Weekly Watchlist 048 - May 11 2025 - Sabu Special

Hey hey wrestling fans!

Things have been better at Wrestling Vault HQ the past couple days. The weather is better than ever and adding daily walks to my routine has helped give me the boost I need right about now. It was on one of these walks that I had an idea for what I should watch and review this week. And I was fully content with that idea until I came home and remembered that I was wanting to do some homework with the passing of a recent wrestling icon, Sabu.

So, Bloodsport gets put on the back burner for another week as I give the suicidal, homicidal, genocidal, death–defying maniac the spotlight. 

AJPW

Weekly Roundup

Here's what I watched for the week;

Terry "Sabu" Brunk. 1985-2025

As some of you may know, I was never an ECW guy. I grew up with Smackdown in 2007 and 2008 and didn't get back into wrestling until around 2015. From then until now, I've never really felt the urge or had the desire to go back and watch any ECW. And to tell you the truth, I'm not too sure why. I love CZW, the spiritual successor in almost every way to ECW, I love the look of the 90's era, and I know there's some hidden gems tucked away in ECW. But I just never felt the pull to seek shows or matches out like I would for other promotions.

All of this is to say, I'm very unfamiliar with a lot of Sasbu's work. He's in my blind spot as far as legendary, well remembered wrestlers are concerned. I know of his legacy and reputation in the ring, but never watched enough to connect with him like most people did. I'll admit, I'm playing catchup now after his sudden passing, so some of what I may say in these reviews may come across as ill-informed or opinions of a new fan; that's because they are. My memories of Sabu are not the same as others, if I have any memories of him at all, but I feel like I've gathered enough information over the years to make some pretty broad comments on the life and legacy of Sabu.

What Sabu is, and will be, remembered for, are his countless memorable and exciting moments he was able to create inside that ECW arena. He was the living embodiment of electricity, that impossible-to-describe feeling you get when you see someone do that most batshit insane thing you've ever seen in person. Maybe the effect is lessened for some almost 30 years later watching grainy, 5-times copied footage, but the energy he creates in an arena and the excitement you feel during his matches is unlike anything else. He takes the crowd on an incredible roller coaster ride in every match, able to seamlessly blend weapon-based offence and honest-to-god in ring mastery that indie kids in the 2000's could only hope to emulate. 

Maybe I don't always think his matches are incredible for their "in ring quality," his iconic barbed wire match with Terry Funk comes to mind, but it is seared into my memory forever. The stories of how badly wounded the barbed wire left both men are impossible to forget, with Funk nearly losing an eye after effectively being entombed in barbed wire and Sabu's bicep being torn open so wide he could see the bone, forcing Sabu to tape his wound shut so he could finish the match. The "wrestling" portion of the match is lacking, but the gore, lore and legend of the match elevates it to an entirely different level. Sabu was someone who was willing to, and repeatedly did, put his body on the line for his art. Refusing to be anything but completely authentic in everything he did. 

It's for the stories that are told and the memories he created that Sabu will be remembered forever and has earned his spot in the history books. There will never be another man like Sabu, they just don't make 'em like him anymore.

Rest easy, Sabu. 

 •  •  •  •  •

 

Sabu vs. The Sandman - Stairway to Hell - ECW House Party 1998 - 01/10/1998

The wildman lining up his target. ECW

Full disclosure right from the start, I'm gonna be a bit harsh on this match. I initially wasn't sure if I was even going to review this match with some of the thoughts I was having while watching it, but once the ending rolled around and I thought about it some more, I realized that I don't need to review only my favourite matches. I can review some I don't like a whole lot either! It's my blog, dammit!

Editors note: Cliff will amend these thoughts later in the review. Please, read on. 

The version I found was clearly the WWE home video version as they use the '06 revival ECW logo as a transitiion between Joey Styles talking about the match and the ring introductions. He talks about how Sabu and Sandman have done just about everything to each other with almost every weapon type possible, but barbed wire in a "Stairway to Hell" match should be the icing on this cake of violence. Now, if you weren't an ECW head like me and saw the stipulation for this match, you may ask yourself, "what's a stairway to hell?" Well, ask Jimmy Page and Robert Plant and they'll give you a much different answer, but in Paul E's land of the dangerous, a single ladder (please keep this in mind) is set in the middle of the ring that "led to barbed wire hanging above," so says Styles. 

