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Former ECW World Heavyweight Champion Sabu was recently interviewed by Dave Spindler of WrestleTalk TV in the UK. He was asked about the end of his relationship with the original ECW, and his short stint with the WWE's own ECW brand. He was joined by his valet Genie Melissa. He objected to Spindler introducing here as “the woman who accompanies Sabu to the ring these daysâ€, noting that she also helps him win matches. Spindler asked if she was a weapon, and both said that she was a “deadly, dangerous weaponâ€. Sabu called her "loveable" too, although she did not agree so much.
The downfall of the original ECW
Note: Towards the end of Sabu’s run in the original ECW, Sabu was double-booked for an ECW event as well as a New Japan event. Sabu choose to honour the New Japan booking for just one night, but to remain with ECW full-time after that. However, ECW booker Paul Heyman took this to be Sabu’s resignation, and publicly fired Sabu on air.
• Sabu was asked what the original ECW meant to him. Sabu said “it was just another payday, it didn’t mean anythingâ€, but added that it became “like a family towards the endâ€.
• Spindler brought up the double-booking. He suggested that Sabu chose to go to New Japan because it was the bigger payday and his career was in Japan. Sabu only agreed with the bigger payday part. He said that the double-booking was an accident, but they were offering 10 times more for that one show than Heyman was paying him. His plan was to do that 1 New Japan show, and remain with ECW full-time. He explained it to Heyman in advance. However, Heyman took it the wrong way and assumed that Sabu was leaving ECW for good.
• Sabu admitted that Heyman hurt his feelings when Heyman fired him on a live show. Sabu had built himself up before joining ECW, and then ECW used his reputation to build itself up. ECW did not build Sabu, so Heyman had no right to claim that Sabu owed him. But he had already told Heyman that he would stay with ECW and make up for that one show he missed. He noted that he was booked for a triple threat tag team match, so there were at least 5 guys who could cover for him.
• Sabu was asked about his opinion of Heyman. He said that “As a wrestling mind and all that, he’s a genius. As a person, he’s the devilâ€. Spindler was shocked at the comparison, so Sabu said Heyman wasn't that cool, but if he was cooler then he would be the devil.
• Sabu admitted that Heyman was smarter than him when it came to wrestling and maybe smarter than Vince McMahon too. He believes that this is the reason why McMahon is keen to keep Heyman under contract, to make sure that nobody else can get him.
• Sabu refused to give any specific examples of bad things Heyman did, but said that some of those things led to ECW going out of business. He didn’t like how Heyman humiliated people he fell out with on television. He believed that punishments should be private and handled backstage or in paycheques. Sabu felt that there was no point in humiliating someone on television, and hurting their career and marketability, thus making it harder for ECW to make money with them. He added that Heyman also hurt people’s personal lives, but didn’t go into detail.
• He claimed that Heyman had killed a baby, but quickly admitted that it was a joke. Both Sabu and Spindler said on the record that there was no truth to that claim.
• Spindler mentioned that a huge part of Sabu’s persona was his use of wooden tables and steel chairs, and that a lot of current wrestlers have copied that. Sabu said that his uncle (The Sheik) once told him that Sabu had made using weapons legal. In the past, using objects was against the rules. But now fans encourage wrestlers to use steel chairs instead of booing them.
• Spindler mentioned that ECW became quite big before it closed down, and asked Sabu why that was. Sabu said it was because ECW talent were doing things that no other company was doing; like swearing, using objects in every match and getting each other pregnant. He quickly added that he avoided pregnancy storylines because he felt that they were an embarrassment. Back on subject, the angles and matches were “far-fetchedâ€, which is why people like them. He claimed that the matches were not good, but just good beatings.
• Spindler asked Sabu why he thinks ECW went out of business. Sabu said that Heyman blamed Sabu himself. Heyman had even tried to sue Sabu, claiming that his “departure†damaged the company and it never recovered. But Sabu said that ECW had been going out business for a year before that, because a lot of people were not getting paid. Sabu claimed that he had been unpaid the most. He rubbished claims that he was the highest paid star because he had missed so many payments.
• Spindler struggled to ask a question about talent leaving ECW. Sabu said that the roster got raided by WWE and WCW. The talent were choosing guaranteed high-money contracts over not getting paid at all. He said that it had gotten so bad that nobody was getting paid at all at one point.
