ECW legend comments on the 'war' between Vince McMahon's WWE and Tony Khan's AEW
During a recent interview with Vinny Vegas on Pounding The Meat, WWE veteran Sabu was asked about his thoughts about the emergence of AEW and the promotion firmly establishing themselves as the second biggest wrestling company in the United States.
The ECW legend felt it was good that there was another company competing for talent with WWE, comparing the situation to when he worked for TNA back in the day. Sabu added that despite how well AEW has been doing, WWE is still easily the number one company, and it will be hard to knock them off the top spot:
"I think it's good. I'm glad there's another company besides Vince [McMahon] paying that kind of money. TNA was a bit of a joke because they didn't pay like that. When I was in TNA, I considered it a poor man's WWE because it looked like we were making money but we weren't. The top guys were, Hogan was, but Dixie Carter was making no money, she lost millions of dollars and so did her father. WWE was always going to be number one, I don't care what anybody says. I wish someone could knock them off the top but it's not going to happen. They have their claws in every aspect of entertainment."
youtu.be/TB2PdZjPBD8
WWE veteran Sabu on the origin of his ring name
During the interview, the ECW legend was also asked about the origins of his ring name. He said that his uncle was a big fan of the old Jungle Book movie, and the actor who played Mowgli was named Sabu.
Watching The Jungle Book, that was released in 1942. Mowgli is played by an Indian actor, Sabu Dastgir. The whole movie was shot in California! Great replication of set and scenery. https://t.co/q3Nugl1tiL
As a big fan of the actor, Sabu's uncle, The Sheik, eventually gave him the name when he started wrestling:
"My uncle was a fan of the Jungle Book. In the [1940s] there was a movie called the Jungle Book and there was a character in it called Mowgli. The actor was named Sabu. My uncle was a fan of the actor. He always pretended he was the actor Sabu while growing up, running around and acting crazy. When they had a son, he wanted to name his son Sabu but my aunt wouldn't let him so they named the dog Sabu. Then after the dog died, that's when I came along and then he named me Sabu."
Sabu (real name — Terry Michael Brunk) is best remembered for his run in ECW. However, the 57-year-old also had runs in both WWE and TNA Wrestling, as well as a number of Japanese promotions.