Mid 20th Century
141-628: The ICW World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by Scotland's Insane Championship Wrestling promotion . The title was first established as the ICW National Heavyweight Championship at ICW's debut show on October 15, 2006, with Drew Galloway becoming the inaugural champion. On February 7, 2015, the title was officially renamed the ICW World Heavyweight Championship after Galloway successfully defended
282-446: A " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to the platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of
423-596: A No Contest in which Mysterio kept his title. On the June 13 premiere of ECW on Sci Fi , Sabu won a 10-man Extreme Battle Royal with the stipulation that the winner face John Cena at Vengeance . Sabu further fueled the feud during the next week's Raw , when he interfered in a Cena match and performed a Triple Jump Leg Drop on him, diving onto Cena and putting him through the announcers' table. Cena defeated Sabu in their "Extreme Lumberjack match " at Vengeance. On July 2, Sabu, traveling with fellow ECW wrestler Rob Van Dam,
564-522: A No Contest when Malice interfered. In 2004, Sabu teamed with Raven to defeat Raven's former " Gathering " protégés, CM Punk and Julio Dinero . In March, he began feuding with Monty Brown and Abyss , who outnumbered him on several occasions after Raven failed to "watch his back". Eventually Raven challenged Sabu to an empty arena match to be held on June 9, but Sabu refused to wrestle him, claiming that he had promised his uncle, Ed "The Sheik" Farhat , that he would never fight Raven. Raven then waged
705-566: A Title-for-Title triple threat over UEWA European Heavyweight Champion Chaos and Apu Singh. Big Damo would go on to win the championship from Chris Renfrew in Northern Ireland , before defending the title successfully in Wales and Ireland on ICW's 2016 tour. The title was defended in Italy for the first by Wolfgang on December 17, 2016. Another notable international title defense saw Trent Seven retain
846-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
987-524: A benefit show, A Night of Appreciation for Sabu , was held by the AWWL to raise funds for him. The show was considered a success, raising enough money for Brunk to cover the costs of his medical care and he was able to make a full recovery. In his first match back from the injury in the AWWL/BTW, he defeated N8 Mattson. Sabu then appeared at Hardcore Homecoming , where he defeated Terry Funk and Shane Douglas in
1128-549: A booking in Japan for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), which led Paul Heyman to publicly and legitimately fire Sabu at the event. Sabu stated in the Forever Hardcore documentary that he by then had a career wrestling in Japan and now only wrestled once every so often for ECW; thus, he chose Japan over ECW. Sabu wrestled for New Japan Pro-Wrestling throughout 1995, making a total of 64 appearances. He made his debut on January 4 in
1269-416: A campaign against Sabu, disrespecting the memory of his uncle and assaulting Sabu's friend Sonjay Dutt , until Sabu finally broke and attacked him on July 23. Raven defeated Sabu on August 4, and a scheduled return match on August 18 was canceled after Sabu legitimately suffered a serious back injury. While injured, Brunk contracted a virus and was hospitalized, sidelining him for ten months. On December 12,
1410-520: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
1551-513: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
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#17328524304561692-574: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
1833-452: A dark match before Monday Night Raw on October 18, 1993. He lost to Owen Hart the next night for a dark match at a Wrestling Challenge taping and on the October 20 defeated Scott Taylor again in a dark match at a WWF Superstars of Wrestling taping. In 1991, Sabu made his first tour of Japan with Frontier Martial–Arts Wrestling (FMW). While wrestling for FMW, Sabu received many of
1974-405: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . Sabu (wrestler) Terrance Michael "Terry" Brunk (born December 12, 1964)
2115-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
2256-500: A feud between the two of them. They went on to have a match at Unbreakable in September which Abyss won after performing his Black Hole Slam finisher on to a pile of tacks in the ring. Sabu once again found himself squaring off against Rhino and Abyss, as well as Jeff Hardy , during Bound for Glory in the Monster's Ball 2 match. Rhino won the match. On the same night, Sabu competed in
2397-743: A fixture of the promotion. During his time in ECW, he became a two-time ECW World Heavyweight Champion and a one-time ECW World Television Champion . He would have both a feud and an alliance with The Tazmaniac , defeated him for the ECW FTW Championship and winning the ECW World Tag Team Championship with him. In 1997, Sabu began a tag team with Rob Van Dam , winning the ECW Tag Team Championship twice. After leaving ECW, Sabu wrestled in several national promotions, winning
