SABU GETS MACED!
SABU COMES TO INDIANAPOLIS!
When I first left the USWA, in 1992, I went to Indianapolis Indiana where a local businessman was starting a new wrestling promotion. Like all new promotions, this one had it's ups and downs, but after a year of work, the actual sponsor took over ownership and we got our own "arena" and we were running every week and had good Indianapolis television. ECW was also on t.v. in Indianapolis and through a connection, I got in touch with THE SHEIK and he hooked me up with SABU. This was late 1994 or early 1995. Each week, we filled up this building with some great, but pretty wild, fans. The building had bleachers, and chair seats. At capacity, it could seat about 300 and standing room only could get it up close to 400, which we had many times there. The television station came and filmed there, because we had put up good t.v. lights, and had a great looking place. Actually the building was a real dump. but it felt just right for wrestling. We had heavy steel barricades put up, to keep the fans back, but we always had trouble. Lots of the fans would bring rocks, and real hard jaw breakers, almost the size of golfballs, and they would throw these at the heels. Sabu was there many times. He used to come and bring his friends. Mike Awesome wrestled there, Ric Bogner (the phony Razor Ramon) was there, and many others. Actually we had a lot of talent. Ricky Morton and Tracy Smothers were there a lot and Al Snow, who had a wrestling school in Ohio, would send over his students and guys like D-Lo Brown and The Blue Meanie were there every week. We always had a great time. This business might not have ever closed, except that the owner/sponsor Junior Carr pased away in 1996, from heart trouble, forcing us to close and forcing me to return to the USWA.
I have lots of good memories from those times. Sabu brought over several Japanese wrestlers and he brought over a guy from England, that he was training, (The Dirt Bike Kid), and everyone involved enjoyed every Thursday night in Indianapolis. However, the first night that SABU came there, was not to pleasant for him.
I was in the ring, working with someone, and just as I got the pin, SABU hit the ring and tried to attack me. Word had leaked out that he was coming, I think, and some of the fans were ready. Just as he hit the ring, a fan leaned over the guardrail and sprayed MACE right into SABU's eyes. Sabu hit the canvas and was screaming for someone to get him out of there.
In the back, after everything had settled down, and we had gotten Sabu's eyes cleaned out and he was feeling o.k., I patted him on the shoulder and said, "welcome to Indianapolis, next week I want you to hit the ring with a log chain and hang me". Sabu looked up at me and very seriously said,"are you trying to get me killed"? "Nah", I said, "these fans appreciate good blood and violence, you'll be alright". I don't think that he ever believed me.
For the record, Sabu became a real crowd favorite and a very good friend. He used to come early and go to the television station to help with editing ideas and to offer his help in many ways. Right now, a lot of people are critical about SABU going to WCW. But he deserves this opportunity. Nobody has given their body to wrestling any more than SABU has. He has the scars and the daily pains to prove it. He has more than paid his dues. WCW should be happy as hell to have him, and I hope that they pay him a tremendous salary. Professional wrestling is a PROFESSION. In professions, you GET PAID. That's what it is all about. He's flown a million miles and driven 2 million miles, put his life on the line, suffered broken bones, huge cuts, broken teeth, and pain and suffering that few people could ever endure. He has lost several good friends to this business and it's evils. He has done it all, night after night, not just for the money, but for the fans. It is HIS TIME to sit back a little and make some big bank deposits. Believe me, you walk a mile in his shoes, and you'd be cripple! Give 'em hell Sabu!
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