A few months ago I made a video on this channel about Sabu being fired from ECW, and his entire run in WCW that followed in 1995. What I didn’t know at the time, is that there was nearly a return on the cards years later. While reading an old Wrestling Observer for another video, I fell down yet another wrestling rabbit hole, and I learned a lot about how one of ECW's most memorable legends ended up leaving the company for the last time. I thought I’d make a sequel of sorts, and so this video is about what happened.
The story starts at ECW Guilty as Charged on January 9th 2000, where in one of the key matches of the night, Sabu would lose to Rob Van Dam near the end of his epic Television title reign. Earlier in the broadcast, Sabu’s manager Bill Alfonso claimed on the famously mute Sabu’s behalf, “I guarantee if Sabu doesn’t beat Rob Van Dam, he’ll grab his bags and walk out tonight.” As Sabu lost, many thought we had seen the last of him, but as Joel Gertner and Joey Styles explained on the following week’s TNN episode, it was never specified that he would leave the company, only that he would “walk out”, but walk out on who? Rob Van Dam certainly didn’t think this, telling us in a promo that Sabu shouldn’t have gambled his career against RVD, muddying the waters even more.
A week later on TNN, the lights would go out in the arena, and when they came back on, Sabu would appear in the ring. He was seemingly there to side with RVD against the World champion Mike Awesome. This wouldn’t be the case though, as he would turn on Van Dam, attacking him and even putting their shared manager Bill Alfonso through a table, walking out on their long and complicated friendship, I mean sort of friendship. We would later find out in the January 24th Wrestling Observer that the talk of Sabu walking out was a Paul Heyman suggestion, didn't intend for this to imply that Sabu was retiring, or even leaving ECW. This part smells of bullshit, as Paul was clearly being intentionally vague with the phrase “walk out”, trying to make the fans think that Sabu might be leaving. Unbeknownst to even Heyman at this point, Sabu soon would be leaving.
In the same issue, Dave Meltzer claims that Sabu hadn’t been happy with his role in ECW for quite some time. “Sabu, who is 36, is unhappy because it’s clear he can no longer be the star of the company and his role on PPVs is largely to put people over.” Interestingly, a few weeks before Dave wrote this, Wade Keller in the Pro Wrestling Torch noted that “At age 36, Sabu is the oldest wrestler in ECW. Awesome is near the top of the list at 34.” His record on pay per view wasn't too bad though. Despite Sabu recently losing to RVD, as well as Justin Credible and Taz in ‘99, he also beat Chris Candido, and was undefeated on pay per view in ‘98, apart from a draw with Van Dam. That's three losses and a draw in his last eight pay per views, but he still wasn’t in the main event position that he used to be in.
A few days later, ECW would suffer some bad news as two of it’s top babyfaces would go down with injuries. Jerry Lynn had hurt his ankle, and the TV champion Rob Van Dam would break his fibula, leading both to be away for roughly eight weeks. Surely not a great time to lose another top star, but Paul Heyman was about to. His original main event for the upcoming Living Dangerously pay per view was reported to be Sabu and Mike Awesome versus Van Dam and Masato Tanaka. Not that Paul knew it at the time, but he was soon to lose Awesome to WCW as well.
Sabu’s last appearances on ECW television would be on the January 28th TNN episode and the day after on Hardcore TV. On TNN he would attack RVD from behind, building to the Living Dangerously match Paul was aiming towards, but would never happen, and the night after he would defeat CW Anderson in the main event of the episode. During the match, he attacks Anderson’s manager Lou. E Dangerously, whose gimmick was that he impersonated Paul Heyman, and tried to put him through a table but CW moved him out of the way. I wonder what that could have meant. The last sight of Sabu on ECW television is him pinning Anderson after a ropey looking Triple Jump Moonsault where he appeared to low blow himself on CW’s knee. Much like the Lou E. bit, this too felt quite ironic. The week after these matches were taped, Sabu would wrestle Spike Dudley on a house show in St. Petersburg Florida. By this point Sabu may have had enough, or may have seen an opportunity to improve his position in ECW.