Now, they don't show what that means until a good portion of the way into this match, so I spent a while trying to figure out just what that meant. A bed of barbed wire, Cage of Death style? Single strands? A spool? Guess I'll just need to watch to find out! 

We get ring introductions for both men, complete with Bill Alfonso and his ear-piercing whistle in the corner of Sabu, and a singapore cane in the hand of Sandman. The bell rings and the referee goes right to Sandman, trying to get him to give up the cane. I'm not really sure why this is an issue, I mean these guys are about to have a "Stairway to Hell" match, surely that cane is gonna be pretty inconsequential when we're cleaning up the rubble at the end, right? To Sabu, yes, but to Sandman, it costs him the beginning of this match, handing the cane to the referee and going to push the ladder over, only for Sabu to dropkick his knees and drop the ladder on the head of Sandman. He folds the ladder flat and tosses it into Sandman again, stumbling around on his feet as the ladder balances perfectly against his shoulder. Sabu steals the ladder a third time and hucks it at the head of Sandman one more time, dropping him to the canvas. 

Facebusted, Arabian style. ECW

Now, there was a reason I emphasized this is the one ladder they have for this match, because they are pretty liberal in how they use it throughout this match. Like, minutes in, Sabu drills Sandman into the ladder with an Arabian facebuster, thanks to Alfonso. Thankfully, Sandman falls in a heap and doesn't destroy the ladder, but there are those flimsy painters ladders, not the sturdy ones WWE would start using a few years later. It's a small miracle this ladder survives the stuff they do on, near, or with it.

Sabu tries for a pin quickly but Sandman escapes, with Sabu laying the ladder on top of Sandman now before ascending to the top rope, chair in hand, flying from the heavens with another Arabian facebuster. Sabu is a perpetual motion machine, flying from one bit of offence to the next, looking as uncontrollable as the wild-man persona he portrayed but also as coordinated and calculated as the pro he was. It's pretty amazing to witness. He goes for another quick cover but Sandman escapes, rolling to the outside as Sabu nails him with a basement dropkick, sending Sandman into the crowd. Not unfamiliar territory Mr. Fullington. 

Following Sandman to the outside, in a way only Sabu can, he sets up the chair in the ring and rebounds off the ropes, stepping off the chair and springboarding off the top, soaring into the front row and crashing into Sandman with Air Sabu. I feel like there's gonna be a lot of Sabu gif's in this week review. Just saying.

Clear for takeoff! ECW

 

In the sea of people, it's time to brawl. CTE inducing chair shots, forearms across the shoulder blades, boots and elbows, Sandman is getting pinballed around this arena by Sandman. For those who may be more familiar with CZW than ECW, Sabu and Sandman brawl up to the elevated portion of the ECW Arena, a level just above the floor and below where commentary sits. The same platform the wrestlers made their entrances during CZW's "Cage of Death 5." Moving at an unnatural pace, Sabu sets up a table on the platform and tosses Sandman on top, giving him hardly enough time to blink, let alone breathe, he sprints up to the top level and takes flight, crashing through with another Arabian facebuster. 

With Sabu keeping up with the assault as Sandman rises to his feet, he gets caught with a back elbow from Sandman as he tries to defend himself, getting his first piece of offence in almost 5 minutes into this match. He takes advantage of the staircase used to climb to the highest level of the ECW arena, climbing up a step before dropping an elbow on Sabu, who rolls off the platform to the floor below. Sandman is keeping up with his walking offence, dragging Sabu by the hair as he leads him to the entrance way, throwing him into the guardrail just outside the entrance tunnel. Sabu starts to fight back as they brawl back to ringside, both men trading shots back and forth. 

Joey Styles is on the call for this match, a one man booth as per usual, and he makes sure to point out that Alfonso set up the tables around ringside while the pair were brawling through the crowd. There's no less than four tables set up around the ring, so Alfonso was pretty busy. Rolling back in the ring, Sandman drags the ladder to the apron and fucing vertical suplex's the ladder into Sabu, holy hell. Yes, I know, it's a lighter ladder, but you have one of your buddies hit you over the back with a metal ladder and tell me how it feels, tough guy. 