2538-414: A genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has a more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for
2679-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
2820-476: A lengthy feud with Rob Van Dam after defeating him in a no time limit match at Hostile City Showdown . However, RVD insulted Sabu by refusing to shake hands with him after the match. As a result, a respect match took place between the two at A Matter of Respect . Sabu lost the match and was thus forced to shake hands with RVD, but RVD refused by saying "not only do I not respect you, you're a piece of shit". The rivalry between Sabu and RVD continued as Sabu defeated
2961-464: A match against Samoa Joe for Joe's TNA X Division Championship , despite Sabu having a broken forearm, a match he lost. Sabu was released soon afterwards from TNA. Shortly after his TNA release, on April 24, 2006, Sabu's official website reported that he had signed a one-year contract with World Wrestling Entertainment . At the ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view, Sabu faced Rey Mysterio for
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#17328524304563102-702: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
3243-536: A match against the returning Kurt Angle to determine a number one contender. When that match was interrupted by the returning Rob Van Dam another match was signed, Angle versus Van Dam versus Sabu, for the number one contendership (Angle then became too injured to compete and was pulled from the match). Sabu beat Rob Van Dam in their ladder match to win a shot at Big Show at SummerSlam , a match which he ended up losing. At Survivor Series , Sabu teamed up with John Cena, Bobby Lashley , Rob Van Dam and Kane to face
3384-714: A match for the World Television Championship, which ended in a thirty-minute time limit draw. On the July 1 episode of Hardcore TV , Sabu and RVD defeated Chris Candido and Lance Storm to win the World Tag Team Championship , beginning Sabu's second individual reign with the title. Sabu and RVD held the title for nearly four months, retaining the titles against various ECW teams such as Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks ( Axl Rotten and Balls Mahoney ), Full Blooded Italians , and The Dudley Boyz throughout
3525-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
3666-615: A regional heavyweight title in the Glasgow area, the title was defended outside Scotland for the first time by Jack Jester, who defeated Jimmy Havoc in London, England to retain the title on May 4, 2014. It was first defended overseas by Drew Galloway on December 20, 2014 in Denmark for Dansk Pro Wrestling promotion, when Galloway won a Title-for-Title Three-Way match against DPW Champion Michael Fynne and Chaos. Galloway then announced his intention to take
3807-462: A rematch at High Incident . Sabu and RVD subsequently began teaming with each other and ended their rivalry. They began pursuing the World Tag Team Championship , facing The Eliminators in a #1 contender's match at November to Remember . The match ended in a time limit draw and both teams faced the reigning champions The Gangstas in an immediate three-way elimination match , which Gangstas won. RVD and Sabu continued to feud with Eliminators over
3948-497: A shoot promo and in the documentary film Forever Hardcore that in fact it was not Paul Heyman that brought him into ECW but that he was at the right place at the right time. He was referred by a friend to Tod Gordon . According to the storyline, Sabu, who at that time often arrived to the ring by his handler 911 , was an uncontrollable madman strapped to a gurney and with a Hannibal Lecter -style face mask while trying to break free (he claimed to hate this part of his gimmick as he
4089-461: A single reign, losing the championship to Wolfgang in his first defense. As of November 29, 2024. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling ) is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling
4230-747: A singles competitor. In 2001, he competed against Abdullah the Butcher and Giant Kimala. On July 8, 2001, he defeated Angel at ECW Reunion Show in Buffalo, New York. In 2002, he worked for Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling . He won the 3PW World Heavyweight Championship defeating Gary Wolfe on October 19. He would drop the title to Wolfe on December 28. Sabu returned to Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling on December 22, 1997, when he defeated ECW rival The Sandman at Super Extreme Wrestling War 1997 at Tokyo's Korakuen Hall . Then on December 13, 1998, he and Rob Van Dam defeated
4371-595: A six-man tag team match in the main event of November to Remember , in which New Triple Threat defeated Triple Threat. At the ECW/FMW Supershow II in Japan, RVD and Sabu defeated Dudley Boyz to win their second World Tag Team Championship as a team, while it was Sabu's third individual title reign. On the December 23 episode of Hardcore TV , Sabu defeated Taz and Justin Credible in a three-way elimination match to win
