In speaking with Uncrowned via Yahoo Sports, Joey Janela addressed Sabu’s physical condition leading up to his retirement match with Janela at GCW’s Joey Janela’s Spring Break 9 at the Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Janela told Uncrowned the match almost did not take place due to Sabu’s physical condition, as the ECW legend was unable to walk.
“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.’ I said, ‘Sabu’s f——.’ So we talked to [indie wrestler] Matt Tremont, and Tremont is about to be the replacement for the match. And I feel like this is going to be the most embarrassing moment of my wrestling career. 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.”
Janela then went on to say they gave Sabu Kratom, which is supplement that is sold as an energy booster, mood lifter, pain reliever and remedy for the symptoms of quitting opioids.
“We are an hour into the show and 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. 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.”
Janela also noted that Sabu was knocked unconscious after getting whipped into a barbed-wire board that rested on the barbed wire in place of the ropes, then flipping backwards out of the ring and landing into a heap of barbed wire.
“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.”
According to Fightful, it was confirmed to them that Janela did the interview shortly after the match itself with Janela claiming he made it more attractive by adding some of the elements of the match itself to add to the “lore” of Sabu. Fightful also notes that GCW was frustrated, embarrassed and humiliated by Janela’s interview. Furthermore, it was added that GCW’s founder Brett Lauderdale spoke with Janela about the interview, but it is not known what was said or what came of the talk between the two.
Fightful concludes by stating there is no indication the match, or anything related had a connection with the passing of Sabu.
Janela posted a response on social media, which you can check out below:
