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Sabu (wrestler)

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Sabu (wrestler)
File:Sabulive.jpg
Born (1964-12-12) December 12, 1964 (age 60)
Detroit, Michigan, United States
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Sabu
Terry Snuka
Terry S.R.
Sabu The Elephant Boy
"The Homicidal, Suicidal, Genocidal, Death-defying" Sabu
Billed height6 ft (183 cm)
Billed weight220 lb (100 kg)
Billed fromSaudi Arabia
Bombay, India
Bombay, Michigan
Trained byThe Sheik[1]
Debut1985

Terry Michael Brunk (December 12 1964) better known by his ring name Sabu, is an American professional wrestler.

He is best-known for his appearances with Eastern Championship Wrestling and other independents including the original Extreme Championship Wrestling throughout the 1990s, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling from 2002 until 2006, and his recent tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment on its ECW brand, which lasted from April 2006 until May 2007.

Professional wrestling career

Training under the Sheik

Brunk was trained by his uncle, Ed Farhat (The Sheik),[1] and was initially trained to be a technical wrestler. He began his wrestling career in the Sheik's promotion, Big Time Wrestling, and was billed as being from Saudi Arabia under the ring name Sabu.

Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (1991-1993)

He soon traveled with his uncle to Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW), where he received many of the cuts and bruises on his arms and torso for which he became famous. Brunk cleared all rumors that the cuts and bruises were self-induced in a shoot interview with RF Video, confirming that they were a result of numerous hardcore matches he was involved in -- he participated in over two dozen no-rope barbed wire death matches. Sabu often competed in Japanese hardcore matches, where he teamed with the Sheik, Tiger Jeet Singh and Horace Boulder. Sabu feuded with the likes of Tarzan Goto and Atsushi Onita in FMW.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (1993-2000)

Brunk revealed in a shoot promo and in the documentary film Forever Hardcore that in fact it was not Paul Heyman that brought him into ECW but that he was at the right place at the right time. He was referred by a friend to Tod Gordon.

According to the storyline, Sabu (who at that time often arrived to the ring by his handler, 911, strapped to a gurney and with a Hannibal Lecter-style face mask trying to break free - he claimed to hate this part of his gimmick as he was normally tired before he started his match) was an uncontrollable madman who could only be released from his bonds to wrestle his matches. Sabu also quickly became synonymous with table-breaking at this time; if a table was not destroyed during his match, Sabu would break a table with his own body after the bell had sounded. Sabu could not even look at a table without wanting to destroy it, which sometimes led to 911 having to restrain Sabu during backstage interviews if a table was present.

One of the most notable aspects of Sabu's early career was his refusal to speak,[1] a gimmick that he inherited from The Sheik (who never spoke English in public to protect kayfabe). In his early career, Sabu was billed as being from Saudi Arabia, or Bombay, India. But in ECW, he was clearly heard to speak in the ring on several occasions and it was fairly common knowledge that Brunk was an American citizen from birth. This led to a joke at kayfabe's expense when Sabu began to be billed as hailing from "Bombay, Michigan".

"The Crippling Incident"

During the opening seconds of his match with Chris Benoit at November to Remember '94, Brunk got his neck broken accidentally by Benoit when he threw Sabu intending that he take a face-first "pancake" bump, but Brunk attempted to turn mid-air and take a backdrop bump instead. This incident earned Benoit his nickname "The Canadian Crippler".

The Night the Line Was Crossed and other notable feuds

His best matches during the early part of Sabu's career in ECW were his three way dance for the Heavyweight title at The Night the Line Was Crossed, against Terry Funk and Shane Douglas, which went to a 1-hour time limit draw and his tag team feud with The Public Enemy in which Sabu and his partner The Tazzmaniac captured the Tag Team Titles in a double tables match.

Another notable event occurred when, scheduled for a 3-way dance for the tag title, Sabu no-showed the event to accept a booking in Japan -- which led Paul Heyman to publicly and legitimately fire Sabu at the event. Sabu stated in the Forever Hardcore documentary that he had a career wrestling in Japan yet only wrestled once every so often for ECW; thus, he chose Japan over ECW.

He eventually returned to ECW the next year, and engaged in matches and feuds with the likes of Rob Van Dam. In the meantime, former-partner Tazmaniac (who had shortened his name to "Taz") began to publicly challenge Sabu at every given opportunity, but got no response. After a year of call-outs and insults from Taz, Heyman revealed that he had asked Sabu, as a friend, to ignore Taz's challenge. This standoff culminated in a grudge match at ECW's first pay-per-view, Barely Legal, which Taz won. The two continued to feud on and off for the remainder of Taz's ECW career. Sabu mentioned in a shoot interview with RF Video that he didn't want to work with Taz for this match because he had already wrestled him before and wanted to work with other talent. He also mentioned that Taz calling him out for a year was not planned. Paul Heyman convinced Sabu to wrestle Taz at Barely Legal.

