Sabu lost his smile as he saw how far WWE’s version of ECW strayed from the original.
The wrestling legend was one of the ECW alumni brought back for the rebooted version of ECW in 2006. Following the success of ECW One Night Stand in 2005 and 2006, Paul Heyman led talents like Rob Van Dam, Sabu and CM Punk in relaunching the show.
However, the show quickly made it clear that it wasn’t the ECW of old. Legends of the past were phased out as WWE talents like Kurt Angle, Big Show and Bobby Lashley were pushed prominently. While they were top talents, they weren’t quite as ECW fans were expecting.
It also wasn’t what Sabu wanted the show to look like. The legendary wrestler recently spoke with Donut Shop Chronicles about why he didn’t like WWECW (H/T to WrestlingInc for the transcription).
He explained that he thought the new ECW would keep the spirit of the original promotion. However, it quickly became less like ECW and “more like the new bullshit”, which turned Sabu off the product.
“My intentions on coming to the new ECW was they were going to keep it the way it was built on that. But as I was there, each week it got less and less, you know? Less like the old ECW and more like the new bulls**t. And then I just didn’t fit in. I couldn’t fit in no more. I couldn’t go to work with a smile.”
Sabu: Paul Heyman Had A Better Mind Than Vince McMahon
When asked about the creative differences between Paul Heyman and Vince McMahon, Sabu said he believes Heyman had a much better creative mind for the business than McMahon did.
“He’s good to work for, sort of. Work with, not work for. He’s great to work with. He’s a genius and has the best mind in the business than anybody. He had a better mind than Vince,” he said. “When I wrestled for him, he didn’t have the money to pay us. I don’t hold that against him no more. He didn’t have it. If he had the money to pay us back then, he would’ve.”
While Sabu spent several years working with Heyman, he only worked with McMahon for a short period of time during the WWECW era of the company.
