The most "homicidal, suicidal, genocidal" wrestler in history, Sabu
I have written about Cactus Jack, Chris Jericho, Abdullah the Butcher, Miss Mongol, Dynamite Kid, Fritz Von Erich, the NWA's 50th Anniversary, Val Venis, and Dory Funk Jr. here on "View From The Rising Sun" on "Rob's Wrestling World" since 9/16/98. Thank you very much for reading my columns every week. Domo Arigato. This is my 10th column. I decided to write about Sabu.
Sabu just wrestled for the FMW (Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling)'s DirecTV PPV show at Yokohama Bunk Taiikukan (Gym) in Yokohama, Kanagawa on Friday, 11/20/98. Bam Bam Bigelow canceled his appearance at the show because he debuted on WCW's Monday Nitro on 11/16. At the very last minute, Chris Candido and Tammy Lynn Sytch canceled for unknown reasons. Sabu was asked to replace them, and he arrived at Narita Airport (located some 41 miles from Tokyo) Friday afternoon, then he went to Yokohama immediately. It took about 2 hours from Narita to Yokohama (Japan's largest port city) by car. He won a "3-Way Dance" match over One Man Gang and Yukihiro Kanemura with an Arabian dive and a diving legdrop. He slept in a hotel in Ikebukuro (one of the 3 biggest subcenters in the metropolis of Tokyo), and left Narita Saturday afternoon for Philadelphia. He stayed less than 24 hours in Japan. Other wrestlers may be replaced by Sabu, but HE could never be replaced.
Sabu is always said to be a man who is difficult to understand. He is sometimes a bitter and blunt man to the so-called smart marks. But, no doubt, he has a big pride as a professional wrestler, and he is, actually, a great guy to treat his family and friends like his treasures. He loves them, and they love him back. He is just open to misunderstanding. He has special thoughts for Japan, because he got his first break in the FMW in '91, and it is his wife's country.
The Original Sheik, wreaking his usual havoc as ringside
Sabu was born on 12/12/63. He has 2 brothers and 3 sisters, and he had been planning his life as a professional wrestler since he was 3 years old, when he watched his uncle, the legendary "Original" Sheik, wrestle on "Big Time Wrestling" TV. He was instructed in the basics of mat wrestling and brawling by his uncle. He built a ring in his basement, and created a lot of the aerial maneuvers by himself in the early '80s. His suicidal and deadly moves made him wrestling's "most suicidal and homicidal man." He graduated from high school (he was ranked No. 7 in Michigan in Greco-Roman style amateur wrestling). He made his "unofficial" debut in '84, in a wild brawl against The Sheik himself. Sabu, as "Terry S.R.," beat the Canadian Road Warrior in his "official" debut match in '85. Then, he was given the name of "Sabu" by The Sheik; he liked and built it by himself.
The Sheik faced both Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba, and was one of the most hated wrestlers in Japan in the '70s, because The Sheik and Abdullah the Butcher vs. Dory & Terry Funk was one of the biggest and bloodiest feuds in Japanese wrestling history. By the way, Percival A. Friend, who writes "The Way It Was" on "Rob's Wrestling World," worked side by side with The Sheik for about 3 years in Detroit, Michigan in the '60s. Percival said, "Sheik and his wife Joyce were like a dad and mom to me."
The Sheik and Masanori
Sabu's first Japan tour was in Atsushi Onita's FMW's "World Strongest Martial Arts Tag Team League" from 11/20 to 12/9/91. He was teaming with The Sheik, who had been absent from Japan for just 10 years. However, The Sheik was never out-dated. They got over with the FMW. Sabu has wrestled for 5 different offices in Japan in 7 years: Onita's FMW from 11/20/91 to 12/9/94 (23 tours), New Japan / Heisei-Ishingun (NJ's satellite) from 1/4/95 to 12/11/95 (14), Great Kojika's Big Japan from 3/19/96 to 6/4/96 (2), Tokyo Pro. from 6/24/96 to 10/8/96 (4), All Japan from 11/16/96 to 6/6/97 (3), and the FMW again from 12/22/97.
2/5/92 Kumamoto City Gym, Kumamoto
World Martial Arts Tag Team Championship (Falls Count Anywhere Street Fight Death Match)
Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto b. Sabu & Big Titan (12:13 Goto b. Sabu)
5/17/92 Toyota City Gym, Aichi
World Martial Arts Tag Team Championship (No Rope & Barbed Wire Tornado Tag Team Death Match )
Sabu & Horace Boulder (Hulk Hogan's nephew) b. Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto (7:38 Sabu b. Onita)
5/24/92 Ariake Coliseum, Tokyo
World Martial Arts Tag Team Championship (Martial Arts Double Stretcher Death Match)
Tarzan Goto & Gregory Velichev b. Sabu & Horace Boulder
(11:21 Velichev KO. Boulder / 13:39 Goto KO. Sabu)
9/19/92 Yokohama Baseball Stadium, Kanagawa
Sabu b. Shoji Nakamaki (2:37)
(Sabu's first stadium match in Japan; main event was Onita beating Tiger Jeet Singh (father of Tiger Ali Singh).
