Ex-Ring of Honor (and current Evolve and Dragon Gate) booker Gabe Sapolsky was once the head of the Sabu Fan Club. The "Homicidal, Suicidal and Genocidal Maniac" was also storyline introduced to the promotion by Paul E. Dangerously, and was an ECW "Triple Crown" champion. He accomplished all of this without speaking a word. However, though he did not speak, his actions were so gruesome that the level of pain to which he exposed his body allowed him to become a cult icon in ECW, a living legend of sorts. In 1995 versus Terry Funk at Born To Be Wired, it was in a no-ropes barbed wire match that Sabu tore open his bicep with a ten-inch gash that he attempted to fix with his own wrist tape. The match of course ended with Sabu and Funk needing to be dis-entangled from the barbed wire with wire cutters in a display so brutal it was never replicated by the promotion. As well, the level of perceived shoot enmity between Taz and Sabu was one of the selling points of the promotions inaugural pay-per-view, Barely Legal. As an in-ring talent, his groundbreaking high-flying style was paired with that of fellow The Sheik trainee Rob Van Dam for an entertaining tag-team duo managed by Bill Alphonso, as well as a memorable series of matches with the likes of Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman, too. Oftentimes more of an attraction than a wrestler engaged in feuds, he certainly was a top draw and deserving of placement on this list.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
