WWE Hall of Famer and new AEW on-screen personality Mick Foley recently discussed his history in hardcore wrestling. Speaking on Something To Wrestle With, Foley recalled the time that he made Sabu ‘cry’ from a chairshot.
“I’ve seen Sabu get what would have been 100 stitches for anyone else [during matches]. But he’s super glus it, and instead of stopping the match, he just comes back out. It’s one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen, his genie pants are torn to shreds.
“But I remember hitting him [with a chair], and Sabu had tears coming down his eyes. And he goes, ‘am I bleeding? Am I bleeding?’ He did a moonsault and overshot me, he just flew over my head and impaled himself in the guardrail. And he was just going, ‘give me time, give me time, give me time.’ And then he came back [like nothing happened]. So we’re talking about a tough dude…and I kind of brought him to tears.“
Foley didn’t confirm which match this happened in, but it was likely in ECW.
Mick Foley vs Sabu
Foley and Sabu have 7 official matches against each other listed on Cagematch, and they are as follows:
#
Date
Promotion
Match fixture
1
11.09.1997
Terry Funk’s WrestleFest
Mankind vs. Sabu
2
29.12.1995
ECW
Cactus Jack vs. Sabu
3
21.10.1995
AAA
Cactus Jack, Psicosis & Sabu vs. Rey Misterio Jr., Super Calo & Winners
4
13.01.1995
National Wrestling Conference
Cactus Jack vs. Sabu
5
29.10.1994
National Wrestling Conference
Cactus Jack vs. Sabu
6
30.09.1994
ECW
Cactus Jack vs. Sabu
7
24.06.1994
ECW
Cactus Jack vs. Sabu
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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.
Josh and Warren talk about AEW Double or Nothing, a show that saw two Owen Hart tournament winners, a big round of WWE cuts and events like Backlash and Saturday Night’s Main Event, all the happenings in NXTNAAA, Japan and the rest of the wrestling world.
Of course, they talk about the passing of Sabu at just 60 years old.
Over 300 headlines are scoured and discussed, so get out of that turkey coma and join them on the fifth entry into the year in review series.
Dave Meltzer and I are back with the Friday edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, talking about all the big news from today’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Here were some of the things we discussed:
AEW WrestleDream business
WWE’s main event roster depth
AEW Dynamite ratings
John Muse’s Sabu WON HOF case
Friday’s Arena Mexico show
The politics surrounding Hiroshi Tanahashi’s retirement match
AEW heads to Arena Mexico, reaction of talent, background and key facts about Arena Mexico and wrestling history, the rise, fall and comeback of Mistico, the quadruple crown of wrestlers and even announcers and full coverage of the Tuesday and Wednesday night shows as well as this past Friday’s show.
Where New Japan stands today with its reset at Dominion, full coverage of the show, plus news ands thoughts regarding the G-1 Climax tournament
WWE preparing many major shows over the next few weeks
Coverage of TripleMania Regia
Vince McMahon, Linda McMahon and TKO make arguments to get out of the ringboys lawsuit and what statements made by McMahon and Gorilla Monsoon more than 30 years don’t look good regarding this case
A look at U.K. women’s wrestling pioneer and Scottish Hall of Famer Rusty Blair.
The most detailed look at the ratings of all the major shows
CMLL’s biggest show of the year announced
Konnan praises Corey Graves
A new television milestone reached this past month and an explanation of what it means
The U.S. team going to the world championships in Croatia
Hogan & Bischoff RAF promotion announces debut show and a very bad sign regarding their actual interest
Notes on two of the best attended indie shows of the year on the same night
El Hijo del Santo’s last match in Mexico as scheduled today
AEW women stars working in Europe
Advanced ticket sales for WWE, AEW and TNA shows
Tony Khan does interview, gets criticized regarding how he presented the info
More on Dana White and Nick Khan’s boxing project with Turki Alalshikh
What is the value of the UFC PPV shows?
Aaron Pico vs. Moovsar Evloev and what that says about UFC’s intentions
Reports on Vince McMahon getting back involved and what is and isn’t viable
Realities of AEW TV rating year-to-year
Gunther vs. Goldberg notes
Goldberg talks about why he’s coming back
Michelle McCool talks saving Undertaker’s life twice
Liv Morgan’s injury and changes that have to be made
— Bryan Alvarez and I will be back tonight talking about WWE Night of Champions, what we can learn from AEW in Mexico City, weekend shows, Jon Jones and the rest of the weekend news.
— Those in WWE have said that they are monitoring the situation, which is about all you can say, regarding the situation in the Middle East after the bombing in Iran by the U.S. yesterday. I know that a Vince McMahon-led WWE would be going unless being prohibited from going. But with this regime, we have to let it play out. It’s certainly something to be concerned about, but it is early to make a final decision on.