1/12/93 Osaka Furitsu Gym #2
World Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship (No Rope & Barbed Wire Street Fight Death Match)
Atsushi Onita b. Sabu (10:40)
4/17/93 Minneapolis, MN "NWA GrandSlam" (Dennis Coralluzzo & Sean Waltman, promoters)
Sabu no-contest with The Lightning Kid (X-Pac)
5/5/93 Kawasaki Baseball Stadium, Kanagawa
The Sheik & Sabu b. Dr. Luther & Dr. Hannibal (6:53 Sabu b. Luther)
Main event was Onita beating Terry Funk.
7/10/93 Brooklyn Park, MN "NWA GrandSlam II"
Sabu beat Jerry Lynn (14:32).
8/22/93 Nishinomiya Baseball Stadium, Hyogo (Stretcher Death Match)
Terry Funk & Tarzan Goto b. The Sheik & Sabu (6:30 Terry KO. Sabu)
Main event was Onita beating Mr. Pogo
Terry Funk, Masanori, and Sabu, feeling no pain
10/1/93 (ECW Arena)
Sabu debuted for ECW and pinned Tazmaniac (Taz) in a excellent match. After the match, he started chasing crowds all over the building with chairs and tables, then he put a table in the middle of the ring and did a moonsault backflip onto it from the top rope 3 times until it broke in half.
10/2/93 (ECW Arena)
Sabu beat Shane Douglas to win the ECW Heavyweight title. They brought Sabu out in a straitjacket strapped to a vertical stretcher like Hannibal Lecter in "Silence of the Lambs," complete with the steel mouth plate. After rolling him into the building, they let him loose and he started going into the crowds again, swinging a chain.
11/13/93 (ECW Arena) "November to Remember '93"
Sabu & Road Warrior Hawk beat Terry Funk & King Kong Bundy when Sabu pinned Terry. Due to match stipulations, Sabu won Terry's ECW TV Title.
2/5/94 (ECW Arena) "The Night the Line was Crossed"
Sabu drew ECW Champion Terry Funk and Shane Douglas for a 60 minute time up draw in a "Triangle" match.
5/14/94 (ECW Arena) "When Worlds Collide"
Sabu & Bobby Eaton beat Terry Funk & Arn Anderson when Sabu forced Funk to submit.
6/24/94 (ECW Arena) "Hostile City Showdown '94"
Sabu pinned Cactus Jack.
7/23/94 (Lincoln Park, MI) NWA World Independent Championship
Sabu beat Al Snow to win the title in a 25-foot ladder match (32:12).
8/7/94 (Lima, OH) NWA World Independent Championship
Sabu beat Osamu Nishimura (11:29).
Sabu no-contest with Chris Benoit, when Sabu leaped from the balcony (19:43).
9/16/94 ( Taylor, MI) NWA World Independent Championship
Sabu w/Paul E. Dangerously beat Taz (14:43) in a Tazmanian death match.
8/13/94 (ECW Arena) "Hardcore Heaven '94"
Sabu beat Too Cold Scorpio.
11/5/94 (ECW Arena) "November to Remember'94"
Sabu no-contest with Chris Benoit.
2/4/95 (ECW Arena)
Sabu & Tazmaniac beat The Public Enemy (12:48) in a "Double Tables" match to win the ECW Tag Team title.
11/5/95 (ECW Arena) "November to Remember'95"
Sabu beat Hack Meyers.
4/20/96 (ECW Arena) "Hostile City Showdown '96"
Sabu beat Rob Van Dam.
6/22/96 (ECW Arena) "Hardcore Heaven '96"
Sabu beat Rob Van Dam (19:28).
11/16/96 (ECW Arena) "November to Remember '96"
ECW Tag Team Champions, The Gangstas beat The Eliminators and Sabu & Rob Van Dam (8:54) in a "3-Way Dance;" Sabu was pinned (8:47), New Jack pinned Saturn (8:54).
4/13/97 (ECW Arena) "Barely Legal" (PPV)
Taz beat Sabu (17:49) via submission.
6/6/97 (ECW Arena) "Wrestlepalooza '97"
Sabu pinned Taz.
8/9/97 (ECW Arena) "Born to be Wired"
Sabu beat Terry Funk to win the ECW World Heavyweight title.
