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Sabu says Vince McMahon did not want him to receive a manager during his 13 months in WWE between April 2006 and May 2007.
The 57-year-old made his name as one of ECW’s biggest stars in the 1990s. After joining WWE’s revamped ECW brand in 2006, McMahon told him that he needed to cut promos as a babyface.
Speaking to WSI’s James Romero, Sabu revealed that he asked the WWE Chairman if a manager could talk for him. However, his former boss shot down the idea because former WWE Superstar Umaga also had a manager at the time.
“He said to be a likeable babyface, I had to speak for myself, and that having the manager speak was Umaga’s gimmick,” Sabu recalled. “I said, ‘I was doing it before Umaga was born. Before that, my uncle [The Original Sheik] did it.’ He goes, ‘Not here,’ as if my history never happened.” [2:06-2:26]
Sabu also said in the interview that Vince McMahon started off “nicely” and then became “vicious” when they discussed his backstage promos. The ECW legend purposely performed badly on the microphone because he wanted a manager, but McMahon simply made him film the promos again.
How did Vince McMahon book Sabu?
The two-time ECW World Heavyweight Champion revealed last year that McMahon viewed him as the Hulk Hogan or Steve Austin of ECW. Although the WWE Chairman meant the comparison as a compliment, Sabu laughed and responded, “Who the f*** wants to do that?”
McMahon initially booked Sabu against some of the top names in WWE. The former ECW star lost against John Cena at a special WWE vs. ECW show in his televised debut. He then fought Rey Mysterio in a no-contest at One Night Stand 2006.
The recently retired wrestler also lost against Cena at Vengeance 2006 and against The Big Show at SummerSlam 2006. Aside from his win over Rhyno at One Night Stand 2005, his only other WWE pay-per-view appearances came in multi-man matches.
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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