RAW invasion angle

Sabu was later included in the RAW invasion angle, in which ECW wrestlers invaded WWF's Monday Night RAW program and held ECW-style matches and angles on the show. One memorable moment occurred at this show when Sabu appeared during Taz's match and prepared for an aerial move off the "R" in the "RAW" lettered entryway onto Team Taz members, but instead accidentally fell off the "R". This was not planned which led to Sabu landing on top of Team Taz members and becoming an inside joke between him and Tazz backstage. This invasion angle also led to a heel turn for Sabu in ECW as he teamed up with Rob Van Dam and their manager Bill Alfonso to promote the virtues of the WWF product over ECW's. Sabu feuded with ECW loyalists Tommy Dreamer and Sandman during this period.

No-Rope Barbed Wire match with Terry Funk

One of Sabu's most infamous matches was the No-Rope Barbed-Wire match with Terry Funk at Born to be Wired, a match which was promoted as being "too extreme even for ECW" - and with good reason: both men bled profusely. In one of the most memorable moments in ECW history, Sabu attempted the "Air Sabu" corner splash on Terry Funk. Funk moved and Sabu ended up colliding violently into the wire which tore open his biceps. He then asked his manager Bill Alfonso for some tape and after Alfonso went to get some Sabu began to tape the gash up, which was about 10 inches long. To this day, Terry Funk has stated that he has never seen anything like what Sabu did that night. The match ended with both men so badly tangled up together in the barbed wire that it took several ring technicians armed with wire cutters to free them from the predicament (on the DVD Bloodsport - ECW's Most Violent Matches released by World Wrestling Entertainment, Paul Heyman said that the match was "so gruesome, I never ever dared to schedule another one like it", and that they never had another Barbed-Wire match in ECW because "no one could top that one -- and in good conscience, I never wanted anyone to try").


Injuries

Brunk racked up an astounding catalogue of injuries during his ECW tenure, including broken ribs, broken jaw, and famously breaking his neck twice. The first time he broke his neck was during a match with Chris Benoit on November 5, 1994 in which communication problems appeared to be to blame as Benoit lifted Brunk over for a flapjack, but Brunk assumed Benoit was going for a back body drop. This caused Brunk to land directly on his head; the other was during a match against Taz in December 1998, when Brunk took a Tazplex through a table and landed wrong. Brunk was able to recover from the neck injuries and return to wrestling, and he even wore a neck brace in his return match in the United States a month following the injury at Taz's hands; by Brunk's account, however, he started actively wrestling in Japan on a short tour a little over two weeks after that injury.

Mainstream exposure

In October 1993, Sabu contested in two WWF matches. He defeated Scott Taylor in a dark match before the October 18 Monday Night Raw tapings in Poughkeepsie, NY. The following night he was defeated by Owen Hart in Glens Falls, NY.

Sabu did get some more mainstream exposure in the year 1995. He debuted in World Championship Wrestling on September the 11th of that year for the WCW Monday Nitro program by picking up a victory over Alex Wright, only for it to be reversed by referee Nick Patrick, following Sabu's behavior after the match (he put Alex Wright through a table outside the ring). He then picked up two consecutive victories over Mr. JL (Jerry Lynn) on October 9 (on Nitro) and at WCW Halloween Havoc 1995.

Sabu was the first wrestler to dive off the entrance sign during an episode of WWF RAW on February 24, 1997, while WWE and ECW were cross-promoting. He had actually lost his balance before diving off, but managed to reposition himself in mid-air to land on Team Taz. In addition, Sabu was featured in the Playstation Video game WCW vs. the World later on in the same year, under the pseudonym David Harley.

WCW signed Brunk to a contract in 2000, but legal action threatened by ECW precluded Sabu from ever making an appearance before WCW's demise. From 2000 to 2001, he had a successful run in California's XPW, which catapulted him back into the national spotlight. Paul Heyman had tried to prevent him from working outside of ECW by suing him in court for breach of contract, when in truth Heyman was the one who had breached Brunk's contract. He won the XPW World Heavyweight Championship during his stay, and was managed by former Danzig bassist Josh Lazie.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002-2006)

Sabu debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) on July 17 2002, defeating Malice in a ladder match. The next week he faced Ken Shamrock in a ladder match which was declared a No Contest when Malice interfered.