ICW World Heavyweight Championship (Scotland) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4512-664: A sixty-minute time limit draw, which meant that Funk retained the title. Sabu would then continue to retain the Television Championship against the likes of Pat Tanaka and Mike Awesome , before losing the title to The Tazmaniac, which aired on the March 15 episode of Hardcore TV . After the title loss, Sabu continued his feud with Funk, defeating him on the April 19 episode of Hardcore TV . At When Worlds Collide , Sabu teamed with Bobby Eaton to defeat Funk and Arn Anderson to conclude
4653-488: A suspended sentence of 10 days in jail and a $ 500 fine. Meanwhile, he defeated Stevie Richards in an Extreme Rules match at Saturday Night's Main Event XXXIII . Towards the end of July, Sabu began to talk on camera for himself – instead of using a go between – and demanded a shot at Big Show 's ECW World Championship which Paul Heyman refused to grant him in order to "protect" his champion. Instead, he forced him into
4794-488: A ten-man Gauntlet Match to decide a number one contender, which he also lost, once again to Rhino. Sabu continued his feud with Abyss, once again losing to him at Genesis after taking a Black Hole Slam onto a barbed wire steel chair. They met up again, in the promotion's first ever Barbed Wire Massacre at Turning Point . Sabu finally beat Abyss, but following the match was not seen on TNA television for several months. He made his return at Lockdown on April 23, 2006, in
4935-658: A three-way hardcore match. Sabu took the victory in each of these matches, usually gaining the pinfall over Diamond after Saturn left the match to defend his companion. His final appearance for the WWA came in their last PPV, The Reckoning, in New Zealand. During this tour he first fought Shane Douglas but due to injury he did not face him at the PPV. Instead, Douglas came to the ring and eventually allowed Joe E Legend to face Sabu instead. Sabu won this match, his second and last WWA match ever. When
5076-436: A three-way no-ropes barbed wire match, and at ECW One Night Stand two days later, where he defeated Rhyno . Sabu returned to TNA on July 29, 2005. At Sacrifice Sabu teamed with his old enemy, and then NWA World Heavyweight Champion , Raven to face Jeff Jarrett and Rhino. Rhino and Jarrett won the match after Rhino gored Raven through a table and pinned him. The match saw Abyss interfering and attacking Sabu, starting
5217-518: A tournament for the vacated XPW World Heavyweight Championship defeating John Kronus in the first round, Damien Steele in the second and The Messiah in the finals. He was the only champion to defend the title outside of the States. He would hold the title for a year until it was taken away in May 2001 by Josh Lazie when Sabu was not present for an event. He would return to All Japan Pro Wrestling in 2000 as
5358-497: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
5499-575: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
5640-525: A winning streak against the likes of Cactus Jack at Holiday Hell , Stevie Richards at House Party , and Mr. Hughes at Big Apple Blizzard Blast . This led to Sabu challenging 2 Cold Scorpio for the World Television Championship . Sabu received various title shots against Scorpio at CyberSlam , Just Another Night , and Big Ass Extreme Bash , but the matches ended in twenty-minute time limit draws. He eventually engaged in matches and
5781-457: A year of call-outs and insults from Taz, Paul Heyman revealed that he had asked Sabu, as a friend, to ignore Taz's challenge. This standoff culminated in a grudge match at ECW's first pay-per-view , Barely Legal , which Taz won. Following the match, Taz's manager Bill Alfonso turned on him and sided with Sabu and RVD. This resulted in a double turn as Taz became a fan favorite while Sabu turned heel. Sabu and Taz continued to feud on and off for
ICW World Heavyweight Championship (Scotland) - Misplaced Pages Continue
5922-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
6063-559: Is an American retired professional wrestler , better known by his ring name Sabu. He is known for his trademark style of hardcore wrestling , which he pioneered in his time with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1995 to 2000. He is a three-time World Heavyweight Champion having held the ECW World Heavyweight Championship twice and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship once. Under
6204-428: Is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain
6345-568: The 2007 Royal Rumble on January 28, where he was eliminated by Kane after receiving a chokeslam over the top rope and through a table. Sabu joined the ECW Originals along with Rob Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman. The ECW Originals began a feud with the New Breed ( Elijah Burke , Kevin Thorn , Marcus Cor Von and Matt Striker). The two teams faced off in a match at WrestleMania 23 in which
6486-520: The Dudley Boyz to retain the ECW World Tag Team Titles at ECW/FMW Supershow . He would team up with Super Leather in a few tag team matches during 1999. On February 3, 2002, Sabu defeated former ECW wrestlers The Sandman and Vic Grimes in a three-way dance. The next day was his last match with FMW was when he teamed with Tetsuhiro Kuroda and lost to The Sandman and Kodo Fuyuki for
