Major Controversy Erupts Over Sabu's Last Match, ECW Legend Competed On Kratom (GCW News)
Revealing interview discusses Sabu's health issues before and during final match
A significant controversy has emerged surrounding the late, great Sabu following his passing on May 11th.
Notable in the immediate aftermath of his death was that his final match - a No Rope Barbed Wire clash with Joey Janela at GCW Joey Janela's Spring Break 9 over WrestleMania 41 weekend - was actually billed as such. Following the bout (but before Sabu's death), Janela spoke with Uncrowned for Yahoo Sports and went into significant detail about what happened behind the scenes in order to get the match in the ring, referencing Sabu's health directly.
In the piece, he noted that;
“I was fairly confident that he was fine...I was kept in contact with him and he has a team of people around him, guys this time. They were all saying he was ready to go, that he was going to the gym, that he was on a training program. I believed them until the day of the show. Then two hours before, I get a call: ‘Sabu can't walk.’
He continued;
"What do you mean Sabu can't walk? They said, ‘Yeah, Sabu, something with his knee — they're locked up. He can't walk. And his feet are bleeding. He's not coming. Sabu's not coming.’...There's 2,000 people here. This is one of the biggest Spring Breaks ever. The biggest crowd ‘Mania weekend, indie-wise. And I'm going to have to go out there and announce that Sabu, once again, no-showed. And no-showed his own retirement match...I said, ‘Just get Sabu here...So they gave him something called kratom. You can buy it at a smoke shop or something; it’s like a legal opiate or something...So he shows up two hours into the show. Sabu was on a different f***ing planet"
Reflecting further on a specific spot where potential future Hall Of Famer Sabu went through a wooden door through the barbed wire ropes and directly to the floor, Janela added;
"He was definitely out cold. He was done...They were telling me there was no way. The refs were communicating to me that there's no way he's continuing this match. Like holy s***, that is the one time you want the barbed wire to stop you. He just blew right through it."
The article and above comments were immediately picked up on by fans online, with many looking angrily towards Janela and GCW for allowing the circumstances to play out as described.
Following that, Janela posted the following on X, saying;
"I’m truly devastated over this and this whole deal has really affected me. Kratom is something Sabu took daily for years it helped him get off other substances, Sabu loved his weed & Kratom his body was wrecked doing what he loved for 40 years.
I did an interview for that article 2 days after the match not knowing what would transpire weeks later & I said he was “knocked out” after that spot when despite being a rough deal, he was not that. I was just trying to add to the lore and unpredictably of sabu. I loved sabu he was legitimately my idol growing up, & my friend I just wanted to give him & the fans one last great sabu spectacle.
I’m sorry for lashing out at you but your tweet caused a snowball affect that has many people saying I was in part responsible for my friends death. Sabu was fine after, the day after signed at wrestlecon and has been doing many appearances since, I don’t know what the cause of death all I can say is I wouldn’t change a thing & happy he went out on top."
Fightful Select subsequently went on to add that GCW were "frustrated, embarrassed and humiliated by the interview", that GCW chief Brett Lauderdale had spoken to Janela about the situation and that "there is no indication that the GCW match, or anything related to that story had a connection with Sabu's passing".
Sabu was victorious in a contest promoted as a retirement bout, though even with the usual caveats attached to most wrestling retirements, it increasingly felt as though that wouldn't be the case. This came up directly in an interview with Legion Of Skanks published on May 7th 2025 where he was asked outright if he would wrestle again, to which he replied "probably".
Sabu was frustrated with his injury during the Spring Break match and still wanted to make another comeback https://t.co/qRb9Ir8NKW pic.twitter.com/AyrUXH3LJt— Tripping Balls (@IsThisWrestling) May 11, 2025
PWInsider was the first that 'The Suicidal, Homicidal, Genocidal' legend had died, and there had been no cause of death given at time of writing.