ECW icon Sabu has detailed his multiple injuries and is currently in a lot of pain.
Known for his extreme style and being an innovator in death-defying dives, the former ECW Heavyweight Champion has unfortunately paid the price for taking many high-impact bumps over the course of his career.
Speaking on Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw, Sabu has noted that he needs multiple joint replacements and that physical activity is not easy:
“I’ll tell you, I’ve felt better. I don’t feel really bad, but I feel pretty bad. My knee, my back, and my shoulders, they all need surgery. I’ve been going to the gym lately, but I have to suck it up and go. It’s never, ‘Alright, today I feel good.’ It’s like, ‘f*ck,’ and it’s tough… I need my knee and my shoulder replaced, but I haven’t gotten around to it.”
Sabu last appeared on TV at the AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view. Acting as the special enforcer in the unsanctioned match between Adam Cole and Chris Jericho, the death-defying legend took out Angelo Parker and Matt Menard in the opening stages by driving them both through tables after he dove from the ring to the outside.
During the same interview, Sabu was very complimentary of John Cena.
Mick Foley Calls For ECW Legend To Be Recognised
Following the extreme promotion closing its doors in 2001, Sabu would not be a part of the Invasion angle. Instead, the former World Champion would wrestle for World Wrestling All-Stars and TNA before finally having a brief run in WWE in 2006 when the extreme brand was revived. When discussing the impact that Sabu has had on wrestling, Mick Foley believes that he should receive his accolades:
“Sabu is another guy I’d like to see get his accolades. It’s just a shame that when the only crime — the only thing Sabu ever did was get older.
A lot of the people who were on the bandwagon see him, you know, he hasn’t gone on to be part of people’s childhoods the way that we had the opportunity to, so the wave of popularity goes from here, then there’s a big downturn and then one day when Halloween, you realize that people are dressing up like you for Halloween.
You’re no longer irrelevant. You’re now part of people’s childhoods,” said Mick Foley. “Also, he didn’t have a chance to endear himself to people. I understand why he didn’t speak.
He was the nephew of The Sheik, and The Sheik, I don’t think, spoke and if he did, it was rarely. It was never more than a few words. He was sticking to that character.”
H/t to Fightful.