6627-707: The FTW Heavyweight Championship after Taz put Sabu on top of him. As a result, Sabu began feuding with Taz in early 1999, stemming from a broken jaw and a broken neck that Brunk suffered during a match against Taz in December 1998. The injury occurred when Brunk took a Taz-Plex through a table and landed incorrectly. Sabu avenged that by interfering in Taz's match against Shane Douglas for the World Heavyweight Championship at Guilty as Charged , attacked both men and left. After that, RVD and Sabu retained
6768-609: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
6909-690: The Tokyo Dome , teaming with Masahiro Chono to defeat Junji Hirata and Tatsumi Fujinami . Sabu and Chono teamed together on several more occasions to face Heisei Ishingun . On May 3, 1995, Sabu defeated Koji Kanemoto at Wrestling Dontaku in the Fukuoka Dome to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship . He lost the title to Kanemoto on June 14 in Tokyo's Nippon Budokan in a bout where Kanemoto's UWA World Welterweight Championship
7050-762: The United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including a distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by
7191-524: The World Heavyweight Championship . At the end of the match, Mysterio found himself standing on a ringside table with Sabu flying at him. Sabu caught the champ in a front facelock and nailed him with a DDT which caused both men to crash through the table. At this point, the WWE medical staff rushed to the injured men and declared neither man could continue and ordered the match stopped, resulting in
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#17328524304567332-428: The "Air Sabu" corner splash on Funk, Terry moved and Sabu ended up colliding violently into the wire which tore open his biceps. He then asked his manager Bill Alfonso for some tape and after Alfonso went to get some Sabu began to tape the approximately 10 inch gash up. Funk has stated that, to this day, he has never seen anything like what Sabu did that night. The match ended with both men so badly tangled up together in
7473-577: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
7614-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
7755-506: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
7896-411: The 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance the spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from
8037-541: The All World Wrestling League began in April 2003 (a spin-off of Big Time Wrestling), which was run by Eddie & Tom Farhat, Sabu joined them for a while, before he left for another territory. Sabu debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) on July 17, 2002, defeating Jerry "Malice" Tuite in a ladder match . The next week he faced Ken Shamrock in a ladder match which was declared
8178-641: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
8319-690: The ECW Originals won. On the April 3 edition of ECW , the ECW Originals faced the New Breed again in a rematch, which the New Breed won after Burke performed the Elijah Express on Sabu through a table. Sabu's final WWE match was on the May 1 episode of ECW , where he competed in a fatal four-way match against Dreamer, Van Dam and Sandman to determine the number one contender for the ECW World Championship, which Van Dam won. On May 16, 2007, Sabu
8460-474: The January 30 episode of Hardcore TV , Sabu wrestled his last televised match in ECW, in which he defeated C.W. Anderson . Sabu's last match in ECW took place on February 26, in which he defeated Scott D'Amore . After that, Sabu left ECW. After leaving ECW, Sabu went to compete in the independent circuit . He worked for promotions such as Xtreme Pro Wrestling , IWA Mid-South , Stampede Wrestling , Border City Wrestling , and others. On April 29, 2000, he won
8601-485: The NWA World Heavyweight Championship in 2000. In 2006, he was hired by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as part of their new third brand, a rebooted version of ECW . Sabu would wrestle for WWE until he was fired in 2007. He also became a regular wrestler in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling since the creation of the promotion in 2002. Brunk was trained by his uncle, Ed "The Sheik" Farhat , and
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#17328524304568742-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
8883-477: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
9024-601: The November 22 episode of Hardcore TV . In 1995, Sabu and Tazmaniac began feuding with The Public Enemy over the ECW World Tag Team Championship , failing to win the titles on the January 3 and January 31 episodes of Hardcore TV . Sabu and Tazmaniac finally defeated Public Enemy in a double tables match at the Double Tables to win the World Tag Team Championship on February 4. However, Sabu and Tazmaniac lost