In 2004, Sabu teamed with Raven to defeat Raven's former "Gathering" protégés, CM Punk and Julio Dinero. In March he began feuding with Monty Brown and Abyss, who outnumbered him on several occasions after Raven failed to "watch his back". Eventually Raven challenged Sabu to an empty arena match to be held on June 9, but Sabu refused to wrestle him, claiming that he had promised his uncle, The Sheik, that he would never fight Raven. Raven then waged a campaign against Sabu, disrespecting the memory of his uncle and assaulting Sabu's friend Sonjay Dutt, until Sabu finally broke and attacked him on July 23. Raven defeated Sabu on August 4, and a scheduled return match on August 18 was canceled after Sabu legitimately suffered a serious back injury.

While injured, Brunk contracted a virus and was hospitalized, sidelining him for ten months. On December 12 a benefit show, A Night of Appreciation for Sabu was held to raise funds for him. The show was considered a success, raising enough money for Brunk to cover the costs of his medical care and he was able to make a full recovery. In his first match back from the injury, he defeated N8 Mattson. Sabu then appeared at Hardcore Homecoming, where he defeated Terry Funk and Shane Douglas in a three-way no-ropes barbed wire match, and (two days later) at ECW One Night Stand, where he defeated Rhyno.

Sabu returned to TNA on July 29 2005. At Sacrifice Sabu teamed with his old enemy, and then NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Raven to face Jeff Jarrett and Rhino. Rhino and Jarrett won the match after Rhino gored Raven through a table and pinned him. The match saw Abyss interfering and attacking Sabu, starting a feud between the two of them. They went on to have a match at Unbreakable in September which Abyss won after performing his Black Hole Slam finisher on to a pile of tacks in the ring. Sabu once again found himself squaring off against Rhino and Abyss, as well as Jeff Hardy, during Bound for Glory in the Monster's Ball 2 match. Rhino won the match. On the same night, Sabu competed in a 10-Man Gauntlet Match to decide a number one contender, which he also lost, once again to Rhino.

In late October 2005, Brunk signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment to be a part of its Legends program. Sabu continued his feud with Abyss, once again losing to him at Genesis after taking a Black Hole Slam onto a barbed wire steel chair. They met up again, in the promotion's first ever Barbed Wire Massacre at Turning Point. Sabu finally beat Abyss, but following the match wasn't seen on TNA TV for several months.

He made his return at Lockdown on April 28, 2006 in a match against Samoa Joe for Joe's X Division Title despite Sabu having a broken forearm. Sabu was defeated in what would turn out to be his final TNA match. Following the match Samoa Joe reported on his MySpace page that Sabu's injuries from Lockdown were more serious than reported. Joe stated that part of Sabu's fingertip was severed, he had a broken arm, and he had been partially scalped at an undisclosed Mexican independent event.

2006 Arrest

Sabu went on to wrestle on the independent circuit, appearing with promotions such as Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW), which is owned by the Insane Clown Posse. On July 3, 2006, The Ironton Tribune reported that Brunk and Rob Van Dam had been arrested on the previous evening on U.S. Route 52 in Hanging Rock, Ohio. Van Dam had been stopped for speeding by an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper, who discovered that Van Dam was in possession of 18 grams of marijuana and five Vicodin pills, while Brunk was in possession of drug paraphernalia and nine tablets of Testolactone. Both Van Dam and Brunk were released after posting bail, and were scheduled to appear in Ironton Municipal Court on July 6, 2006. On July 6, 2006, The Ironton Tribune reported that the court date for Van Dam and Brunk was in limbo, as their attorneys had asked for and were granted continuances.

According to the WWE's wellness policy, a drug-related arrest can lead to that talent's immediate dismissal from the company. WWE Vice President of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis released a statement on WWE.com reporting that Van Dam and Sabu were still eligible to compete on the RAW and ECW tapings the following days while an investigation conducted by WWE was being undertaken. Van Dam was subsequently suspended without pay for 30 days, and an on-air segment on ECW was scripted to relay this to the fans.

