One of the key elements of professional entertainment wrestling is to cut those effortless promos. No matter how good one’s in-ring abilities are, at the end of the day, if your promos aren’t as solid as they should be, it goes all haywire. One such name that eventually couldn’t cook to his utmost was ECW legend Sabu.
Known for his signature hardcore wrestling style, Sabu made a name for himself in the ECW. Between 1995 and 2000, he lifted the ECW World Heavyweight Championship thrice, an ode to his brilliance in the ring.
He also splashed onto the wave of WWE, but sadly, he was fired in 2007 after mixed-bag reactions from the audience. But what exactly did go wrong for the big man is the question to address. However, it also involved the Billion Dollar Princess Stephanie McMahon.
What led to Stephanie McMahon taking the drastic call against Sabu?
In an interview on Rob Van Dam’s podcast, ‘One of a Kind, ’ Sabu revealed that the promos proved to be his unraveling. In a surprise twist, he also added that it was Vince McMahon who actually tried to save his career by offering him a handful of character pivots, which eventually didn’t pan out in his favor.
Furthermore, Sabu revealed that Stephanie McMahon once wanted him to read a script with her. However, he struggled to fathom it. In fact, he went a notch higher and tore apart the paper which had the script. This eventually led him to be taken out of the Elimination Chamber match at the December to Dismember event, and that was followed by him being fired.
Sabu also said that Steph told him to read the script exactly as it is. However, the size of the words daunted him, and he failed to continue with the reading. Stephanie stopped him multiple times in between, stating that Sabu sounded like he was reading the script instead of pulling off a promo.
“I look at the script, rip it up, and walk away. I come back and ask, ‘How was that?’ She says, ‘Do it again.’ I ask, ‘Do what again? That, or your script?’ She says, ‘Do mine.’ I said, ‘Alright, I’ll be right back.’ And I left. I thought they were just going to ignore the promo, but they didn’t. Then they broke my arm, took me out of the match [The Elimination Chamber match at December to Dismember], and I was fired shortly after.”
Despite being fired from the company, Sabu’s legacy is too great to be ignored. Apart from the ECW World Championship, he also won the FTW Heavyweight Championship, ECW World Television Championship, ECW World Tag Team Championship, and the second ECW Triple Crown Championship. His chemistry with Rob Van Dam proved to be a bond to savour not just onscreen but off it, too.
How did Sabu’s career pan out post-ECW?
With all the success in ECW, Sabu had much to look forward to. After the brand’s shutting down, he found himself working for Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling. From thereon, he also fought for TNA before returning to ECW during its brief revival by WWE. It was in 2021 that he decided to hang his boots once and for all.
Sabu takes WWE/ECW to the extreme. (2005 – 2007) ☠️👑 pic.twitter.com/6VY1La0TTa
— Vintage Puroresu プロレス (@vintagepuro) November 12, 2024
Despite not being part of the squared circle, Sabu can still be spotted at signings, conventions, and the assembly of retired wrestlers. He was even seen in the infamous Chris Jericho and Adam Cole segment at Double or Nothing 2023 in AEW. Sabu’s impact on the wrestling fabric was too immense for anyone to write him out, and riding high on that, he went strong despite being fired by WWE.
The story of Vince McMahon trying to save Sabu was just one incident of how the Stamford-based company actually works to keep their superstars rolling. There are isolated incidents that have seen great wrestlers departing from the company, but there is no dearth of careers being saved either. In one such report, it was revealed how Stephanie McMahon saved John Cena’s career after seeing him rapping. At the end of it all, it is a mix and match of how the story rolls.
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