• Even though he had said twice that he was missing payments, he was asked if he had ever experienced not being paid. Sabu said that he had upheld every booking for several months before noticing that he hadn’t been paid during that time period. He only noticed when he almost went bankrupt. He discovered that all of the paycheques he had received had all been rejected, and that he is still owed “hundreds of thousands of dollarsâ€.
WWE’s ECW brand
Note: The WWE tried to launch their own version of ECW as a third brand in 2006. It began with two ‘ECW One Night Stand’ events in 2005 and 2006. Sabu competed on both shows. Then Sabu was a part of the brand during its first year. He was released just before he completed the first year of his WWE contract due to backstage issues.
• Sabu was asked how he felt about the 2 ONS shows. He said he liked that both events were a gathering of the old gang from the original ECW. He really liked the first show in particular. He liked his match on the second show, but he hated the card. He said that the second show was too diluted with WWE guys, with most matches featuring guys that had never competed in the original ECW.
• He was asked if it was hard working for the ECW brand because it tarnished the legacy of the original company. Sabu said that before he signed with the WWE, management had told him that they wanted to keep the Sabu character unchanged. Sabu had been promised creative control over most of his matches. Sabu had also asked for more money than he was offered, and received it. After three months, they began changing the character and directed all of his matches. He felt that they had lied to him.
• Spindler asked if they changed his money, and Sabu said no. Sabu told him that the money was always great and was never an issue.
• He did say that the WWE had tried to change his career. They wanted him to speak more often and do things he didn’t want to do. He kept getting warned by Dean Malenko for arriving late to venues. All they wanted was for Sabu to put over their younger talent. He said that the WWE could’ve told him that from the start so he could have told them “Noâ€.
• He said again that the money was great and was never a problem.
• Sabu said he liked working with John Cena. Cena had told him that the very first wrestling show that he had attended was the ECW event in which Sabu had his jaw broken by Taz.
• Spindler told him that a lot of people left the WWE complaining about Cena, but Sabu said that he liked him as a wrestler. He suggested that anyone who “talked s**t†about Cena was jealous. He said that Cena was obviously good enough because he had been on top for so many years.
• Spindler pointed out that the majority of fans do not like Cena. Sabu interrupted him and told him that things were twisted now. Fans cheer for villains and that heroes were not the bad guys. He said that Cena was being booed because he is a hero. The younger fans who buy into wrestling still cheer for Cena. He said it was the “hardcore smart asses†that don’t like Cena and cheer for the bad guys.
• Sabu was asked about his “not speaking†gimmick. He told a story about watching a wrestling TV show with his mother. They watched several wrestlers of all levels cutting long-winded promos. His mother made Sabu promise not to embarrass her like that with such awful promos. The 15-year-old Sabu promised that his character wouldn’t talk at all. He is shy and doesn’t like talking in real-life anyway. McMahon wanted him to talk more and cut promos to become a likeable babyface. Sabu told McMahon that this didn’t make sense for the Sabu character and fans would not get behind it. However, McMahon refused to see it that way.
WWE Hall Of Fame
• Sabu has no idea what his legacy will be or what he would like for it to be. He claimed that a true artist isn’t appreciated until he is dead, so we will find out then what his legacy will be. Spindler said that he hopes this will not be for a long time yet.
• Spindler asked Sabu if he will ever be in the WWE Hall Of Fame. Sabu said he won’t, but he doesn’t really care about it. He would rather be inducted into the Pro Wrestling Hall Of Fame in either Iowa or Amsterdam, New York.
• He said that he didn’t like the WWE Hall Of Fame because it is just a money-making device for the WWE. It is not about the wrestlers. He brought up the baseball hall of fame, and noted that they only induct the greatest managers or players. They have never inducted someone for singing the National Anthem before a game.
• (Note from Tired : Comedians Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were inducted into the baseball hall of fame because of a comedy sketch they did about odd player names.)
• He said that the WWE Hall of Fame was fake and would not accept an invitation if he got it. He then changed his mind and said that he would accept it, but would then call the WWE m***********s in his acceptance speech.
