AS I SEE IT 11/29: A night for fans to help a hardcore legend...

AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling: Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com



Thanks to all of you who shared your thoughts about my column with my ECW memories last week.

In an ironic twist after last week's debut of the ECW DVD...one of those who did the most to help build ECW... one of its most well-known performers needs the help of wrestling fans. Wrestling legend Sabu was recently hospitalized for a lengthy time dealing with a number of health problems.

As a result, many of his friends, fans, and fellow performers will join together on December 12 for a special benefit show for Sabu to be called "A Night of Appreciation for Sabu". The show will be held at the Diamondback Saloon at 49345 South I-94 Service Drive in Belleville, Michigan with a 6:00 pm belltime.

Special VIP Tickets will be $30 and include a autograph session with all the superstars appearing on the show (at 4:00 pm) and choice seating. General Admission tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under.

Confirmed matches include:

  • Raven vs. Shane Douglas
  • AJ Styles vs. Chris Daniels
  • America's Most Wanted vs. Team Canada
  • Chris Sabin vs. Petey Williams

    Other talent committed to appear include: Insane Clown Posse and The Rudeboy, Jeff Hardy, D'Lo Brown, Monty Brown, Sharkboy, D-Ray 3000.

    A number of independent promotions are donating merchandise for the show to help raise funds as well. Sabu, who was credited with putting Extreme Championship Wrestling on the map on WWE's Rise and Fall of ECW DVD, was recently released from the hospital after a 50 day stay due to a myriad of health problems.

    A benefit fund has also been set up for those wishing to donate to Sabu but are unable to attend the event. A donation may be made via Paypal.com to Gmakpoulos@aol.com or a check or money order may be made out and sent to: Georgianne Makropoulos, 23-44 30th Drive, Astoria, NY 11102-3252. Please be sure to mark the donation "SABU FUND" in the memo section of the check.

    If anyone wishes to get more information about the event or to donate items for the show, email SabuShow@hotmail.com. If you would like to leave Sabu a get well message, do so here

    Directions to the venue:

    From the East (Detroit/Highland Park): To reach the Diamondback Saloon from the east take I-94 west to the Belleville Road exit, exit 190. Turn left on Belleville Road going back over the freeway to the South Service Drive. Turn right on the South Service Drive and follow it about 1 and 1/2 miles. The Diamondback Saloon is on the left.

    From the Southeast (Taylor/FlatRock): To reach the Diamondback Saloon from the southeast take I-275 north to I-94 west. Take I-94 west to the Belleville Road exit, exit 190. Turn left on Belleville Road going back over the freeway to the South Service Drive. Turn right on the South Service Drive and follow it about 1 and 1/2 miles. The Diamondback Saloon is on the left.

    From the North (Novi/Livonia): To reach the Diamondback Saloon from the north take I-275 south to I-94 west. Take I-94 west. Take I-94 west to Belleville road exit, exit 190. Turn left on Belleville Road going back over the freeway to the South Service Drive. Turn right on the South Service Drive and follow it about 1 and 1/2 miles. The Diamondback Saloon is on the left.

    From the Northwest (Brighton/Flint): To reach the Diamondback Saloon from the northwest take US-23 south to I-94 east. Take I-94 East to the Rawsonville Road exit, exit 187. Turn right on Rawsonville Road to the first light which is the South Service Drive. Turn left and follow the service drive about 1 mile. The Diamondback Saloon will be on your right.

    From the Southwest (Ann Arbor/Saline): To reach the Diamondback Saloon from the West take I-94 East to the Rawsonville Road exit, exit 187. Turn right on Rawsonville Road to the first light which is the South Service Drive. Turn left and follow the Service Drive about 1 mile. The Diamondback Saloon will be on your right.

    I first saw Sabu, not in ECW, but on a night most won't remember.... March 2, 1991 at Joel Goodhart's Tri-State Wrestling Alliance Winter Challenge II in Philadelphia, PA. The show was better known for the first in a series of TWA matches between Cactus Jack and Eddie Gilbert that made independent wrestling history, and likely put Philadelphia on the path to becoming a center of independent wrestling for the United States.

    But in that show, Sabu debuted in the Philadelphia area as part of the "Ringmaster Rumble", along with other Philadelphia independent names of the time as Don E. Allen, Bulldog Brower Jr., Michael Bruno, Cry Baby Waldo, Ghetto Blaster, Hoss, Jimmy Jannetty, Johnny O, Glenn Osbourne, Rick Perez, CN Redd, Rockin' Rebel, John Rock, Sandman, Wild Child, and Larry Winters.

    I saw more than a few special moments with Sabu, including the

  • Terry Funk vs. Sabu vs. Shane Douglas – The Night The Line Was Crossed February 5, 1994.

    That was the night that fans knew ECW was something special. At that time, to see workers go an hour...and working the style worked in this match to boot bordered on the breathtaking in an era of Titan Toon Adventures. 3 men simply busted their ass beyond anything that one could have expected. Little did ECW fans know what was yet to come.

  • Sabu/Taz vs. Public Enemy - Double Tables/ECW Tag Title Match from "Double Tables" (February 4, 1995)

  • Chris Benoit/Dean Malenko vs. Taz/Sabu from "Return of the Funker" (February 25, 1995)

  • Cactus Jack vs. Sabu from ECW Hostile City Showdown (June 24, 1994)

  • Cactus Jack vs. Sabu, Hamburg, PA (September 30, 1994)

    This is the match discussed by Mick Foley in his book, the match where he had to deposit his little boy (after he went bonkers backstage) in the arms of 911. I can still remember, over 10 years later, the sickening thud of that beer bottle as Sabu cracked it into Mick Foley's head again and again.

  • Sabu/Rob Van Dam vs. Eliminators from "November To Remember ’96" (November 16, 1996)

  • Sabu vs. Taz from "Barely Legal" (April 13, 1997)

  • Sabu vs. Sandman in the "Stairway to Hell" Ladder match from House Party 1998 (January 10, 1998)

  • Sabu vs. Terry Funk - ECW World Title match/No Rope Barbed Wire match from "Born To Be Wired" (August 9, 1997)

    In what was likely the single most violent match in ECW history, Sabu pinned Terry Funk in a barbed wire match at August 1997's "Born to be Wired", to a point that even Paul Heyman was reported to be sickened in the promo for the show's commercial video tape. Having seen the match in person, I can safely say he wasn't the only one.

    This might very well have been one of the most psychotic matches I've ever seen in person, and this coming from someone who has seen CZW in person...as well as IWA, FMW, and Big Japan on tape.

  • The 1996-1998 series of matches with Sabu vs. Rob Van Dam, and with Van Dam as a tag team

    So for someone who's done so much for fans...how hard can it be for you to help Sabu when he needs it?

    Again, a benefit fund has also been set up for those wishing to donate to Sabu but are unable to attend the event. A donation may be made via Paypal.com to Gmakpoulos@aol.com or a check or money order may be made out and sent to: Georgianne Makropoulos, 23-44 30th Drive, Astoria, NY 11102-3252. Please be sure to mark the donation "SABU FUND" in the memo section of the check.

    If anyone wishes to get more information about the event or to donate items for the show, email SabuShow@hotmail.com. If you would like to leave Sabu a get well message, do so here.

    Until next time...

    _________________________________________________________

    If you have comments/questions, or if you'd like to add the AS I SEE IT column to your website, I can be reached by e-mail at bobmagee1@hotmail.com)