Yesterday, the news came out that the legendary Sabu had passed away at the age of 60. Sabu was best own for his hardcore style and innovation dating back to the late 80s and early 90s. He wrestled for the major companies such as ECW, WWE, WCW, NJPW and TNA, as well as various independent wrestling promotions across the globe.
Earlier today, Yahoo Sports released a piece titled “Sabu Was Sabu Until The Very End”, on the death of Sabu and the events leading up to his final match against Joey Janela at Spring Break 9 in Las Vegas on April 18th. Janela spoke to Phil Schneider of The Uncrowned days after the event on how the match nearly didn’t happen.
“I was kept in contact with him and he has a team of people around him, guys this time. They were all saying he was ready to go, that he was going to the gym, that he was on a training program. I believed them until the day of the show. Then two hours before, I get a call: ‘Sabu can’t walk.’
“What do you mean Sabu can’t walk? They said, ‘Yeah, Sabu, something with his knee — they’re locked up. He can’t walk. And his feet are bleeding. He’s not coming. Sabu’s not coming.’ I said, ‘Sabu’s f***ed.’ So we talked to [indie wrestler] Matt Tremont, and Tremont is about to be the replacement for the match. And I feel like this is going to be the most embarrassing moment of my wrestling career. There’s 2,000 people here. This is one of the biggest Spring Breaks ever. The biggest crowd ‘Mania weekend, indie-wise. And I’m going to have to go out there and announce that Sabu, once again, no-showed. And no-showed his own retirement match.”
“We are an hour into the show and I said, ‘Just get Sabu here,’” Janela continued. “So they gave him something called kratom. You can buy it at a smoke shop or something; it’s like a legal opiate or something. They said, ‘He’s hopping on the bed, he’s hopping off the bed, and we’re going to get him to the show.’ So he shows up two hours into the show. Sabu was on a different f***ing planet. Everyone in the backstage was like, ‘What the f***? Is this match going to happen?’ And my God, did it happen.”
“He was definitely out cold. He was done,” Janela said. “They were telling me there was no way. The refs were communicating to me that there’s no way he’s continuing this match. Like holy s***, that is the one time you want the barbed wire to stop you. He just blew right through it.”
“Just because how ridiculous it was, if you were one of the wrestlers or one of the staff in the locker that night, you knew the panic in my f***ing eyes,” Janela said. “And to see that get pulled off and the crowd to be on their feet, I mean, it’s like f***ing dancing through raindrops and not getting wet.”
Following the release of the article, GCW owner Brett Lauderdale and Joey Janela received a ton of criticism online as to why did they let Sabu wrestle that night. Janela responded, “Sabu was a grown man, he did what he had to do to get out there. I took care of him to the best of my ability, I didn’t think what happened half way through would happen, it was all to get him one great payday and one last shine in the spotlight. That night wasn’t about me, it was about sabu and I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Janela also responded by saying, “I’m truly devastated over this and this whole deal has really affected me. Kratom is something Sabu took daily for years it helped him get off other substances, Sabu loved his weed & Kratom his body was wrecked doing what he loved for 40 years. I did an interview for that article 2 days after the match not knowing what would transpire weeks later & I said he was “knocked out” after that spot when despite being a rough deal, he was not that. I was just trying to add to the lore and unpredictably of sabu. I loved sabu he was legitimately my idol growing up, & my friend I just wanted to give him & the fans one last great sabu spectacle. I’m sorry for lashing out at you but your tweet caused a snowball affect that has many people saying I was in part responsible for my friends death. Sabu was fine after, the day after signed at wrestlecon and has been doing many appearances since, I don’t know what the cause of death all I can say is I wouldn’t change a thing & happy he went out on top.”
Fightful Select reported that they were told that GCW was frustrated, embarrassed and humiliated by the interview itself.
Sabu’s cause of death has not been released.
PWPonderings 
[…] Earlier tonight, Joey Janela responded to the same criticisms. […]
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