8/17/97 (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) "Hardcore Heaven '97 " (PPV)
Shane Douglas beat Sabu and Terry Funk (26:37) in a "3-Way Dance" to win the ECW Title; Douglas & Funk pinned Sabu (19:34), Douglas pinned Funk (26:37).
11/30/97 (Monaca, PA) "November to Remember '97" (PPV)
Sabu pinned Sandman (20:55) in a "Table and Ladders" match.
1/31/98 (ECW Arena) "Hostile City Showdown '98"
Sabu & Rob Van Dam beat Buh Buh Ray & D-Von Dudley and Kronus & New Jack and Sandman & Tommy Dreamer in a "4-Way Dance" match ; D-Von pinned Kronus, Sabu & Van Dam pinned The Dudleys, Sabu pinned Sandman.
3/1/98 (Asbury Park, NJ) "Living Dangerously" (PPV)
Sabu pinned Sandman (9:21) in a "Dueling Canes" match.
5/3/98 (Marietta, GA) "Wrestlepalooza '98" (PPV)
Sabu drew ECW TV Champion Rob Van Dam(30:00).
8/2/98 (Dayton, OH) "Heat Wave" (PPV)
ECW Tag Champions Sabu & Rob Van Dam beat Hayabusa & Jinsei Shinzaki (20:51), when Sabu pinned Shinzaki.
11/1/98 (New Orleans, LA) "November to Remember '98" (PPV)
Sabu, Rob Van Dam, & Taz beat Bam Bam Bigelow, Chris Candido, & Shane Douglas (12:57), when Sabu pinned Douglas.
FMW had the nation-wide-scaled "Atsushi Onita Memorial Retirement Tour" from '94 to '95. Sabu wrestled for the FMW for a total of 5 tours (1/5 - 1/18, 3/12-3/29, 4/25-5/5, 8/27-9/7, and 11/28-12/9) in '94.
5/5/94 Kawasaki Baseball Stadium
Sabu & Damian b. Dr. Luther & Yone Genjin (Michinoku Pro.)
Damian b. Yone (15:14)
Main event was Tenryu beating Onita.
Sabu decided to leave the FMW. The Sheik kept wrestling for the FMW until 5/5/95. Onita's retirement show at Kawasaki Baseball Stadium.
1/4/95 Tokyo Dome, Tokyo
Sabu & Masahiro Chono b. Tatsumi Fujinami & Junji Hirata (11:18 Chono b. Hirata)
Sabu debuted with New Japan. Sabu was fired by Paul E. Dangerously and Tod Gordon because he chose Heisei Ishingun (New Japan's satellite group) shows at Korakuen Hall on 4/8 and 4/28.
5/3/95 Fukuoka Dome IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Sabu b. Koji Kanemoto (16:39)
Sabu became the 24th champion.
Main event was Keiji Muto (The Great Muta) beating Shinya Hashimoto.
6/12/95 Osaka Furitsu Gym IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Sabu b. Black Tiger (Eddie Guerrero) (15:50).
6/14/95 Nippon Budokan, Tokyo IWGP & UWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship
Koji Kanemoto b. Sabu (19:04)
Sabu was with WCW for 3 months from August.
11/23/95 Todoroki Arena, Kawasaki, Kanagawa IWGP World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship
Sabu b. Gran Hamada (11:59)
Sabu became the 22nd champion.
12/1/95 Niigata City Gym IWGP World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship
El Samurai b. Sabu (14:06)
Then, Sabu changed from New Japan to Big Japan, from Big Japan to Tokyo Pro, and from Tokyo Pro to
All Japan. He worked for 3 offices in '96. He faced Kendo Nagasaki (6/4 Kofu, Yamanashi) and Abdullah the Butcher (6/24 Korakuen Hall) in singles matches. He had some classic aerial matches against 2 Cold Scorpio in Tokyo Pro, and against Rob Van Dam in All Japan. Sabu was teaming with Gary Albright in All Japan's annual "World Strongest Tag Team League" tournament from 11/16 to 12/6.
1/25/97 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo All Asian Tag Team Championship
Jun Akiyama & Takao Omori b. Sabu & Rob Van Dam
Omori b. Van Dam (12:26)
5/24/97 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
Sabu drew Rob Van Dam (30:00).
This match wasn't a main event, and it was not taped. But I was really impressed by their hard effort to challenge the world's most conservative wrestling office's traditional style.
The man will leave Detroit Airport for Japan on 12/7 and wrestle for the FMW again from 12/9 to 12/13/98.
He will be 35 years old on 12/12. His name is Sabu, nephew of The Sheik.
Sabu's Salute
You may contact Masanori at masa_h@mail.goo.ne.jp
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