Turning this into a three way dance with the ladder. ECW

With the ladder leaned against the guardrail, he decides to try his hand at a "Joey Mercury at Armageddon 2006" spot, jumping from the apron to teeter-totter the ladder into Sabu as he crawls back to life, thankfully not blowing his nose to smithereens. Bringing Sabu up and over the guardrail the hard way, Sandman tries to bodyslam Sabu through a pair of tables at ringside but he just ends up nestled between them. Giving Sabu a taste of his own medicine, Sandman takes off from the apron and crushes Sabu with a flying leg drop of his own, squishing Sabu's head against the table instead of shattering it on impact.

Bridging a table from the guardrail to the apron, Sandman gets caught with a forearm to the back of his head, leaning stunned against the guardrail as Sabu shoots out a quick kick as he clutches at his right elbow, no doubt feeling the effects of a ladder landing on him from moments ago. He turns back to Sandman but eats a table instead, with Sandman flipping the one still set up in the floor into the face of Sabu. Adding to his little construction project, Sandman bridges the ladder beside the table which, need I remind you, is their one and only ladder. 

Catching Sabu as he charges towards him, Sandman drops Sabu ribs first on the ladder before climbing in the ring, springboarding up and over with a legdrop (brother, why?) to the back of Sabu's head, drilling him face first into the table. The ladder, for those keeping score at home, is remarkably unscathed. 

Sandman soars! ECW

Sabu struggles to recover, pulling himself up onto the ladder further and rolling back into the ring, with Sandman staggering to his feet inside the ring, landing a standing elbow drop as one of the ringside workers shoves the ladder back in the ring. Something about the ECW arena and arena workers and referees being very willing to help wrestlers like that. Must be something in the vents. Sandman retrieves the ladder and sets it up in the middle, with Sabu thinking... on his back? He rolls across the ring while Sandman is distracted, trying to get in a better position to knock Sandman off the ladder but he gets an elbow to the head for his efforts.

Finally, we see the fabled barbed wire this Stairway to Hell match was advertised to have. The camera follows Sandman's hand up as he reaches for the heavens, snatching... oh sweet Christ, an entire coil of barbed wire. Like, there's gotta be 50 feet of the stuff. Maybe it's just the poor quality or I'm just exaggerating a bit, but it's a horrific amount hung above the ring. Sandman rips it down and holds it above his head like a trophy, which spurs Sabu to his feet as he charges for the ladder, driving everything he has into the side of it and sending Sandman into the abyss, crashing through two tables set up ringside. Thanks Alfonso!

Sayonara Sandman! ECW

 

Once again setting a chair up near the ropes, Sabu lines Sandman up and rebounds off the ropes, adjusting his direction halfway to go for the coil of barbed wire laying in the corner. He goes for another run against the ropes, taking flight but crashing into the guard rail ribs first as Sandman moves out of the way. 

So, this move right here ends up being pretty significant to the rest of the match, and its something you could miss on first viewing but know that, at some point in the match, Sabu did get hurt, but can't pinpoint exactly where. When Sabu lands this plancha, he kinda lands jaw first and ends up breaking his jaw on impact. I skimmed through his book "Scars, Silence, & Superglue" to see if I could find anything he said about this injury, but came up empty handed. If he's talked about this moment in particular anywhere else, drop me a line, I'd love to hear about it. 

Anywhoo, from this point on, Sabu keeps checking on, adjusting, and just tending to his jaw in general. It's a horrific injury but he just keeps going, because he's Sabu, and he's tougher than any pain you can dish out. Alfonso is ringside with Sabu making sure he's good, with Sandman back in the ring, uncoiling the barbed wire and letting his imagination run wild. He goes to the corner and starts wrapping it around the turnbuckles as well as the middle and top rope. It seems to be multiple strands of barbed wire as he can be seen finishing up around the corner, dropping an elbow on the back of Sabu as he crawls in the ring, and then going for another bit of barbed wire. 

