Sabu reveals in his own words how it felt passing up WWE gimmick given to Rikishi

The WWE Universe continues to remember Sabu after his passing at the age of 61 on Sunday. Fans, talents, and industry insiders are recalling stories from his 40-year career, but Sabu's own words on how he turned down a WWE offer are also going viral. The role went to Rikishi, and Sabu was candid in discussing the matter.

The Human Highlight Reel and Rob Van Dam became close friends after meeting in December 1989. RVD began 1996 by joining ECW, with two indie losses to Sabu under his belt. Their 8-month ECW feud included No Time Limit, Respect, and Stretcher stipulations, with Sabu achieving a 6-1 singles record.

The fan-favorites teamed in late September 1996, one week after their last match, and became two-time ECW World Tag Team Champions. RVD and Sabu both will be on tonight's Vice Dark Side of the Ring episode. The 8th episode of season six is titled "Blood, Fire, and The Original Sheik," and will tell the story of Ed Farhat, known to wrestling fans as The Original Sheik.

The Whole F'N Show and Sabu were filmed for tonight's DSOTR episode, according to Dominic DeAngelo, co-host of RVD's 1 Of A Kind podcast. DeAngelo noted how the episode on Sabu's uncle will feature new interviews with the longtime friends, who both credited Sheik for the in-ring foundation he created for them. Sabu's remarks from his last RVD show were also provided, noting that the comments show just how genuine the hardcore legend was:

"I only smiled when I did stuff I was proud of. I didn’t like doing stuff I wasn’t proud of so I tried to stay away from that so he always said, ‘Don’t do nothing you’re not proud of.’ Now I’ve done some few things that I wasn’t proud of but I’ve done more things that I was. Even though I’ve burned a bridge, at the time I was proud of myself. Not so proud now, but at the time, the bridge was burning, I go, 'Haha, bridge is burning - f**k you!' [laughs]," Sabu said.

Rikishi joined WWE in 1992, and was re-packaged as The Sultan in August 1996, managed by The Iron Sheik and Bob Backlund. Sabu recalled how WWE originally pitched the gimmick to him. In previous interviews he revealed the gig was turned down as he didn't want to be managed by The Iron Sheik. Sabu wanted his uncle, The Original Sheik, to take the managerial role, but WWE denied the request:

"People go, ‘Wouldn’t you think you would have been better off if I took the money back in 1994 when they offered me to be The Sultan?' I go, ‘Yeah, but I wouldn’t be proud of myself. I’d be doing something else that somebody else told me to do,’ and I was becoming hot to want to conform to something else or somebody else when I had my own momentum going and I wanted to keep it going. I didn’t want help from them, you know?" Sabu said.

Rikishi worked the Sultan gimmick from August 1996 - January 1998, at a time when Sabu was wildly popular in ECW. August 1997 saw Sabu capture the ECW World Heavyweight Championship from Terry Funk in the legendary Born To Be Wired no-rope barbed wire match. The Sultan lost to The Patriot and Ken Shamrock on RAW that same month.

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WWE Hall of Famer Triple H pays tribute to Sabu

Triple H is among the many wrestling legends who have honored Sabu on social media this week. WWE's Chief Content Officer praised the ECW Original as innovative, amid more calls to induct the multi-time champion into the Hall of Fame:

"The ECW original whose innovative style helped bring the entire wrestling world to a new extreme. We send our condolences to his loved ones," Triple H wrote.

Several promotions have remembered The Modern Day Kamikaze, including WWE, AEW, and TNA, among others. Fans and wrestlers have made Sabu trend since Sunday.