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The wrestling world was saddened upon hearing the news of the death of Sabu (real name: Terry Brunk) at the age of 61 on Sunday. Especially since Sabu, who became famous for his hardcore style while working for Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), had wrestled what was billed as his final match over WrestleMania weekend just three weeks prior.
Joey Janela, pro wrestler and the promoter of the Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) Spring Break series in which Sabu wrestled, spoke to Uncrowned following the match. During that conversation, Janela, who was Sabu’s opponent that night, shared that two hours before the show he received a call that Sabu couldn’t walk because his knee locked up and his feet were bleeding, so he wasn’t going to be able wrestle.
“I feel like this is going to be the most embarrassing moment of my wrestling career,” Janela said. “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.”
Sabu did, however, eventually make his way to the arena.
“We are an hour into the show and I said, ‘Just get Sabu here,’” Janela continued. “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. They said, ‘He’s hopping on the bed, he’s hopping off the bed, and we’re going to get him to the show.’ So he shows up two hours into the show. Sabu was on a different f—— planet. Everyone in the backstage was like, ‘What the f—? Is this match going to happen?’ And my God, did it happen.”
During the match, Sabu took a bad bump and was knocked out. At least that’s what Joey Janela said: “He was definitely out cold. He was done.”
Following his death, many people on social media expressed shock and anger that Sabu was even allowed to wrestle that night.
“So GCW/Brett drugged Sabu knowing he was unable to wrestle that night or at least having issues in the name of making 2,000 fans happy rather than prioritizing a f—— old retired legend’s health,” one fan wrote on X (Twitter). “I’m SO f—— disappointed to ever support GCW and buy tickets to their shows.”
“Joey Janela gave an addict an opiate???” read another comment. “Because he didn’t want to’be embarrassed’??? Be so fr bro this is actually really disgusting and if anyone at GCW actually cared about Sabu’s health and wellbeing they would have shut that s— down immediately.”
Things have gotten so bad that Joey Janela fired back at accusations that his group drugged Sabu just so he could perform in the final match before his death.
“We didn’t give him kratom his team did, it’s also not illegal and 85% of professional wrestlers do it especially the ones on TV,” Janela wrote on X. “So f— you. Sabu was a grown man, he did what he had to do to get out there. I took care of him to the best of my ability, I didn’t think what happened half way through would happen, it was all to get him one great payday and one last shine in the spotlight. That night wasn’t about me, it was about Sabu and I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Janela would also write on X, “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.”