As of right now, the U.K. government has advised against travel in southern Saudi Arabia near the Yemen border and anything but essential travel in the same area. Riyadh is listed as a place to check on travel advice before traveling.
— We’re looking for your thoughts on Friday night’s Fantasticamania show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected].
— The two weekend bouts I’ve been hearing about are the Sareee IWGP Women’s title win over Syuri at the Stardom show yesterday at the Yoyogi Gym in Tokyo, and the Bandido & Hologram win over Mistico & Mascara Dorada from Friday’s Fantasticamania which ended with Bandido pinning Mistico clean by reversing La Mistica into a cradle. There were post-match challenges for a singles match for next week but that is not a certainty if it will happen until the lineup gets announced. I did see the latter match and it was incredible.
— More than 53,000 fans attended the events at Arena Mexico from 6/13 to 6/20.
— A memorial funeral for Sabu took place yesterday in Lansing, MI, where he grew up. Many family members were there. A lot of area wrestlers were there including Scott D’Amore, Mickey Doyle and Monty Brown. Sabu’s classmates when he was trained by The Sheik, Rob Van Dam, Judge Dredd, Sampson and Tommy Starr were there. Sampson and Dredd shared many stories of their early days in training. Jimmy Jacobs talked about wrestling Sabu when he was 19. Referee Brian Gorie spoke. Joey Janela spoke about Sabu’s final match. JR Coates, the brother of Sabu’s longtime girlfriend the late Melissa Coates, gave an emotional speech about his sister, his own relationship with Sabu and their friendship. Van Dam gave a tearful eulogy and calling Sabu his best friend. (thanks to Leonard Brand)
— Looking for reports from last nights’ TNA tapings in Pittsburgh, results, finishes and highlights, to [email protected]. We’re also looking for reports on today’s RevPro show at York Hall in London.
— For Google searches this weekend, Jon Jones’ retirement had 200,000 searches. Dana White today basically confirmed what had been said about Jones agreeing on the money deal to face Tom Aspinall and that it would take place in November in Madison Square Garden. He said Jones backed out and he said you’d have to ask Jones why. Jones had another arrest in February that was just reported yesterday when White said he had called to say he was retiring which Jones corroborated. Aspinall is now officially the UFC world heavyweight champion and has no viable money contenders. White also indicated they are not interested in Francis Ngannou returning.
— The only other stuff to crack the top 20 for searches are last night’s UFC show at 155,000 and Claudio Castagnoli (he’s fine and should be back soon after missing the shows this week) with 20,000. That’s probably also due to John Cena mentioning him in the promo on Friday and him not being on the AEW shows which are independent of each other.
— White also said that for 9/13, the UFC Noche show in San Antonio will end before Canelo Alvarez vs. Terrence Crawford starts. He said you will be able to watch the UFC main event and then watch the Alvarez fight on Netflix.
— Fantasticamania U.K. joint shows with CMLL and RevPro take place on 10/18 at The Hangar in Wolverhampton. There will be both an afternoon and an evening show.
— Best wishes to Flash Morgan Webster who announced that he has undergone surgery for appendicitis.
— WWE LFG returns for its new season in its new time slot of 10 p.m. Eastern on A&E tonight. All the coaches (other than Michelle McCool replacing Mickie James) and some of the talent in season one is being brought back.
— At TNA’s Saturday TV taping in Pittsburgh, they announced the signings of Jada Stone and Mila Moore.
— 46-year-old Andrei Arlovski returned to action at last night’s Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship event in Fort Worth, TX, winning via stoppage at the end of the fourth round against Josh Copeland. Another former UFC star, Jessica Eye, won a five-round decision over Mariya Agapova. Eye trended on Google as well.
— Juggalo Championship Wrestling and GCW are doing a joint show from The Majestic Theater in Detroit on 7/17 called Showcase Showdown: The Violence is Right. It will air on Triller+.
Dave Meltzer and I, Garrett Gonzales, are back with our Friday edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, talking about all the big news from today’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
He leads off with a brief look at the life of Sabu with a longer obituary to come.
He then goes into Thursday’s news that WWE WrestleMania 42 will not take place in New Orleans with Las Vegas as the likely destination in 2026 and more often beyond.
Dave previews a big wrestling weekend that includes WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event, AEW Double or Nothing, NXT Battleground and TNA Under Siege.
All that and more awaits because reading is your friend.
A documentary chronicling the journey to Sabu’s final match is set to be released soon.
