The suicidal, homicidal, GENOCIDAL (really?) Sabu is one of the most revolutionary wrestlers of all-time, at least as far as North American pro wrestling is concerned. The nephew of the Original Sheik brought the hardcore, table-breaking style of Japan to Philadelphia-based indie ECW and become an instant sensation in the process. Nobody had seen anything quite like Sabu in the early-to-mid 90s. There had been some well-known garbage match wrestlers, yes, but few were as 'out there' as the real-life Terry Brunk. After all, none of them had ever willingly moonsaulted themselves through a table after a match before, had they? Sabu gained a real cult following in ECW, which opened doors for him to New Japan (he'd already established himself in the Orient due to his work with FMW) and, for a brief spell, WCW, but he never put pen to paper with the WWF. Not that Vince and Co. hadn't had a look at the man from Bombay, Michigan. In fact, Sabu did have a tryout match before Raw on October 18th, 1993 (beating Scott Taylor). So he was definitely on their radar. WWE had also tried to get Sabu to participate in the 1996 Royal Rumble match. They needed bodies to help flesh out their wafer-thin roster, but Sabu declined, feeling that a throwaway appearance in such a big match would have harmed his aura and that ECW fans would have thought he had 'sold out' by wrestling for 'New York'. Sabu did have one televised match for WWE in the 90s, defeating Flash Funk on the June 23rd 1997 episode of Raw as part of a cross-promotional deal between WWE and ECW. He also dove off the Raw sign in a memorable spot, giving WWE viewers a glimpse of his daredevil ways, but he wouldn't sign a full-time contract until WWE resurrected the ECW brand in 2006. They could have really used a guy as unique and marketable as Sabu in the talent-starved mid-90s.
