreciated. But if you’re not willing to cut promos, it’s only so far you can go.
Margolin:
For sure. The wild stunts have become common place and sometimes platformed on bigger stages (such as the Dudleys using tables in the WWF/WWE). His innovations have been forgotten about.
Jackson:
Yes, I do feel Sabu is underappreciated and I feel part of the reason is that Sabu is misunderstood. The internet sometimes branded Sabu as constantly botching spots, jumping through tables, and cutting himself with barbed wire, which is really unfair. Ironically though, that’s what fans wanted to see Sabu do.
If Sabu went out there later in his career, doing chain wrestling and working a technical style, people wouldn’t have liked it and promoters wouldn’t have got the Sabu they wanted. I feel Sabu didn’t get nearly as much money as he deserved and people underappreciate just how much of an impact Sabu made wherever he went.
I think people also underappreciate just how well Sabu carved his own career, while still paying tribute to his uncle The Sheik. The Sheik was iconic and one of the most influential figures in wrestling history, and Sabu could have easily tried to use that to his advantage. For that, I see Sabu as one of the greatest second generation wrestlers ever.
Is Sabu one of the most influential wrestlers of all-time?
Gelfand:
Sabu’s influence can still be seen in the style of wrestling today. Sabu wrestled in a way where you didn’t know what you were going to see next and sometimes it felt like Sabu didn’t even know what he was going to do next until he did it.
Goodwillie:
Yes he is. For better and for worse. I think weapons, huge spots and sick bumps have a place in wrestling, but should be used in moderation when the story calls for it. Because of the things he would do (not just his spots, but his refusal to protect himself with things like fake barbed wire), everyone could believe that while wrestling might be [insert pejorative descriptor here], Sabu was real — and so, he got over.
The problem is, young wrestlers will see that and think, “I have to be like that, but better,” and they continue to push the envelope. That’s how you get something like what happened with Spyral BKNY and Mike Sydal with the Backflip Styles Clash in CZW. That’s also how you get Jon Moxley impaling himself with a rusty nail on AEW Dynamite (Sabu did once say his favorite weapon would be a nine-inch nail). I think Rob Van Dam is every bit as influential, but more in the right ways than the wrong ways.
Bautista:
Yes hate it or love it he made it popular to use the table. Sabu’s ring attire was different and in a way was part of the wave that changed how the wrestler looked. He was as unique as they came.
Klonowski:
In terms of high risk manoeuvres, not to mention being the first wrestler to bring table spots into the mainstream, you’d have to say, absolutely. A true pioneer in the world of hardcore wrestling, without a shadow of doubt.
Margolin:
He owned and basically created a niche, so yes in that sense.
Jackson:
Absolutely! Sabu’s wrestling style was fusion of hardcore, lucha libre, and American wrestling. Sabu created his own way of working and that went with him wherever he worked. I do think though Sabu did influence his successors to raise the bar even further from a hardcore perspective, which puts themselves and contemporaries at even more risk.
What will Sabu’s lasting legacy be in the wrestling industry?
Gelfand:
Sabu’s legacy will be as an innovator and someone that was one of one in the wrestling business.
Goodwillie:
It’s the influence I wrote about above, but it’s also his commitment to the character, commitment to the art and the love he had for what he did. He was, after all, one of only a small handful of direct disciples from his uncle, Ed Farhat, The Sheik, who to me is one of the most fascinating wrestlers of all time. In wrestling, he’ll be remembered as a true cornerstone of ECW, remembered for his friendship with Rob Van Dam, and remembered as something of a cautionary tale, too.
Bautista:
In a pre 2001 wrestling landscape he made a name for himself as an independent wrestler. He was one of the most exciting wrestlers you could watch. The companies he worked for didn’t define him, but he defined them. Sabu made his family proud and at least he got to honor his Uncle before he passed.
Klonowski:
Hardcore wrestling. One of the greatest to do that style of sports entertainment. A good person by all accounts. A reserved, shy gentleman outside the ring. There’ll never quite be another like him.
Margolin:
An innovator and like his uncle, a mysterious character who lived his gimmick. People believed. Unfortunately, he was also a cautionary tale of giving perhaps too much to the business and losing his health and financial security as a result.
Jackson:
Sabu’s lasting legacy is that of a wrestler who took his art to the extreme (no pun intended). Sabu was the definition of a journeyman. Sabu wrestled around the globe, for so many promotions, and drew fans in, regardless of language barriers. The other key part of Sabu’s lasting legacy was his selflessness.
Sabu helped mentor younger talent, most notably RVD, and was bound by integrity. Sabu didn’t sell out nor allow people to alter his character. He knew his strengths, his weaknesses, and made sure to give his all. #RIPSabu and thanks for everything!
Featured image c/o Pro Wrestling Illustrated.
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