Firing back up to his feet, Sabu cracks Sandman in the back with a forearm shot that drives him into the corner, following up with a brain scrambling chairshot, leaving Sandman dazed in a corner of barbed wire. Sabu makes quick work with a loose strand, swiping at the head of Sandman before suddenly, and I mean he pulls them from his boot in half a second, stabbing at the head of Sandman with a pair of scissors! The footage may be grainy, but eagle eyed viewers (not to brag or anything but that's me) will spot Sandman running the razor, getting colour for the industry. Sabu is seizing on Sandman in the corner, putting a lose coil of barbed wire around Sandmans neck like a halo.

Pulling Sandman from the corner of carnage, he places him upside down in another corner in the tree of woe position. As if that wasn't bad enough, he lays a chair in front of the face of Sandman, before setting up another in the middle of the ring. Taking off from the corner, Sabu uses the chair to get extra height, crashing into the face of Sandman with a chair-assisted dropkick. Mother of god, that had to suck. 

Sandman was just shown his exit light. ECW

As luck would have it, Sandman staggers to his feet and ends up back in the barbed wire corner, with Sabu's chair only needing to be turned 90 degrees to be in perfect position for him to take flight again. He hits the corner and charges for Sandman, but he falls out of the corner just in time for Sabu to land chest first in the barbed wire. Stumbling to his feet with barbed wire in one hand, his face leaking blood, Sandman retrieves his singapore cane which, for the entire match, has just been sitting on the ring in the corner. Why did that needed to be confiscated and then placed in a very open place, ref? Whats the deal, man? Staggering back to Sabu, Sandman cracks him in the shoulder as Sabu falls to the floor and writhes in pain. 

Sabu pulls himself across the ring, laying under the bottom rope and looks to be searching for Alfonso, with Sandman zeroing in on the wide open chest of Sabu with a standing elbow drop. He loves that move. Finally, as if a gift from the heavens, Alfonso appears ringside, duct tape in hand as he wraps it around the lips and jaw of Sabu, taking care not to tape his hair as he does so. I honestly struggle to comprehend the level of pain tolerance it takes to break your fucking jaw mid match, tough it out, and then just have someone tape your jaw in place so you can keep going. He's not human. 

With Sandman just covered in blood, he grabs Sabu from the apron and brings him back in the ring, but it's Sabu who reverses the irish whip, sending Sandman back into the barbed wire corner. Acting on instinct, Sabu sets his trusty chair up again as Sandman rolls to centre, hitting the ropes and jumping over the body of Sandman to step off the chair, landing a springboard moonsault!

The jawless wonder flies! ECW

 

Another halo of barbed wire is placed around the neck of Sandman, with Sabu firing off a quick kick to keep him down on the canvas a while longer. Climbing through the ropes to the apron, a springboard leg drop (Sabu loves that move too, eh?) lands on the barbed neck of Sandman, with Sabu quickly getting to his feet and retrieving a chair, climbing to the top for another chair assisted Arabian facebuster but Sandman just barely avoids it. 

Like a scene out of a horror movie, Sandman leans against the ropes, covered in his own blood, a halo of barbed wire around his head, singapore cane in hand. He staggers forward and swings for the fences, hitting Sabu in the head as he gets to his feet, but he's not vertical for long. Falling into the cover, Sandman lays on the chest of Sabu as the referee counts three. Mercifully, this is over. 

Home run! ECW

 Y'know what, I'm gonna take back what I said at the start here, this match was awesome! My first viewing had me kinda sour, asking questions of "why did they do that" or "huh? that didn't make sense" but I'll be honest, I was pretty tired and half paying attention the first time I saw this match. I'm glad I re watched it and gave it the time it deserves. Sure, this kind of wrestling isn't for everyone, it's hardly for me half the time, but I really enjoyed this matchup. Hard hitting, violent in all the right ways, with Sabu refusing to step off the gas pedal for a second. Completely insane, I loved it. 

•  •  •  •  •

 

Rob Van Dam vs. Sabu - AJPW Super Power Series 1997 - Day 12 - 05/31/1997

Things are about to get extreme. AJPW

It's kind of funny, isn't it? I talk about how I never cared for ECW and never watched any of it until recently, but figured "it's a Sabu show, let's do some homework!" And through all my searching, trying to watch the best matches of Sabu's lengthy career, I find a match of his from fucking All Japan of all places and think "wow, this match rules!" Is it just because this took place in an All Japan ring? Probably not. Does the coolness of these guys wrestling in All Japan have something to do with it? Maybe. Either way, this match was a real treat to find, and I'm excited to break it down for you guys. 