Titled “SABU,” the documentary is from filmmaker Joe Clarke and has Sabu’s best friend Rob Van Dam serving as a producer. A release date has not been announced yet, but it’s listed as “coming soon” and will debut at some point in 2025. The teaser trailer can be seen below:
Here is the official description for the film:
‘SABU’ is an intimate documentary that follows the enigmatic career of professional wrestler Sabu as he seeks closure in his storied life—a final match. From his tumultuous upbringing under the influence of The Sheik to the electrifying days of ECW, Sabu reflects on his evolution as a performer and the extreme style that defined his legacy. The film captures the highs and lows of his journey, including personal challenges, injuries, and the emotional turmoil that shaped him both inside and outside the ring.
Sabu — an ECW legend who was influential in shaping the modern style of pro wrestling — passed away on May 11 just a few weeks after competing in his final match. His last time in the ring was a victory over Joey Janela in a no ropes barbed wire match for Game Changer Wrestling on April 18.
RVD and Clarke also worked together for the concussion documentary “Headstrong,” which was released in 2019. RVD said that, prior to Sabu’s death, Clarke spent several months working on this new documentary with him.
“He had been working with Sabu for a long time, several months, on filming a documentary,” RVD said. “Just a few weeks ago, they were over here. Sabu and I were working out in my gym and hanging out in my sauna… I can’t wait to see the footage that he has now. And of course the ending is definitely going to be a little different than they planned on.”
Sabu’s cause of death is not known yet. RVD noted that, because Sabu and his ex-wife Hitomi never got officially divorced, some things are delayed because her permission is needed. She is living in Japan and has not wanted to get involved in the process.
It’s Sunday and time for Wrestling Observer Live with Andrew Zarian.
As last week’s show was done before his passing, Andrew reflects on Sabu’s wrestling career and discusses some of his better matches, his influence on modern wrestling, and his legacy.
He also talks about Jeff Cobb/JC Mateo getting a name change on WWE SmackDown, plus the rest of the show that included a great tag team match, Giulia officially on the blue brand, and the emergence of Tiffany Stratton as a top star.
He also discusses the key points from this week’s AEW Dynamite including Gabe Kidd aligning himself with the Death Rider, setting up Anarchy in the Arena at next weekend’s Double or Nothing.
Also, he has thoughts on Saturday’s Collision and the abrupt ending of the live feed on Max and TBS, a look at Double or Nothing card and WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event, and more.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Lance Storm is back with tons to talk about including health updates on Jim Ross and Hulk Hogan, the death of Sabu and Lance’s thoughts on blaming Joey Janela and GCW, why Beach Break did well in the ratings, TNA thoughts, tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Rob Van Dam doesn’t place any blame on Game Changer Wrestling for the death of his best friend Sabu.
On Thursday night, RVD and Taz did a live stream sharing their memories of Sabu following his passing. RVD also addressed the controversy that emerged this week after Joey Janela revealed that Sabu’s final match at Joey Janela’s Spring Break 9 almost didn’t happen. Sabu could barely walk because of issues with his knee and feet, but Sabu’s team gave him kratom — a federally legal substance — to help him get through the no ropes barbed wired match. Fans on social media have criticized Janela and GCW for allowing the match to still happen.
“All the heat that’s gone to Joey Janela and GCW? Ridiculous,” RVD said. “I’ve read comments from social media followers that say, ‘GCW should be arrested on manslaughter.’ Wait, regardless of the cause of death, three weeks later? Thank god these people aren’t actually in control actually making real decisions.”
Sabu died on May 11, less than a month after defeating Janela at Spring Break. A cause of death has not been released yet. RVD said that, because Sabu and his ex-wife Hitomi never got officially divorced, there is a hold-up with needing her permission for some things. She is living in Japan and doesn’t want anything to do with the situation.
RVD said Sabu using kratom for the Spring Break match had “nothing to do” with him dying three weeks later. RVD called himself an advocate for kratom, which he believes helps a lot of people with pain, sleep issues, and anxiety. He uses kratom regularly, and Sabu would use it every day.
“A lot of my friends have been able to quit taking opiates and take kratom. A lot of followers have told me and thanked me for talking about kratom because they’ve done the same thing,” RVD said. “Can you get addicted to kratom? You can get addicted to f*cking chocolate. If you’re a person that’s going to be addicted to stuff, then stay away from everything. The answer to that is, sure it’s possible. Can you take too much? Sure.”
Sabu vs. Janela was billed as Sabu’s retirement match, but Sabu felt like he still had one more match left in him after it was over. Sabu told RVD that he was interested in facing him if RVD was up for it.
“People are saying, ‘Shame on GCW for allowing a 60 year old to get in the ring and have a match like that.’ And I can tell you, he was my closest dude friend, closest person to me next to Katie Forbes right here. And I can tell you that he was 61 and he wanted that,” RVD said. “He wanted that for a long time. In fact, Joe Clarke, we’ve had him on the show before, Joe Clarke and I made my documentary on concussions called ‘Headstrong’ which is on Amazon. He had been working with Sabu for a long time, several months, on filming a documentary. Just a few weeks ago, they were over here. Sabu and I were working out in my gym and hanging out in my sauna… I can’t wait to see the footage that he has now. And of course the ending is definitely going to be a little different than they planned on. He was training. He was wanting to have this big retirement match, so much that when it got down to it, he knew that he had more in him, you know?
“One thing that he said when I saw him after his match with Joey Janela — he said, ‘I got one more match in me. If you’re still interested in doing that barbed wire match, I’m interested.’ Because I had talked to him before about being the guy that’s his last opponent, which a lot of people would think, easy, of course you’re going to do that. But he said, ‘No, that’s cheating.’ Just like he thinks two brothers wrestling each other is cheating, from his perspective, because they grew up and they know each other too well.”
RVD said he didn’t really want to do a barbed wire match, but Sabu could have possibly talked him into it if it was really going to be his retirement match.
There was some incorrect information reported about Sabu that RVD wanted to clarify. Sabu’s legal name wasn’t Terrance Brunk, it was Terry Brunk. He was born in Michigan and not New York. And Sabu was 61 years old when he died instead of 60.
John LaRocca and I, Garrett Gonzales, are back to talk about the major topics in the world of wrestling on this week’s Fight Game Podcast.
We kicked off this show by giving out our Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down winners and losers of the week before hitting the major AEW and WWE topics of the week.
Here are some of the things we talked about:
John’s story about working a show with Sabu
John’s thoughts on WWE Backlash
Who the best babyface in wrestling is
Saturday Night’s Main Event & AEW Double or Nothing cards so far
While the main stories coming out of Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite Beach Break were focused on this month’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view, several other happenings made news.
Video: Taz honors Sabu
With the passing of the legendary Sabu this past weekend, his former partner and frequent opponent Taz took some time to honor his friend during the broadcast — getting understandably emotional in doing so.
When she first came out, she entered to new music that was considerably different than her original. The backlash to the new entrance song caught fire on social media and caught the attention of Tony Khan during the match, resulting in him going back to her old song when the match ended.
The impending debut of former Stardom wrestler Thekla continues to be teased.
During the aforementioned women’s four-way, the black and red spider graphic once again appeared on screen as the match was going on. It’s unknown when “The Toxic Spider” will debut, but she has reportedly signed her contract.
On a new Pacific Rim with Jim Valley, he and co-host Fumi Saito remembers Sabu, his friend of over 30 years.
Fumi fills in a lot of Sabu’s history going back to his uncle — the “Original” Sheik Ed Farhat — Sabu’s training and upbringing in the business, his real age (not the one widely reported), his three wrestling influences on which he based his in-ring style, an act of kindness Hana Kimura’s mother never forgot, and much more.
Enjoy stories and a side of Sabu you won’t hear anywhere else.
CM Punk, who also paid tribute to Sabu, wrote on Instagram: “He influenced everyone and everything. You read about him and when you finally saw him, he somehow exceeded the expectations. He was infamous. There will never be another. SABU.”
This past Sunday’s episode of ‘Family Guy’ featured characters wearing Excalibur and Matt Classic masks. Colt Cabana wrote on social media: “When your brother is the director of @FamilyGuyonFOX, sometimes your favorite masked wrestlers make an appearance.”
Barstool Sports covered a viral clip featuring Ninja Mack performing multiple consecutive backflips in and out of the ring during his Best of the Super Juniors match against Robbie X from this past weekend.
Deadline is reporting that Kevin Nash will join the cast of the upcoming independent dramedy film ‘Caroline’.
Jake Roberts provided an update following his heart surgery: “I’m out of surgery, recovering well, and feeling good. Appreciate everyone who prayed and gave their words of encouragement. Back in action again soon. #TrustMe”
Paul Walter Hauser is out of Defy Fatal Fantasy due to injury. A replacement will be announced soon.
Jack Price announced he is now a free agent after his TNA contract expired: “My TNA contract is officially up. Your favorite Diamond is a free agent. I won Gut Check in 2022. Pitched stories. Waited for opportunity. It never came. Now I write my own story. Diamonds are forever… and so is Jack Price. See you soon.”
The former Gigi Dolin, Priscilla Kelly, has been announced for two GCW events in July.
