{"id":130564,"date":"2025-02-08T00:16:17","date_gmt":"2025-02-08T05:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=130564"},"modified":"2025-02-08T00:16:17","modified_gmt":"2025-02-08T05:16:17","slug":"sabu-retirement-match-wrestlemania-vegas-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/02\/08\/sabu-retirement-match-wrestlemania-vegas-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"Sabu Retirement Match Announced For WrestleMania Vegas Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>ECW legend Sabu will wrestle in his final match during the WrestleMania Vegas weekend.<\/p>\n<p>The former ECW Heavyweight Champion, Television Champion, and Tag Team Champion will compete in a special retirement match at GCW Joey Janela&#8217;s Spring Break 9 on Friday, April 18, 2025.<\/p>\n<p>The suicidal, homicidal, genocidal, death-defying maniac Sabu will face the &#8220;Bad Boy&#8221; Joey Janela. The match is bound to be one of the most anticipated &#8211; and probably extreme &#8211; matches of WrestleMania Vegas week.<\/p>\n<p>The match will headline the card at the <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.ticketmaster.com\/game-changer-wrestling-joey-janelas-spring-las-vegas-nevada-04-18-2025\/event\/1700623CA8E2121B\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Palm&#8217;s Casino Resort\u00a0and give Sabu one last chance to strap himself to a ladder<\/a>\u00a0or chair and launch himself into a human being.<\/p>\n<p>Joey Janela has hosted the special <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2023\/03\/29\/gcw-joey-janelas-spring-break-7\/\" target=\"_self\">Spring Break shows<\/a> under the GCW umbrella since 2017. Janela has faced many wrestling legends at previous Spring Break events, including X-Pac, Ricky Morton, The Great Sasuke, and Marty Jannetty.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Joey Janela&#39;s Spring Break comes to Las Vegas during Mania Week at The <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/collective2025?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@collective2025<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p>Featuring:<\/p>\n<p>*SABU&#39;S FINAL MATCH*<\/p>\n<p>SABU<br \/>vs<br \/>JOEY JANELA<\/p>\n<p>Friday, April 18 &#8211; 7PM<br \/>The Pearl Theatre at The Palms<\/p>\n<p>Get Tix:<a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/H5tHW3jTc0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/H5tHW3jTc0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Watch LIVE on <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/fitetv?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@FiteTV<\/a>+! <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bknHmjptAq\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/bknHmjptAq<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; GameChangerWrestling (@GCWrestling_) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GCWrestling_\/status\/1887654190736154691?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 7, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Sabu&#8217;s Death-defying Career<\/h2>\n<p>Sabu began his career under the tutelage of his uncle The Original Sheik. They wrestled together in a number of extreme matches in <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/10\/01\/dark-side-of-the-ring-fmw-onita\/\" target=\"_self\">FMW<\/a>, such as barbwire and Ring of Fire deathmatches.<\/p>\n<p>Sabu earned lifelong scars from these early bouts. Sabu was originally billed as being from India and refused to speak.<\/p>\n<p>His hardcore nature and terrifying madman persona made him a huge hit when he began to appear in ECW. He held every major title with the company. His matches would typically involve at least one table spot.<\/p>\n<p>Whilst with ECW, the company poked fun at fans &#8216;figuring out&#8217; Sabu was, in fact, born in America by billing him as being from Bombay, Michigan.<\/p>\n<p>Sabu became a double champion in ECW when he won a match against Terry Funk, with both the ECW Heavyweight and Television titles on the line in November to Remember in 1993.<\/p>\n<h2>ECW Biggest Rivals<\/h2>\n<p>In 1995, Sabu no-showed an ECW event to wrestle for NJPW. He was fired and focused on competing in Japan for NJPW and All Japan Pro Wrestling, as well as in WCW and WWF.<\/p>\n<p>When he returned to ECW, he embarked on an <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_28LfVrYDdU\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">18-month feud with Tazz<\/a>. Tazz was furious Sabu had walked out on their tag team.<\/p>\n<p>At ECW Born to be Wired, Sabu and Funk met in perhaps the most extreme match in ECW history. During the barbwire deathmatch, Sabu ripped his bicep open. He taped it back together to finish the match.<\/p>\n<p>Sabu was most synonymous with <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/03\/29\/rob-van-dam-2021-wwe-hall-of-fame\/\" target=\"_self\">Rob Van Dam<\/a> during his time with ECW. The two first engaged in a lengthy feud, which many hold to be the best in-ring action from ECW. Their bouts offered both highly athletic action and extreme use of chairs and tables.<\/p>\n<p>Sabu developed another trademark during this time when he would regularly reach for production tape to wrap around his injured joints to ease the pain enough to carry on fighting.<\/p>\n<p>Both Sabu and RVD went on to be managed by Bill Alfonso and compete as a tag team in both ECW and WWE.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Sabu\u2019s greatest moments: WWE Top 10, Sept. 19, 2024\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BuET6LQDNvM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>WWE Rebrand of ECW<\/h2>\n<p>When WWE resurrected the ECW brand in 2006, Sabu was at the top of the list of competitors to bring in. This means there is now a healthy amount of <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/search?q=ECW&amp;jbv=81930770\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sabu matches on Netflix<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>He was given the honor of facing World Heavyweight Champion Rey Mysterio at <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2019\/06\/12\/one-night-stand-importance-of-ecw\/\" target=\"_self\">ECW One Night Stand<\/a>. The excellent dream match ended in a no contest.<\/p>\n<p>Sabu then entered a feud with WWE golden boy <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2025\/01\/06\/john-cena-addresses-17th-championship-starts-with-royal-rumble\/\" target=\"_self\">John Cena<\/a>. This was followed up with a shot at the ECW Heavyweight Championship against Big Show at SummerSlam.<\/p>\n<p>Sabu featured prominently on WWE TV throughout the rest of the year. He started 2007 off true to his nature by being eliminated from the Royal Rumble when Big Show chokeslammed him over the top rope and through a table.<\/p>\n<p>Sabu was part of the marquee ECW Originals vs. ECW New Breed match at <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/watch\/81929601?trackId=255824129\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WrestleMania 23.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In recent years, Sabu has become a cult legend for Vice TV viewers. He has appeared on multiple Dark Side of the Ring episodes, smoked weed with <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2022\/10\/04\/who-is-aews-action-bronson\/\" target=\"_self\">Action Bronson<\/a> and gone hunting for aliens.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"FULL MATCH: Sabu vs. Rob Van Dam \u2013 Ladder Match: ECW, Aug. 15, 2006\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xYyrmeaILbk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Header photo &#8211; WikiMedia Commons &#8211; Stay tuned to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_self\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a> for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. To catch a repeat of the GCW Tournament of Survival 666, the event can be watched on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.trillertv.com\/live\/wrestling\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Triller TV<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ECW legend Sabu will wrestle in his final match during the WrestleMania Vegas weekend. The former ECW Heavyweight Champion, Television Champion, and Tag Team Champion will compete in a special retirement match at GCW Joey Janela&#8217;s Spring Break 9 on Friday, April 18, 2025. The suicidal, homicidal, genocidal, death-defying maniac Sabu will face the &#8220;Bad [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3852,"featured_media":130615,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5274,12,2192],"tags":[852,2414,1734,1771,396],"class_list":["post-130564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gcw","category-news","category-wrestling","tag-joey-janela","tag-joey-janelas-spring-break","tag-rob-van-dam","tag-sabu","tag-wrestlemania"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3852"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130564"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130616,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130564\/revisions\/130616"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}