• Genie Melissa brought up Bruno Sammartino and how he had rejected the WWE HoF for several years. She and Sabu both believed that Sammartino knew that it was a fake and just a money making scheme for the WWE. They theorised that Sammartino knew that his induction would generate a lot of income, so he agreed to be inducted to make sure that he and his family got the money instead of the WWE.
The downfall of the original ECW
Note: Towards the end of Sabu’s run in the original ECW, Sabu was double-booked for an ECW event as well as a New Japan event. Sabu choose to honour the New Japan booking for just one night, but to remain with ECW full-time after that. However, ECW booker Paul Heyman took this to be Sabu’s resignation, and publicly fired Sabu on air.
• Sabu was asked what the original ECW meant to him. Sabu said “it was just another payday, it didn’t mean anythingâ€, but added that it became “like a family towards the endâ€.
• Spindler brought up the double-booking. He suggested that Sabu chose to go to New Japan because it was the bigger payday and his career was in Japan. Sabu only agreed with the bigger payday part. He said that the double-booking was an accident, but they were offering 10 times more for that one show than Heyman was paying him. His plan was to do that 1 New Japan show, and remain with ECW full-time. He explained it to Heyman in advance. However, Heyman took it the wrong way and assumed that Sabu was leaving ECW for good.
• Sabu admitted that Heyman hurt his feelings when Heyman fired him on a live show. Sabu had built himself up before joining ECW, and then ECW used his reputation to build itself up. ECW did not build Sabu, so Heyman had no right to claim that Sabu owed him. But he had already told Heyman that he would stay with ECW and make up for that one show he missed. He noted that he was booked for a triple threat tag team match, so there were at least 5 guys who could cover for him.
• Sabu was asked about his opinion of Heyman. He said that “As a wrestling mind and all that, he’s a genius. As a person, he’s the devilâ€. Spindler was shocked at the comparison, so Sabu said Heyman wasn't that cool, but if he was cooler then he would be the devil.
• Sabu admitted that Heyman was smarter than him when it came to wrestling and maybe smarter than Vince McMahon too. He believes that this is the reason why McMahon is keen to keep Heyman under contract, to make sure that nobody else can get him.
• Sabu refused to give any specific examples of bad things Heyman did, but said that some of those things led to ECW going out of business. He didn’t like how Heyman humiliated people he fell out with on television. He believed that punishments should be private and handled backstage or in paycheques. Sabu felt that there was no point in humiliating someone on television, and hurting their career and marketability, thus making it harder for ECW to make money with them. He added that Heyman also hurt people’s personal lives, but didn’t go into detail.
• He claimed that Heyman had killed a baby, but quickly admitted that it was a joke. Both Sabu and Spindler said on the record that there was no truth to that claim.
• Spindler mentioned that a huge part of Sabu’s persona was his use of wooden tables and steel chairs, and that a lot of current wrestlers have copied that. Sabu said that his uncle (The Sheik) once told him that Sabu had made using weapons legal. In the past, using objects was against the rules. But now fans encourage wrestlers to use steel chairs instead of booing them.
• Spindler mentioned that ECW became quite big before it closed down, and asked Sabu why that was. Sabu said it was because ECW talent were doing things that no other company was doing; like swearing, using objects in every match and getting each other pregnant. He quickly added that he avoided pregnancy storylines because he felt that they were an embarrassment. Back on subject, the angles and matches were “far-fetchedâ€, which is why people like them. He claimed that the matches were not good, but just good beatings.
• Spindler asked Sabu why he thinks ECW went out of business. Sabu said that Heyman blamed Sabu himself. Heyman had even tried to sue Sabu, claiming that his “departure†damaged the company and it never recovered. But Sabu said that ECW had been going out business for a year before that, because a lot of people were not getting paid. Sabu claimed that he had been unpaid the most. He rubbished claims that he was the highest paid star because he had missed so many payments.
• Spindler struggled to ask a question about talent leaving ECW. Sabu said that the roster got raided by WWE and WCW. The talent were choosing guaranteed high-money contracts over not getting paid at all. He said that it had gotten so bad that nobody was getting paid at all at one point.
• Even though he had said twice that he was missing payments, he was asked if he had ever experienced not being paid. Sabu said that he had upheld every booking for several months before noticing that he hadn’t been paid during that time period. He only noticed when he almost went bankrupt. He discovered that all of the paycheques he had received had all been rejected, and that he is still owed “hundreds of thousands of dollarsâ€.
