10 Incredible Stories Of Wrestlers' Dedication To Their Character
7. Sabu Refuses To Speak English After Breaking His Neck
One of ECW’s first real standouts, Sabu made his name as a maniacal extremist who took the word "hardcore" to heart, and helped the company forge its reputation as a violent, underground alternative to mainstream professional wrestling.
As the nephew of the original Sheik, Sabu used a similar gimmick to ‘The Arabian Madman,’ which meant he was billed from Saudi Arabia, and rarely spoke a word of English. Sabu’s ECW character was a mute until 1997, when he finally broke his silence by calling Taz a "f****** midget" on television. He was extremely dedicated to maintaining the character on-screen and off, with the most notorious example coming in 1994, when Chris Benoit broke his neck in the ring.
As the legend goes, Sabu refused to communicate with the doctors at the hospital for several hours, thus preventing them from treating him. Paul Heyman was forced to speak on his wrestler’s behalf, but it soon became apparent that Sabu would have to break his silence for his health’s sake, and he relented. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised, however: this is a man who once taped his his broken jaw closed for the sake of not cutting a match short, after all.