9165-481: The September 11, 1995, episode of WCW Monday Nitro against Alex Wright . Sabu won the match, but the decision was reversed when, after the match, he put Wright through a table. Sabu continued to wrestle some of the cruiserweights in WCW in the early days of the division, including a match against Mr. J.L. at Halloween Havoc . Sabu came out victorious against Mr. J.L. and following the match Sabu's uncle Sheik shot J.L. in
9306-467: The World Tag Team Championship against D-Von Dudley in a singles match on the April 23 episode of Hardcore TV , which Dudley won. As a result, Dudley Boyz won the titles. In the summer of 1999, Sabu began a feud with Justin Credible, wrestling him in numerous matches at live events for various months. The rivalry led to a match between the two at Anarchy Rulz in September, which Credible won. Sabu would then challenge his tag team partner Rob Van Dam for
9447-436: The World Tag Team Championship against Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks at House Party . Sabu's rivalry with Taz led to the two competing in a falls count anywhere title unification match for Sabu's FTW Championship and Taz's ECW World Heavyweight Championship at Living Dangerously event. Taz won the match to unify both titles. Sabu would begin wearing a neck brace and take some time off, resulting in his partner RVD defending
9588-480: The World Television Championship on the November 19 episode of Hardcore TV and the November 26 episode of ECW on TNN , but failed to win the title both times. After defeating Chris Candido at November to Remember , Sabu continued his rivalry with RVD as he pursued the World Television Championship, unsuccessfully challenging RVD for the World Television Championship at Guilty as Charged on January 9, 2000. This would be Sabu's final pay-per-view appearance in ECW. On
9729-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
9870-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
10011-550: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
10152-540: The barbed wire that it took several ring technicians armed with wire cutters to free them from the predicament (on the DVD Bloodsport – ECW's Most Violent Matches released by World Wrestling Entertainment , Paul Heyman said that the match was "so gruesome, I never ever dared to schedule another one like it", and that they never had another Barbed-Wire match in ECW because "no one could top that one – and in good conscience, I never wanted anyone to try"). Sabu went on to win
10293-412: The broader public. In the United States, wrestling is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as
10434-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
10575-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
10716-546: The championship are Mikey Whiplash , Big Damo , Trent Seven and Leyton Buzzard . The title was defended in a pre-show Dark matches for the first time in its history on 17 October 2015 when Drew Galloway would retain the title three times in consecutive matches against Matt Daly, Stephen Hughes and Coach Trip. The title had to be vacated on June 19, 2019 due to Lionheart's death by suicide three days after his UEWA vs. ICW title match against Alexander Dean at ICW I Ain't Yer Pal, Dickface! . As of November 2017, BT Gunn has
10857-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
10998-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
11139-468: The competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on the independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in
11280-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
11421-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
11562-597: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
11703-462: The face with his trademark fireball . His last match in WCW was against Disco Inferno , which Sabu won. Sabu returned to Japan to work for Big Japan Pro Wrestling in March 1996. He had an 18-match winning streak first defeating Jason Knight on March 13 to June 4 losing to Kazuo Sakurada 's Kendo Nagasaki . He made his debut for All Japan Pro Wrestling in November 1996 teaming with Gary Albright . In 1997, he teamed with Rob Van Dam . In
11844-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
11985-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
12126-455: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
12267-513: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
12408-492: The individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in a professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
12549-471: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
12690-487: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
12831-438: The latter in a standard match at Hardcore Heaven , a stretcher match at The Doctor Is In , and a grudge match at Unlucky Lottery , after which Sabu finally earned RVD's respect. RVD was about to shake Sabu's hand but The Can-Am Express attacked the two, leading to RVD and Sabu facing Can-Am Express at When Worlds Collide , a match which ended in a thirty-minute time limit draw. However, RVD and Sabu defeated Can-Am Express in
