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Sabu says a backstage conversation with Stephanie McMahon led to WWE sending him home before the December to Dismember event in 2006.
The wrestling legend was supposed to participate in the Extreme Elimination Chamber main event for the ECW World Championship. However, he was replaced on the day of the show by Bob Holly following an awkward interaction with WWE’s Chief Brand Officer.
Speaking to WSI’s James Romero, Sabu recalled how he tore up a promo script that McMahon gave him a few days before the event. He thought she might understand his reluctance to cut promos, but the conversation resulted in him being sent home instead.
“I walked away and hid from her, thinking she’s gonna forget about the promo and think, ‘He’s no good at promos but he’s good in the ring,’” Sabu said. “She took me off the show. They had me do an angle where they broke my arm and then flew me home the next morning. I was instructed by security to fly home that morning. I couldn’t stay if I wanted to.” [1:12-1:32]
December to Dismember turned out to be one of the most memorable WWE shows of 2006, but not for the right reasons. The ECW-exclusive event was widely criticized by fans, especially as only six original Extreme Championship Wrestling stars appeared on the card.
What happened after Sabu’s interaction with Stephanie McMahon?
Former Extreme Championship Wrestling owner Paul Heyman worked on the creative team when WWE rebooted the ECW brand in 2006. He left the company shortly after December to Dismember following arguments about WWE’s booking of the show.
Although Sabu had issues with Heyman stemming from their time in the original ECW, he thinks WWE should not have let his former boss leave:
“When Paul Heyman got fired, that’s when everything went downhill, for me anyways. Even though me and Paul had heat, we still respected each other professionally and knew that I was one of the better things for ECW. When he got kicked out, it made a big difference.” [3:52-4:07]
Sabu returned to television two weeks after December to Dismember. Following the Stephanie McMahon incident, he did not win another televised singles match in WWE before departing the company in May 2007.
Please credit WSI and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
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