WCW
In a 2022 interview with James Romero, Sabu claims that around this time he was approached by Kevin Sullivan and JJ Dillon from WCW. He calls this a Secret meeting, and says about this, “my thinking was I was going to go to WCW, make a buttload of money, then go back to ECW and pick up where I left off. But when I went there somebody seen me and called Paul.” I’m sure this isn’t what he means, but the idea of him sneaking in a WCW run with Paul not noticing was hilarious to me. He later explains that he was meeting with WCW “underhandidly”, but says “my intention was to come back stronger than I was. I could come back with a bigger name and I could carry the company better.” This isn’t much of a spoiler, but Paul Heyman wouldn’t see it this way. The following week’s Observer has a lot more to say about Sabu potentially leaving ECW. A full story details how he had “agreed to a deal on 2/2 with WCW after talks between the two sides had been going on for at least several days, prompting threats of a lawsuit by Paul Heyman and ECW.” Paul was claiming that he had Sabu signed to a contract that lasted until January 2003, which may have been true, but as the Torch explains, “Sabu told WCW officials that ECW had breached his contract on several occasions, therefore, he considered himself a free agent.” Wade Keller goes on to explain the possible issue with Sabu’s belief of this, saying that if Sabu believed his contract had been breached, he was required to provide this in writing, and allow ECW ninety days to rectify the dispute. If more of Paul’s top talent had a similar rule in their contracts, this might explain in part at least, why so many wrestlers stayed with ECW while being owed growing amounts of money. That 90 day part feels like a way for Paul to buy himself some time in financial disputes, and to be clear that’s just me speculating and not anything I’ve read anywhere. It doesn’t sound from any source I’ve read like Sabu put his grievance in writing, and so Paul had him there.
In the same story Keller notes that “WCW wants Sabu to start on the Feb. 14 Nitro because they believe they can showcase him on a show which will be unopposed by Raw.” This edition of Raw was pre-empted by the Westminster Dog Show, and so would have allowed Nitro to air unopposed. Dave Meltzer goes on to note that they even had Sabu pencilled him in for a match at that week’s SuperBrawl pay per view against the Kiss Demon, but Paul Heyman began legal talks on the 7th that halted this. If you’re wondering, the Demon would have to settle for a match against the WALL BROTHER!!! “Heyman on 2/7 said that he was willing to sell his rights to Sabu’s contract to WCW since there is really is no upside to his returning to the company at this point. But he said he wouldn’t simply let him go without something in return, and if no settlement was made, threatened a temporary restraining order against both Brunk and WCW to keep him from appearing on the show as well as threatened a lawsuit and a complaint to the justice department over a contract tampering charge.”
On top of all of this, both newsletters note a part of Sabu’s personal life that may also have prevented him from debuting on Nitro when WCW wanted him to. “Sabu's mother, with whom he is especially close, suffered two heart attacks last week. Sabu has spent nearly every minute of his time by her side ever since and may not be mentally ready to wrestle.” The Torch would report a few weeks later that Sabu’s Mother would leave the hospital feeling better, but still with some health issues. On February 11th 2000 Rob Van Dam, who might have been feuding with Sabu on TV but was close with him in real life, would on a call with Slam Wrestling make some interesting comments about what Sabu’s priorities might actually have been. “I’ve talked to Sabu and honestly, he is going through some personal stuff at home right now with his mother being sick. His mother is not doing well right now. She’s in the hospital. And, when I talked to Sabu it’s really not even about business.” Later on when discussing the idea that Sabu leaving will hurt ECW, RVD says “It’s not going to do us in or anything like that. Right now, I don’t even think it’s the most important thing on his mind.” With these comments, Van Dam is implying that Sabu’s mother might well have been his incentive to make that buttload of money that I mentioned earlier, though in nothing I have read is this ever explicitly said.
A week later, it seems that Paul got his way, and Sabu would not be going to WCW afterall. “at this point it appears he won’t even be coming in and his future in the U.S. is temporarily in question. WCW was forced to drop all plans with him due to his contract with ECW, in particular the clause which calls for a filing both with Paul Heyman and with the court in Westchester County in any claim of a breach. WCW in a letter to Heyman said that they have no interest in buying out his contract.” The interesting part there is Dave claiming that Sabu’s future in the US is in doubt. This is because as he later notes, the whole situation seems to have soured Paul on Sabu, who he had fired once before in 1995. “Heyman had indicated to many that he wasn’t interested in using Brunk any longer, but with his own promotion devastated by injuries, that could change.”
Before I leave the subject of WCW, this whole story got me wondering what a Sabu return in 2000 might have looked like? It’s worth noting that the World Championship Wrestling that Sabu was briefly a part of in ‘95, was a very different place to the way the company was in 2000. The nWo wasn’t even a thing yet, and now it was on it’s fortieth iteration. Vince Russo was in creative now. As far as I can tell, Russo may have worked with Sabu in the TNA Asylum years but never for a prolonged period. Perhaps more importantly, by this time WCW had a Hardcore championship, which I’m willing to bet is where Sabu would have ended up on the card. He would likely have been having classics with the likes of Screaming Norman Smiley and Brian Knobbs, or maybe if we were lucky, the entirety of Three Count. Sabu was part of some of the early episodes of Nitro, and if things had played out differently, he could have been on the last ones as well.
FInal Days with ECW
On February 25th and 26th 2000, Sabu would wrestle what became his final weekend of matches for the company on a house show tour of Ohio. First on the Friday, he would defeat Mikey Whipwreck in Toledo, and on the night after in Cincinnati, he would win against Scott D’Amore, who was still an active wrestler at this point. Both were described in the Observer as bad matches, perhaps an indicator of where Sabu’s head was at. As a side note, this would be one of two matches that Scott D’Amore would have for ECW, as on the night before in Toledo he would lose to Chilly Willy. Aye, I’d forgotten him too.
The Torch claimed after Sabu's first weekend back that everything was not resolved though. “Locker room speculation is that Paul Heyman is waiting for Sabu to breech his contract by either no-showing an event or refusing a match finish. Those who know confirm that is the case and say that if either event occurs, Heyman will immediately file a legal complaint.” Sabu would work the weekend with no issues, made easier by Paul Heyman not being at the Toledo event, and he was next advertised for a show at the ECW arena on March 4th. The Torch also notes that the creative plans for a team with Mike Awesome had been dropped, and we would later find out that Sabu’s next feud was set to be against a man who the Observer claimed was being set up to replace Sabu, Super Crazy.
On March 11th, The Torch would report that Sabu was finally done in ECW. Wade Keller explains that Sabu had been allowed to miss the March 3rd show, a TV taping in Asbury Park New Jersey to look after his Mother, but later found out that he had taken an indie booking in Calgary, and was claiming that he couldn’t get to the next show on time. “After arguing the issue with Paul Heyman, Sabu told Heyman that he would only come to the show if ECW were to pay to have former ECW referee, Pee Wee Moore (real name, John Marx), flown in to act as Sabu's witness.” The company would refuse to do this, so Sabu would bring Pee Wee there himself.
Later in the night, a conversation is said to have taken place where Sabu disagreed with his creative. “Heyman handed Sabu a script for his match which was signed and dated and went over the plans with him. The script called for Sabu to interfere in the Super Crazy vs. C.W. Anderson match, and for the match to become a three-way involving Sabu. Sabu was supposed to pin Anderson, but lose to Crazy after missing a table spot. Sabu shook Heyman's hand, thanked him, and then quietly grabbed his gear and left the building.” At this point, Paul Heyman washed his hands of Sabu, claiming he would never work for ECW again. As Wade notes, he had said that about many other talents, but that people were convinced that he meant it this time. “Heyman feels he made a good faith effort to work things out with Sabu, even after Sabu signed a deal with WCW while under ECW contract. Heyman wants to set a precedent with Sabu, letting other wrestlers know that they will not be able to walk out on their contracts. Sabu would still like to sign with WCW, but Heyman is telling people he will not allow that to happen.” As best I can tell, Sabu remained under contract with ECW, leaving his status to work elsewhere in the US in question.
For what it’s worth, Dave Meltzer published a more cynical take on what happened, noting that nobody else in ECW was ever presented with a script like Sabu was on March 4th, and this was likely done should more legal back and forth take place. He also implies that Heyman expected to get the reaction that he did out of Sabu. “It’s pretty clear that Heyman knew ahead of time that Sabu would never put over Crazy because Sabu is stuck in that Ed Farhat mentality about doing jobs, and he feels he’s done enough of them.” One thing that is unclear in the Observer much like in the Torch was Sabu’s contractual status, whether Sabu was fired or if Heyman kept him under contract. One thing is for sure though, Heyman wasn’t going to let him out of his deal to go to World Championship Wrestling.
So if Sabu didn’t re-join WCW, or even go to WWF, where did he work? In April he would debut for ECW’s west coast rival Xtreme Pro Wrestling. He would make his first appearance at And Then There Was Four on April 15th, failing to win the XPW World title in a three way dance against Shane Douglas and the champion Chris Candido, a match he was a late addition to. Two weeks later on April 29th, with the title being vacated when Candido signed with WCW, Sabu would win a one night tournament to become their new World champion. Sabu would defeat Daniam Steele, Kronus and the Messiah to win the title, and he would hold it for over a year before being stripped of it for no-showing an event. While he would return to FMW and All Japan, and wrestle on some indies, XPW seemed to be his main promotion in the US, at least until the early days of TNA, where he would also appear sporadically.
All of this took place during an already difficult time for ECW, with several top wrestlers readying to leave, a bad relationship with TNN soon to end, and Paul’s new crop of main eventers not quite ready to take the top spots yet. Paul had to be feeling the pressure, and no doubt didn’t need another of his top talents appearing on Nitro. It seems that it took a while for the two to make amends, as Sabu claims in the James Romero interview that Heyman would block Sabu being a part of the Invasion storyline in 2001. Sabu says “I was on bad terms with Paul, and Vince was talking to Paul and he wasn’t talking to me.” He goes on to say that he almost wasn’t on the first One Night Stand event in 2005 where he would wrestle Rhino, perhaps replacing Rob Van Dam who was injured.
While Sabu didn’t have the best of endings in ECW, to this day twenty five years later, he is one of the names that is most associated with the promotion. As I’ve shown in this and my last video about Sabu, he also had one of the most turbulent relationships with the company, and with Paul Heyman, but there’s really no denying his legacy. While others went on to be WWE Superstars, other wrestlers you look at and memories of ECW come flooding back to mind, and Sabu is one of those, maybe the best of those.
Sources:
WON Jan 24th 00 Sabu not happy and Van Dam stip https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/january-24-2000-wrestling-observer-newsletter-wcw-souled-out-review/
PWTorch January 8th 00 Sabu’s age https://members.pwtorch.com/torchbackissues00/torch583/T583ECWNews.html
WON Feb 7th 00 RVD and Lynn injuries https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/february-7-2000-wrestling-observer-newsletter-radicalz-debut-wwf-rock/
WSI interview, 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTvLMbxQySA
PWTorch Feb 12 00 Torch Full story https://members.pwtorch.com/torchbackissues00/torch588/T588WCWNews.html
WON Feb 14th 00 Full story https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/february-14-2000-wrestling-observer-newsletter-vince-mcmahon-announces/
PWTorch Feb 28th Sabu’s Mother follow up https://members.pwtorch.com/torchbackissues00/torch590/T590ECWNews.html
Slam Wrestling Feb 11 00 RVD comments on Sabu’s Mother https://slamwrestling.net/index.php/2000/02/11/sabu-departure-downplayed/
PWTorch Feb 19 00 Sabu not going, Pauls comments https://members.pwtorch.com/torchbackissues00/torch589/T589ECWNews.html ADD THIS IN
WON Feb 21st 00 Sabu not going to WCW https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/february-21-2000-wrestling-observer-newsletter-1999-attendence-numbers/?
PWTorch Mar 4th Sabu back in ECW https://members.pwtorch.com/torchbackissues00/torch592/T592ECWNews.html
PWTorch Mar 11th Sabu walks out https://members.pwtorch.com/torchbackissues00/torch593/T593ECWNews.html
WON Mar 13th Daves take on Sabu walking out https://members.f4wonline.com/wrestling-observer-newsletter/march-13-2000-wrestling-observer-newsletter-beyond-mat-controversy-new/
No comments:
Post a Comment