On August 31 2006 Terry Brunk and Rob Van Dam appeared in court. Van Dam plead guilty to possessing marijuana and was fined $140 USD. Brunk was found guilty of possession of prescription medication nine tablets of testolactone (a steroid) not prescribed to him and was fined $1000 USD.[2]

World Wrestling Entertainment (2006-2007)

On April 24 2006, Sabu's official website reported that he signed a one-year contract with World Wrestling Entertainment. This was soon confirmed by WWE.com, which stated that Sabu would become a part of WWE's ECW brand. At the One Night Stand pay-per-view, Sabu faced Rey Mysterio for the World Heavyweight Championship. At the end of the pay-per-view matchup, Mysterio found himself standing on a ringside table with Sabu flying at him. Sabu caught the champ in a front facelock and nailed him with a DDT which caused both men to crash through the table. At this point, the WWE medical staff rushed to the injured men and declared neither man could continue and ordered the match stopped, resulting in a No Contest in which Mysterio kept his title.

On the June 13 premiere of ECW on Sci-Fi, Sabu won a 10 man Extreme Battle Royal (legalized weapons) with the stipulation that the winner face John Cena at Vengeance. Sabu further fueled the feud during the next week's RAW when he interfered in a Cena match and performed a Triple Jump Leg Drop on him, diving onto Cena and putting him through the announcers' table. Cena defeated Sabu in their "Extreme Lumberjack match" at Vengeance. On July 2, Sabu, traveling with fellow ECW wrestler Rob Van Dam, was arrested and charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, and nine Vicodin tablets following a traffic stop in Hanging Rock, Ohio.[3] On July 5, WWE.com announced that Brunk was to be fined $1,000 based on the guidelines of WWE's Wellness Policy.[4] Meanwhile, he defeated Stevie Richards in an Extreme Rules match at Saturday Night's Main Event.

Towards the end of July, Sabu began to talk on camera for himself - instead of using a go between - and demanded a shot at The Big Show's ECW World Championship which Paul Heyman refused to grant him in order to "protect" his champion. Instead he forced him into a match against the returning Kurt Angle to determine a #1 contender. When that match was interrupted by the returning Rob Van Dam another match was signed, Angle vs RVD vs. Sabu, for the number one contendership (Angle then became too injured to compete and was pulled from the match). Sabu beat Rob Van Dam in their ladder match to win a shot at Big Show at SummerSlam, a match which he ended up losing.

At Survivor Series, Sabu teamed up with John Cena, Bobby Lashley, Rob Van Dam and Kane to face the team of The Big Show, Test, Montel Vontavious Porter, Finlay and Umaga. Sabu eliminated Test following a Tornado DDT, but he was later eliminated by Big Show via pinfall after receiving a chokeslam. In the end, Team Cena gained victory. At December to Dismember Sabu was originally to appear in the main event, an extreme elimination chamber match against The Big Show, Test, Rob Van Dam, CM Punk and Bobby Lashley, but was "taken out" and replaced by Hardcore Holly. Sabu made his Royal Rumble debut in the 2007 Royal Rumble where he was eliminated by Kane after receiving a chokeslam over the top rope and through a table.

Sabu joined the ECW Originals along with Rob Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman. The ECW Originals began a feud with the New Breed (Elijah Burke, Kevin Thorn, Marcus Cor Von and Matt Striker). The two teams faced off in a match at WrestleMania 23 in which the ECW Originals won. The ECW after that, there was an ECW Extreme Rules Match between the New Breed and the ECW Originals, which the New Breed won after Elijah Burke did the Elijah Express on Sabu through a table. On March 31 2007 Sabu and Rob Van Dam inducted The Sheik into the WWE Hall of Fame. On May 16, 2007 WWE.com reported that Sabu has been released from his WWE Contract, behind the scenes it was said the reason why was that Sabu was getting increaslingly hard to work with, constantly arriving late and having a suspected minor drug problem.

Independent circuit (2007-2008)

Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA)

On July 13, 2007, it was announced that Sabu would be working in Mexico's AAA promotion in Mexico for their Triplemania 15 Event. Sabu came out during the main event and put La Parka (AAA version) through a table joining forces with the heels X-Pac, Ron "the Truth" Killings, and Konnan.Since then,he has made appearances on their major televised programs on Galavision.[5]

AWF

Sabu has been noted as a member of the AWF (Australasian Wrestling Federation) roster in which he has so far wrestled three matches at the October Wrestlefest 2007 Tour. Sabu Defeated Il Cognito at Fairy Meadow, NSW on the 5th, October 2007. Steve Ravenous at Cardiff, NSW on the 6th, October 2007. And most notably wrestling AWF Champion at the time, TNT (Greg Bownds), to a 'No Contest' due to interference from The Platinum Players at Blacktown, NSW on the 7th, October 2007

CWA Pro Wrestling

On February 8, 2008 Sabu appeared for CWA (Champions With Attitude) Pro Wrestling in Columbia, South Carolina. Teaming with the CWA Heavyweight Champion, Timber, Sabu true to his suicidal style dove off the staging area onto his opponent Phil Shatter putting him through a table.