WWE’s ECW brand
Note: The WWE tried to launch their own version of ECW as a third brand in 2006. It began with two ‘ECW One Night Stand’ events in 2005 and 2006. Sabu competed on both shows. Then Sabu was a part of the brand during its first year. He was released just before he completed the first year of his WWE contract due to backstage issues.
• Sabu was asked how he felt about the 2 ONS shows. He said he liked that both events were a gathering of the old gang from the original ECW. He really liked the first show in particular. He liked his match on the second show, but he hated the card. He said that the second show was too diluted with WWE guys, with most matches featuring guys that had never competed in the original ECW.
• He was asked if it was hard working for the ECW brand because it tarnished the legacy of the original company. Sabu said that before he signed with the WWE, management had told him that they wanted to keep the Sabu character unchanged. Sabu had been promised creative control over most of his matches. Sabu had also asked for more money than he was offered, and received it. After three months, they began changing the character and directed all of his matches. He felt that they had lied to him.
• Spindler asked if they changed his money, and Sabu said no. Sabu told him that the money was always great and was never an issue.
• He did say that the WWE had tried to change his career. They wanted him to speak more often and do things he didn’t want to do. He kept getting warned by Dean Malenko for arriving late to venues. All they wanted was for Sabu to put over their younger talent. He said that the WWE could’ve told him that from the start so he could have told them “Noâ€.
• He said again that the money was great and was never a problem.
• Sabu said he liked working with John Cena. Cena had told him that the very first wrestling show that he had attended was the ECW event in which Sabu had his jaw broken by Taz.
• Spindler told him that a lot of people left the WWE complaining about Cena, but Sabu said that he liked him as a wrestler. He suggested that anyone who “talked s**t†about Cena was jealous. He said that Cena was obviously good enough because he had been on top for so many years.
• Spindler pointed out that the majority of fans do not like Cena. Sabu interrupted him and told him that things were twisted now. Fans cheer for villains and that heroes were not the bad guys. He said that Cena was being booed because he is a hero. The younger fans who buy into wrestling still cheer for Cena. He said it was the “hardcore smart asses†that don’t like Cena and cheer for the bad guys.
• Sabu was asked about his “not speaking†gimmick. He told a story about watching a wrestling TV show with his mother. They watched several wrestlers of all levels cutting long-winded promos. His mother made Sabu promise not to embarrass her like that with such awful promos. The 15-year-old Sabu promised that his character wouldn’t talk at all. He is shy and doesn’t like talking in real-life anyway. McMahon wanted him to talk more and cut promos to become a likeable babyface. Sabu told McMahon that this didn’t make sense for the Sabu character and fans would not get behind it. However, McMahon refused to see it that way.
WWE Hall Of Fame
• Sabu has no idea what his legacy will be or what he would like for it to be. He claimed that a true artist isn’t appreciated until he is dead, so we will find out then what his legacy will be. Spindler said that he hopes this will not be for a long time yet.
• Spindler asked Sabu if he will ever be in the WWE Hall Of Fame. Sabu said he won’t, but he doesn’t really care about it. He would rather be inducted into the Pro Wrestling Hall Of Fame in either Iowa or Amsterdam, New York.
• He said that he didn’t like the WWE Hall Of Fame because it is just a money-making device for the WWE. It is not about the wrestlers. He brought up the baseball hall of fame, and noted that they only induct the greatest managers or players. They have never inducted someone for singing the National Anthem before a game.
• (Note from Tired : Comedians Bud Abbott and Lou Costello were inducted into the baseball hall of fame because of a comedy sketch they did about odd player names.)
• He said that the WWE Hall of Fame was fake and would not accept an invitation if he got it. He then changed his mind and said that he would accept it, but would then call the WWE m***********s in his acceptance speech.
• Genie Melissa brought up Bruno Sammartino and how he had rejected the WWE HoF for several years. She and Sabu both believed that Sammartino knew that it was a fake and just a money making scheme for the WWE. They theorised that Sammartino knew that his induction would generate a lot of income, so he agreed to be inducted to make sure that he and his family got the money instead of the WWE.