In a real moment of serendipity, just a few days after the untimely passing of Sabu, the next episode of VICE's "Dark Side of The Ring" released, which just so happened to be about The Shiek, Sabu's real life uncle. It was really nice to get to hear from Sabu in the episode, hearing about how close he was with his uncle and how he was able to give him a bit of a career resurgence just by accompanying him to the ring in his early years. In turn, his presence gave Sabu some much needed credibility in his early days, adapting and evolving his uncle's hardcore style into something that was entirely his. Never borrowing or stealing, only innovating. That was Sabu. 

Something that I learned, and maybe this was already well known to long time fans, was that not only was Sabu trained by his uncle, but RVD was as well! Sure, a cursory glance at his wikipedia page would have told me that, but anyone can be trained by a legend. I don't know if many can say that they were effectively welcomed into the family during his time training with Sabu and The Shiek like RVD can. The up-and-comers spent hours training together, rolling around in the ring and perfecting their craft while The Shiek watched on from ringside, critiquing and lending his knowledge to the stars of the future. After watching that episode of Dark Side, I came to draft up this review with a completely different level of appreciation. This is more than a match between two contemporaries who shared a tight knit locker room, this was a match between brothers.

The pair start the match offering handshakes to one another. Sabu goes first, outstretching his hand as RVD goes to shake but pulls back at the last second. He outstretches his arms and turns to the crowd, hitting his signature "Rob! Van! Dam!" point, but the crowd doesn't respond the same. Language barrier, probably. Coming back to Sabu now, Rob decides to make good and offers a hand now, with Sabu going to meet him but giving RVD the same treatment, pointing to the heavens as only Sabu can. 

Without skipping a beat, Sabu winds back and goes for RVD, with both men trading shots back and forth until RVD backs Sabu into the corner, with Sabu fighting out by picking the left leg of Rob to take him down. Sabu lands a snap elbow drop and immediately transitions into a side headlock on the mat, with Rob rising to his feet before backing Sabu into the ropes and shooting him off. Sabu shoots off a lariat on the rebound but Rob ducks, responding with a back heel kick but Sabu ducks it too! Putting his educated feet to work, his foot barely touches the ground before kicking Sabu in the back, doubling him over. Quickly snatching Sabu with a double underhook, he drops him face first with a facebuster! Some may call it Angels Wings, I prefer Fairytale Ending. 

Sabu getting his face busted this time. AJPW

Rising to his feet only to taunt the crowd for a second, RVD does a quick 360 leg drop to the throat of Sabu, shooting in for a pin but it's far too early for Sabu to be out just yet. Sabu slowly rises to his feet out of the pin, with RVD keeping the assault on every step of the way, backing him into the corner with kicks to the gut and forearms to the face. He tries to send Sabu across the ring into the opposing corner but Sabu reverses the momentum, with Rob landing back first in the corner as Sabu goes for a triangle... something? He springboards off the middle rope and does like, a vertical splash to Rob in the corner? Not sure if he was trying to go for a DDT or a kick and Rob wasn't where he needed to be? 

Either way, Sabu snapmares Rob out of the corner and lays on him for the pin, with RVD bridging out at two not once, but twice. The second time, Sabu wraps his arms around the chest of Rob and stands with him. Whatever he had in mind, Rob is able to act on the popsitioning first, twisting Sabu around and drilling him with a reverse DDT. Sabu rolls across the ring and is able to get to the floor, clutching the back of his head (no injuries in this match, as far as I'm aware) but Rob is close in tow, pulling Sabu back inside and to the middle of the ring, before planting him with a bodyslam. 

As if to say "stay put!" Rob keeps his hand on the chest of Sabu a second longer after the bodyslam before taking off for the ropes, rolling through his rebound and landing a splash on Sabu, a modified version of Rolling Thunder. Again, he goes for the pin and again, only gets two. This time, Rob has Sabu in a side headlock on the canvas, with Sabu getting to his feet, backing Rob into the ropes, and getting sent across the ring with an irish whip reversal. 