May 10th he was scheduled to face the CWA heavyweight champion Raven in Fayetteville, NC, but Sabu did not show up due to injuries.

Xtreme Pro Wrestling

On May 24th 2008 Sabu was supposed to compete for Xtreme Pro Wrestling for there reunion show Cold Day in Hell were he would have been teaming up with Homeless Jimmy to face Raven and Johnny Webb. Although Sabu did attended the pre-show autograph session he was barred from competing by special referee Terry Funk due to a back injury. Sabu attempted a "run-in" during the match but began brawling with Funk before entering the ring. Many fans in attendance were aware of Sabu's inability to wrestle prior to the event but praised Sabu for attending the show and participating in the autograph session.

IWA:MS

Sabu was scheduled to face Too Cold Scorpio in IWA:MS at Extreme Intentions on June 7th. However, it was announced on June 1st that Sabu would not be wrestling due to his back injury, however he is still scheduled to make an appearance to sign autographs and take photos with fans.

PCW

Sabu was set to wrestle Mike Foxx for the PCW Heavyweight Championship at Capital Punishment on May 31, 2008, but was pulled from the show and replaced by Abyss.

Style

File:CW AND SABU.JPG
Sabu wrestling CW Anderson at the ECW Arena in June 2006.

Sabu's wrestling style is unorthodox, consisting mainly of aerial and grapple moves performed with the aid of tables (which he is famous for smashing opponents through) and chairs, which he uses as weapons and as launching pads for some of his more death-defying moves. He is also famous for the invention of his triple-jump techniques, which involve jumping from a set-up chair onto the ring ropes and then springing off onto an opponent with a flying attack of some sort.

Sabu is also notorious for continuing to wrestle matches even though he has suffered serious injuries that require medical attention. An example of this was during the Stairway to Hell match with The Sandman where Sabu's jawbone was broken when he landed face-first on the steel guardrail outside the ring. Rather than ending the match early, Sabu actually duct-taped his jaw shut and continued to wrestle the match to its scheduled conclusion. During the aforementioned "Born To Be Wired" match with Terry Funk, Sabu legitimately tore open his biceps on the barbed wire. He taped it up on the spot and continued the match. Afterwards, he super-glued himself together to drive to the hospital where it took more than 100 stitches to close the wound. He refused to miss any matches because of that injury.

Sabu's famous signature gesture, Magician of Arabia, is pointing to the sky while looking upwards, especially when entering or exiting the ring, or before performing an especially dangerous move (the gesture is often referred to as Sabu pointing to the heavens in tribute to his uncle The Sheik, even though he had been using the gesture many years before Sheik had died). Sabu has stated on camera, during a shoot interview with RF video, that the gesture "don't mean nothin...not really".

In wrestling

  • Theme music

Championships and accomplishments

  • Asylum Championship Wrestling
    • ACW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • Insane Wrestling Federation
    • IWF Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
  • Main Event Championship Wrestling
    • MECW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • Motor City Wrestling
    • MCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • National Wrestling Conference
    • NWC Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
  • Professional Championship Wrestling
    • PCW Television Championship (1 time)
  • Ultimate Championship Wrestling
    • UCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

1Only the second of Sabu's ECW Championship reigns are recognized by World Wrestling Entertainment.

Personal life

Brunk is married to a Japanese woman Hitomi, who was given a kayfabed name, Mibu, to match his own. They married on June 22, 1997. [7][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c Foley, Mick. Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks (p.273)
  2. ^ "WWE Superstar's Rob Van Dam & Sabu In Court". Lordsofpain.net. Retrieved 2006-01-09.
  3. ^ "Wrestling stars busted in Hanging Rock". Retrieved 2007-05-25.
  4. ^ Brady, Hicks. "2006: The year in wrestling". PWI Presents: 2007 Wrestling Almanak and book of facts. Kappa Publications. p. 23. 2007 Edition. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  5. ^ WRESTLELAND: Update on AAA's TripleMania Show
  6. ^ "Independent Wrestling Results - October 2002". onlineworldofwrestling.com. Retrieved 2008-07-06.
  7. ^ There were two ladies that shot ringside during the matches, Hitomi Brunk and Christine Coons. Both very nice young ladies. And a trivia note for some of you that may not know, Hitomi is the wife of Terry Brunk aka hardcore wrestling legend Sabu.
  8. ^ Sabu's Wedding
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