Dubbed "Homicidal, Genocidal and Suicidal" for his willingness to sacrifice his body while punishing his opponents, Sabu earned a reputation for being one of the most chaotic wrestlers on the planet. He was also must-see, a performer whose extraordinary risks were absolutely captivating. Above all, Sabu was violent. His body was scarred from years of crashing through tables and competing in barbed wire matches. He specialized in hardcore matches, those bouts in which he could use weapons and high spots to camouflage that his body was a mangled mess of bruises, broken bones and torn muscles. Unfortunately for him, the call from WWE asking him to be part of the ECW revival on SyFy would force him to change his style and in the process, expose his flaws. At that point in his career, Sabu was a grizzled veteran who needed the spectacle of his high-flying assaults and hardcore style to mask the fact that he was well past his prime. His work had become sloppier than ever and without the plunder present in every match, a Superstar once labeled "extraordinary" had become extremely ordinary. Sabu had to change his style to fit the WWE mold in 2006. Sure, he still used the occasional table but everything that had helped make Sabu a sensation among die-hard wrestling fans a decade earlier had been stripped away and the result was a failure of a run with the biggest wrestling company on the planet.
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
