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Vince McMahon oversaw WWE's creative direction for 40 years before being replaced by Triple H in July 2022. Sabu, a former WWE star between 2006 and 2007, recently made a bold claim about McMahon's running of the ECW brand.
Under Paul Heyman's leadership, ECW was viewed as a viable alternative to WCW and WWE in the 1990s. McMahon later bought the company and reintroduced ECW as a WWE show in 2006.
Sabu, one of ECW's original marquee names, wrestled for WWE's revamped version of the brand. On Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw, the 59-year-old claimed McMahon toned down ECW's use of weapons because he wanted the show to fail:
"Most people who were used to ECW, we had almost every match an extreme match-up," Sabu said. "I don't agree with that, but you need at least one no-rules match on the show. We'd do [WWE] shows with no hardcore matches, no tables, no chairs. Not even one match. And that's because of Vince trying to kill it on purpose." [44:43 – 45:03]
Sabu held the ECW World Heavyweight Championship twice and World Television Championship once. He also won the tag titles twice with Rob Van Dam (RVD) and once with Taz.
Sabu compares Paul Heyman and Vince McMahon's ECW
The original ECW was known for its passionate fanbase. In some matches, audience members even handed out weapons for wrestlers to use on their opponents.
Sabu believes Paul Heyman's ECW was more fan-centric, while Vince McMahon wanted the show to run like RAW and SmackDown:
"We acknowledged them [fans]. We didn't ignore them. When they gave us a chair, we took that chair and used it. We made them part of the show. We didn't ignore them. They know what wrestling is, but WWE chooses to kayfabe. That was back then." [45:28 – 45:49]
In the same interview, Sabu shared some exciting news about his in-ring future.
Do you think Vince McMahon wanted WWE's ECW brand to fail? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
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