Rob stands in the middle and bends down for a back body drop, but Sabu flips over RVD's back and lands on his feet, dropkicking his leg out from under his leg. With RVD prone, Sabu takes to the ropes and nails his target this time, springboarding off the middle rope with a dropkick to a seated RVD. Clutching his face, Rob rolls to the floor as Sabu charges in, sending Rob up and over the guardrail with a basement dropkick. Appearing from almost out of nowhere as the camera focuses in on RVD on the floor, Sabu points to a fan in front row, wordlessly demanding he give up his chair. It's time for Japan to get extreme. 

Sabu hope the rail and goes for the chair, the fans knowing to stay far enough away from the wildman. He kicks at the front row to seperate the chairs and hucks one over the guard rail and then into the ring as he climbs back between the ropes. Setting it up near the ropes, Sabu charges for the opposite side of the ring, rebounding and soaring off the top rope, crashing into RVD and the first four rows of chairs as he comes back down to earth. 

Clear the deck! AJPW

 Crawling back over the guard rail, RVD brings a chair with him as Sabu kicks and claws at the chairs surrounding him, pulling himself out of the rubble with a chair in hand. He climbs the rail and meets RVD at ringside, a sword fight ensuing as their chairs crash into each other over and over, a stalemate. They climb back in the ring and start swinging again, chair-on-chair and shot for shot until Sabu drops his chair and ducks a shot from Rob, shooting in for a double leg takedown but Rob retains grip of the chair, firing off a quick shot against Sabu that cracks him in the forehead. 

Sabu falls back into the corner as Rob meets him and pulls him onto the top rope. Leaving Sabu to sit on the top, RVD grabs the chair he still has in the ring and sets it up in the middle, taking a second too long to make sure it is set up just right which allowed Sabu to take flight, crushing the face of RVD against the chair. With the chair still in the middle and RVD rolling to the far corner, Sabu adjusts it and moves it closer to his foe, charging for the seat and leaping off of it to crush Rob in the corner but RVD drops to the canvas on his own, with Sabu crumpling in a heap after colliding with the corner. 

With Sabu pulling himself up in the corner, trying to catch his breath, Rob pulls him out and shoots him to the opposite corner. Sabu takes the buckle hard and stumbles out, catching the chair in the face as RVD hurls it across the ring. It's a real miracle the referee is being as lenient with the rules as he is here, guess this is being fought under "ECW Rules" tonight. Sabu falls to the floor and stumbles around ringside, with RVD following him out and driving a boot through Sabu's face, sending him over the guard rail and back into the crowd. Rob gets Sabu up as if he's going to body slam him, but instead drops him stomach first on the rail, quickly jumping to stand on the rail only long enough to take off with a leg drop to the back of Sabu's head. 

The brain scrambler. AJPW

 

RVD is back in the ring now as Sabu stumbles around kick-drunk. He misses ringside and almost walks right into one of the tables set up in the crowd, but corrects himself just in time. By now, Rob has climbed back out and is advancing on Sabu, taking advantage of his dazed adversary by whipping him into the corner post before rolling him back in the ring. Rob lays across the chest of Sabu and props himself up on his toes, pushing his entire weight down on Sabu for the pin but he gets out at two. 

Pulling Sabu back to his feet, Rob positions him near the corner and gets him up as if to back suplex him, no doubt trying to seat him on the top rope but Sabu turns the tide quickly. Almost horizontal on Rob's shoulders, Sabu kicks off the top rope and rolls down the back of RVD, landing on his feet before getting Rob up with a back suplex of his own, crotching him on the top rope. There's an audible gasp from the crowd, proving that sensitivity really is universal. With Rob struggling to releive the pressure, Sabu climbs to the adjacent top rope and soars, snagging RVD with a headscissors takedown. What a good friend!

A pinfall is unsuccessful so Sabu decides to take to the sky once again, climbing up the ropes one by one. Before he can fully stand on the top, RVD is back on his feet and kicks one of Sabu's legs out from uner him, this time leaving Sabu to hang on the top rope, crotch first! RVD makes use of his unnatural flexibility and leg power, kicking Sabu in the chest as he sits on the top rope before springboarding off the top rope with a spinning back kick, sending Sabu flipping backwards before crashing into the apron and out to the floor. 

