The Sandman’s retirement match has been booked for Joey Janela’s Spring Break, the same event where Sabu wrestled his retirement match last year shortly before passing away. Now the ECW icon is discussing the legacy of his most famous rival.
Sandman discussed Sabu and his retirement match in an interview with Jamal Niaz at Monopoly Events. “Sabu was easily my favorite opponent,” he said. “He was so easy to work with because honestly I didn’t really have to do much in the matches. He would just be flying all over the place putting me through tables and stuff. It was just easy to work with him. It was like, in our business, we call a ‘night off; when you can go out there and work 25 minutes and just have fun. That’s the part of the business that’s great.”
Sandman also talked about the influence Sabu had on American wrestling. “You could see it in Japan and stuff like that, but he brought that style, just all the flipping and stuff like that,” he said. “It wasn’t being done in professional wrestling back in those days. You didn’t see that on Saturday afternoons at WWF shows or something like that. So, he brought something totally different like a wild boy. They just never saw it before. He was great at it.”
A very special opponent has been booked for Sandman’s last match: The Invisible Man.
“He’s going to beat the sh*t out of me,” Sandman said. “And I am not in good shape. Actually, as soon as I get home, I got about 50 days to get ready because, literally, I lay around and do nothing all day. You know, I’ll mow the lawn. That’s about the biggest I’ll do. But yeah, I’m going to actually try and get in a little bit of shape for that match.”
So will this truly be the last we see of the Sandman? “No, because … how many retirement matches did Terry Funk have?” he asked. “I was at his one in Amarillo. I was at one in Japan with him. You know, I can have 50 of these. This is a new start for me. I’ll wrestle till I’m 78.”
Sandman vs. The Invisible Man will take place at Joey Janela’s Spring Break X at Horseshoe Las Vegas on Friday, April 17. Tickets are available here.
