Ex-WWE Superstar explains how Chris Benoit broke his neck
Sabu recently explained what really happened when Chris Benoit broke his neck during their time together in ECW.
Benoit and Sabu were supposed to main-event ECW November to Remember 1994. In the early stages of the match, the former WWE Champion hooked his opponent’s leg and sent him crashing head-first into the ring canvas.
Speaking to WSI’s James Romero, Sabu disclosed details about the pre-match conversation he had with Benoit:
“It wasn’t really a miscommunication. He said, ‘I’ll hook you and throw you for a belly flop, but don’t tuck.’ But when he threw me up, he hooked my legs and threw me up, my legs kept climbing higher than my head and I couldn’t flatten out, and I landed on my head.” [0:16-0:34]
The match ended as a no-contest after just two minutes. Moments later, Sabu’s ally 911 attacked Benoit before 2 Cold Scorpio appeared as a surprise opponent for the Canadian. The impromptu match lasted 12 minutes and ended in a double count-out.
How Sabu recovered from his match against Chris Benoit
#OnThisDay in 1994: Chris Benoit backdropped Sabu from a high angle and Sabu landed right on his head, breaking his neck. https://t.co/OR1L8TVA90
Known as one of wrestling’s biggest daredevils, Sabu did not require a lengthy absence before returning to in-ring action.
The ECW icon said he only took a two-week break from the ring following his unfortunate incident with Chris Benoit:
“I hurt my neck and then I had two weeks off because I had to go to Japan for five weeks, so I didn’t do anything for two weeks. I didn’t lift weights for two weeks…” Sabu continued, “I didn’t cancel [going to Japan], I didn’t want to. I was hurting but it didn’t stop me. I was still young enough to feel like I was invincible. Not invincible, but stronger than I was.” [4:44-5:08]
According to wrestling stats database Cagematch.net, Sabu’s next match after November to Remember came just 13 days later against Mick Foley at an ECW event. The former WWE Superstar then traveled to Japan, where he competed in matches for FMW and NJPW.
Please credit WSI and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.