Joining his adversary on the floor, RVD effortlessly flies over the top rope, flipping in air before landing on Sabu, barely standing before being crushed by an RVD-shaped missile. Sabu crawls back in the ring to join RVD, being dragged into position before Rob lands a springboard 180 leg drop. Rob tries for a pin but it's still not quite enough. 

Something I mentioned about Sabu in my review of his match with the Sandman was how Sabu is this living perpetual motion machine, seamlessly moving from move to move, spot to spot. No clunky setup, no real telegraphing of what he plans to do next. He's able to make it seem like everything he's able to do that gains him an advantage is because he's able to think 4 moves ahead and always stay on his toes. To his credit, RVD is wrestling a very similar style here, using every bit of the ring to his advantage and exploiting every trick in his arsenal to try and keep Sabu down. Sure, a lot of their offence is based around the use of weapons or outside elements, but when they are able to get between the ropes and need to keep things clean, they can still go. These two matches really opened my eyes to just how good Sabu really is. I didn't need to watch 30 hours of tape to understand it, these matches are all it took. He's brilliant. 

After getting out of the pin, Sabu fires off a quick dropkick to the back of RVD's head, still reeling from the failure of the pinfall as he checks his mouth for blood. Rob crawls away from the impact, but Sabu keeps on him with another short dropkick, with RVD getting to his feet and stumbling to the ropes for support. Fighting back to his feet, Sabu drives Rob into the corner before shooting him across the ring and following close behind. Rob takes the corner chest first as Sabu jumps onto the middle rope, coiled like a spring and ready to fly. Spotting him out of the corner of his eye, Rob shifts to his left and jumps to the middle rope himself, taking off a heartbeat before Sabu and sniping him out of the sky with a spinning heel kick!

Air Sabu intercepted! AJPW

 

Leaping to his feet before Sabu can recover, RVD lands a standing moonsault and tries for another cover, but it's still not enough to keep him down. "Surely," RVD must be saying to himself, "he can't have much left in him." Au contraire, my dear boy, don't count him out just yet. With one swift motion, RVD jumps to the top rope and lines Sabu up in his crosshairs, taking flight with a picture perfect Five Star Frog Splash, but Sabu gets his knees up! RVD lands rib first, rolling away from the impact as he tries to catch his breath. Sabu drives a quick kick to RVD's gut that doubles him over, using the top rope to propel his legs backwards for the Arabian press moonsault across RVD's back. 

As quick as a flash, Sabu goes outside the ring, steals a chair from one of the tables set up past the rail, tosses it inside the ring, and climbs back in, all while the referee is tending to RVD. The moment the ref is clear of RVD, Sabu hurls the chair into his face, pointing for the heavens as he goes to swing the chair. There seems to be a moment of miscommunication as Sabu stops before he can swing, instead driving the chair into the gut of Rob before a momentary struggle where RVD takes the chair from Sabu. He doesn't keep it very long, however, tossing it in the air with Sabu catching it before it can hit his face. He was probably better off just letting it fall as the next thing he knows, RVD fires off a spinning heel kick that connects with the steel chair, thereby crushing Sabu's face. These wrestle boys will never learn, I tell ya!

 Sabu has squirmed his way across the ring near the bottom rope, with RVd following close and positioning him so his head and neck are beneath the bottom rope, sticking out along the apron. Rob climbs to the floor and snatches his chair back from a ringside attendant that tries to return it. Rob stands above Sabu's body and drops it on his face on the apron, taking a second too long to ready himself for the leap over the top rope, eating a mouthful of chair as Sabu fires the chair towards the heavens. 

Bite this! AJPW

 

Another Arabian press moonsault crushes RVD at ringside, with Sabu grabbing one of those notoriously stiff Japanese tables and hurling it at RVD, taking the table across the shoulders before falling to the floor once again. Struggling to set up the table thanks to uncooperative legs and an encroaching RVD landing forearms across his back, Sabu reverses an irish whip by sending RVD into the guardrail back first. Rob tries to make the best out of a bad situation by climbing on top of the rail, but only makes things much, much worse for himself. All it takes is one kick from Sabu, connecting with the foot of RVD to send him crashing down, crotch meets steel. Yikes. 

