All Hell Can’t Stop Him Now: Chris Sabin Is Primed For His Slammiversary Showdown With Moose

Chris Sabin is starting the latest chapter in his storied career with his feud with Moose in IMPACT Wrestling.

Chris Sabin recently spoke with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard ahead of his match at Slammiversary with Moose. Sabin returned to TV this month to rekindle his feud with Moose, who put him on the shelf in May. The two were the final competitors in the six-way number one contender’s match at Under Siege, but Moose ultimately targeted Sabin’s knee and took him out of contention.

Slammiversary will mark the first singles match they’ve ever had, and just the fifth time they’ve ever shared the ring. Sabin talked about the benefits of having a long-term storyline to return to and said it’s leading to some captivating television.

“There’s reasoning behind what’s happening, you know? Moose took out James Storm, my tag team partner. He injured him, and he hasn’t been seen since. During the number one contender match, where the winner would have went on to wrestle Kenny Omega, Moose and I were the last two guys in that match. And he decided to focus on my knees, which caused me to be out for about a month just to make sure everything was good with my knees. Because my problems with my knees are well-documented,” Sabin said, “so yeah there’s a reason behind all of it. And it’s hyped, man. It’s at Slammiversary, July 17.”

Sabin has come back from three separate ACL tears in his career, but it’s a bit different changing things up because of your body just slowing down due to age. After noting that this feud is focused on the story, Sabin agreed that shifting things around in this way was definitely different, but also needed, especially if he wants to prolong his career in the wrestling business.

“I think it’s extremely important, especially for the longevity of my career. I’m 39 now, I’ve been wrestling for 21 years. And one of the things I find that you have to make a shift with is you kinda have to alter your in-ring style while at the same time altering your storytelling abilities. And it’s best to have both, but I think as you’re older,” Sabin explained, “you need to emphasize one more than the other. Because my body just can’t do the things that my body could do 20 years ago. So it’s absolutely a necessity.”

Asked what the biggest difference was in changing his style due to injury compared to age, Sabin says now it’s more about planning and preparation, and ensuring he can safely pull of the moves he wants to perform.

“The biggest difference between then and now is that I kind of have a little checklist before I might do something in the ring. And that checklist has to be, if I feel it’s going to be risky enough to put me, to have a chance of injuring me, then I’m not gonna do it. So I think I just have to put a little bit more thought into what I do out there. And before, I wouldn’t. I’m just like, ‘yeah, I’ll do whatever.’ ‘I’ll do whatever, let’s do this.’ When you’re young and you feel invincible,” Sabin noted, “you have a different mindset as opposed to the mindset when you’re trying to preserve yourself and your body, while at the same time, put on good matches.”

Before they collide at Slammiversary, Sabin and Moose will first share the ring on this week’s episode of IMPACT Wrestling when they team with Sami Callihan to face Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson and Kenny Omega. Catch Chris Sabin on IMPACT each week, Thursdays at 8 pm EST on AXS TV.

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