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Joey Janela Recounts How Sabu's Retirement Match Almost Didn't Happen, Defends The Match Going On

Wrestling
Jeremy Lambert May 12, 2025 6:39PM

Sabu entered the ring for one final time at Joey Janela's Spring Break 9 on April 18th in a no-ropes barbed wire bout against Janela.

The bout was billed as Sabu's retirement match, and it was his first match since 2021.

Corey Graves Pays Tribute To Sabu: "They Don't Make 'Em Like Him Anymore"

Sabu unfortunately passed on May 11th.

Speaking to Phil Schneider of Yahoo's The Uncrowned, Joey Janela recounted the events leading up to the bout and how it nearly didn't happen.

“I was fairly confident that he was fine. I was kept in contact with him and he has a team of people around him, guys this time. They were all saying he was ready to go, that he was going to the gym, that he was on a training program. I believed them until the day of the show. Then two hours before, I get a call: ‘Sabu can't 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***ed.’ 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.”

GCW promoter Brett Lauderdale said that he felt confident Sabu was showing up as long as he was still in communication with everyone.

“We are an hour into the show and I said, ‘Just get Sabu here,’" Janela continued. "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***ing planet. Everyone in the backstage was like, ‘What the f***? Is this match going to happen?’ And my God, did it happen.”

During the bout, Sabu went face first into a barbed wire web and then went crashing through a barbed wire board, hitting his head hard on the outside.

“He was definitely out cold. He was done," Janela said. "They were telling me there was no way. The refs were communicating to me that there's no way he's continuing this match. Like holy s***, that is the one time you want the barbed wire to stop you. He just blew right through it. And then [old ECW rival] The Sandman came out and that was all Sabu needed, then the resurrection happened. Jesus resurrected two days later, the anniversary … couldn't f***ing believe it, dude. He was ready to go again. I guess that concussion knocked him back into 1996 or something, I don't know.”

By the time Sandman had finished his spot, running off Atticus Cogar, Sabu was back up and able to finish the match.

“Just because how ridiculous it was, if you were one of the wrestlers or one of the staff in the locker that night, you knew the panic in my f***ing eyes," Janela said. "And to see that get pulled off and the crowd to be on their feet, I mean, it's like f***ing dancing through raindrops and not getting wet."

After the article was released, some questioned why Sabu was allowed to proceed with the match.

Janela offered the following replies.

Janela paid tribute to Sabu in the opening of JCW May Flowers on May 11. Janela has called Sabu his idol and said that he loved Sabu.

Fans can find more tributes to Sabu by clicking here.

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