Returning to the table, Sabu takes it over his shoulder and marches towards RVD, tossing it onto the back of RVD after dismounting the rail and laying across it for support. Finally, Sabu is able to set the table up properly, the legs cooperating and his adversary fighting for his life but a few feet away. Sabu pulls him to his feet and lays him across the table with the help of a short lariat, pulling RVD closer to the middle before rolling back into the ring. Using the top rope like a slingshot, he flies over and crushes RVD with a huge senton, the table staying together but the guardrail moving back several feet as Sabu crashes after the impact. 

Unhappy with leaving a job half done, Sabu gets back in the ring, shoving the referee back as he tries to maintain some order in this chaotic match. Stepping up the ropes like a ladder, Sabu falls from the top rope with a splash on RVD, the table cracking and bending beneath their combined weight, with both men falling to a heap on the floor. 

Thanksgiving is ruined once uncle Sabu gets a few drinks in him. AJPW

 Sabu is the first to get back in the ring, clutching his ribs and shoving off the referee as he tries to make sure he's alright. Climbing his way out of the rubble, RVD gets back in only to be covered as soon as he reaches the middle, powering out at two. Again, Sabu goes to the outside and retrieves another chair. He sets it up in from of the corner where RVD has found a seat for a moments reprieve, only to get perched on the top by Sabu. The wildman takes off from the opposite corner, jumping off the chair as RVD leaps from the top and drives a boot through the chest of Sabu mid air, both men collapsing to the canvas.

RVD folds the chair and uses it to support himself as he struggles to stand, holding it as he runs to Sabu seated in the corner, driving it into his face with a running basement dropkick. RVD pulls Sabu out and folds him up for a pin, but Sabu gets out before three. Laying the chair across Sabu's chest now, RVD goes for a big split legged moonsault that crushes Sabu. He rolls to the middle, clutching his ribs as Sabu holds his jaw, both men worse for wear at this point in the match. Slowly, RVD rolls over for the cover but Sabu still has some fight left in him. 

Climbing the ropes with a body that looks to be moving a second behind his brain, RVD sits on the top only to eat the chair again, with Sabu hurling it into the face of his adversary. Positioning the chair flat in the middle of the ring, Sabu jumps to the top rope and steadies himself beside RVD, taking the extra second he needs before snatching RVD by the head with a big head scissors, driving RVD off the top rope and back first onto the chair! Setting the chair up next to the prone body of Rob, Sabu goes for a quick cover to try and put him away here, but Rob escapes. 

Changing his mind after coming up from the pin, Sabu places the chair on the other side of RVD, rebounding off the ropes and using the chair to take off with a huge triple jump moonsault, crushing RVD before pulling him in for a tight pin, finally scoring three.  

Picture perfect. Flawless. AJPW

Man, this match was so much fun. The crowd was there for the whole match and reacted to the "ECW moments" exactly how you'd expect them to. It's not like Japanese crowds are not used to seeing hardcorew, violent matches, they watched more Bruiser Brody and Terry Funk matches than you could ever hope to count, but when it starts like a fairly traditional match that slowly turns into an ECW-lite fight, they seemed appropriately awed and excited. Sabu and RVD were in perfect for here too, two guys that know each other about as well as they know themselves barely missing a beat and making magic between the ropes. Dance partners to the end of time.

•  •  •  •  •

 

I started this weeks review as someone who knew very little about Sabu and had watched almost none of his work. After watching only a handfull of, what is considered by many, his best matches, I have a new found apprecieation for his work. He was a master of non-stop action between the ropes, a constant flow of energy that brought a crowd out of their seats time and time again. Able to take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions and excitement as he, himself, is on his own rollercoaster ride of punishment and sacrifice. Smarter and more cunning than he ever made himself out to be, Sabu knew how to keep the crowd eating from the palm of his hands at all times. He was a master of his craft and will be greatly missed. 

Got any other Sabu matches you think I should check out? Hat mail thats been burning a hole in your drafts for a couple of days? You guys know the drill. cliffmorganwstl@gmail.com 

Until next time friends, take it easy.

Cliff Morgan