RVD wasn't the only ECW wrestler pi**ing off WWE management in late 2006. RVD's buddy Sabu, whom many didn't give a chance in WWE to begin with, was also ruffling a lot of feathers backstage. The feeling in November was that Sabu was lucky to still have a job with the company. The first strike against Sabu was when he gave John Cena a black eye during an angle on Raw in July. That he gave the face of the company a shiner with a reckless stunt was held against him. Later in the year, however, Sabu began showing up late to house shows and kept falling asleep in the backstage area (for which he was jobbed out to Umaga). Then he blew off some promotional commitments after a set of ECW tapings. He was supposed to film some adverts for the upcoming Elimination Chamber match at December to Dismember but left while the taping was in progress. Many in the company felt as if he was trying to get himself fired. Sabu was taken out of the Elimination Chamber match as a result of all of this backstage drama. He was replaced by Hardcore Holly, which was not a popular decision with the ECW fans. Sabu managed to last until May 2007 and even got a WrestleMania match but he was on thin towards the end of 2006 and his standing in the company never really improved.