12972-614: The likes of Tarzan Goto and Atsushi Onita in FMW. His final match in FMW was a loss to the debuting Hayabusa at the 1994 Summer Spectacular . Sabu debuted in Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) in October 1993 as a villain at NWA Bloodfest by defeating The Tazmaniac . One of the most notable aspects of Sabu's early career was his refusal to speak, a gimmick that he inherited from The Sheik (who never spoke English in public to protect kayfabe ). In his early career, Sabu
13113-578: The line. Sabu pinned Funk to win the Television Championship after Bundy turned on Funk. As a result, Sabu became a double champion. The rivalry between Sabu and Funk intensified as Sabu lost the Heavyweight Championship to Funk at Holiday Hell . Sabu received a rematch for the Heavyweight Championship against Funk in a Three Way Dance at The Night the Line Was Crossed on February 5, 1994, also involving Shane Douglas . The match ended in
13254-518: The main event of November to Remember , headlining ECW's premier event for the second consecutive year. The match prematurely ended when Benoit gave Sabu a back body drop and, expecting his opponent to land face-first, Sabu rotated himself in mid-air to attempt to land on his back. This injured Sabu's spinal cord resulting in nerve damage . However, Sabu returned to action two weeks later, and continued to wrestle Triple Threat in various matches, which saw Sabu and Tazmaniac defeat Dean and Joe Malenko on
13395-479: The match ended in a no contest. As a result, Sabu engaged in a lengthy feud with Sandman, resulting in a series of matches, as Sabu defeated him in a Tables and Ladders match at November to Remember , lost to him in a Stairway to Hell match at the 1998 House Party , and defeated him again in a Dueling Canes match at Living Dangerously to conclude the rivalry. Shortly after the event, RVD and Sabu turned into fan favorites. At Wrestlepalooza , Sabu challenged RVD to
13536-451: The match, winning the title for a second time. However, just eight days later, Sabu lost the title to Shane Douglas in a three-way elimination match, also involving Funk at Hardcore Heaven . Sabu received a rematch against Douglas for the title at The Homecoming, but lost. In the mid-1997, Sabu was included in the WWF invasion angle , in which ECW wrestlers invaded WWF's Monday Night Raw program and held ECW-style matches and angles on
13677-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
13818-714: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
13959-571: The promotion, he defeated Shane Douglas for the ECW Heavyweight Championship . Sabu made his first successful title defense against Tazmaniac, which aired on the November 30 episode of Hardcore TV . Sabu then headlined the inaugural November to Remember event on November 13 by teaming with Road Warrior Hawk in a title versus title dream partner tag team match against Terry Funk and King Kong Bundy , with Sabu's ECW Heavyweight Championship and Funk's ECW Television Championship on
14100-439: The purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise a bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether
14241-421: The record for most reigns, with three. Darkside's first reign is the longest in the title's history, at 1028 days (the company was largely inactive during this period), while Joe Coffey's reign is the shortest, as he lost the title the same day. Drew Galloway currently holds the record for the most defenses, both within an individual reign and cumulatively. Joe Coffey holds the record for least successful defenses in
14382-413: The remainder of Taz's ECW career. Sabu would continue his rivalry with Taz by defeating him in a rematch at Wrestlepalooza . Shortly after, Sabu competed in a no-Rope barbed wire match against Terry Funk for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship at Born to be Wired , a match which was promoted as being "too extreme even for ECW". In one of the most memorable moments in ECW history, Sabu attempted
14523-595: The ring and the cage with Sabu gaining the victory after leaping from the top of the cage through Storm, who was placed on top of two tables on top of each other. Next up Sabu took part in WWA European tour of November–December 2002. This included the Retribution PPV in Glasgow, which was broadcast two months later in February 2003. On this tour and PPV he fought former fellow ECW stars Perry Saturn and Simon Diamond in
14664-410: The rivalry. At Heat Wave , Sabu turned into a fan favorite by forming a tag team with The Tazmaniac to defeat The Pitbulls . Later that night, Sabu challenged Shane Douglas for the Heavyweight Championship, but failed to win after losing by count-out. Sabu and Tazmaniac would begin feuding with The Triple Threat (Shane Douglas, Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko ), which led to Sabu facing Benoit in
14805-496: The scars on his arms and torso for which he became famous. Brunk cleared rumors that the scars were self-induced in a shoot interview with RF Video, confirming that they were a result of numerous hardcore matches he was involved in, including participating in over two dozen no-rope barbed wire death matches. In May 1992, Sabu teamed with his uncle, the Sheik, in a "Ring of Fire Deathmatch" against Atsushi Onita and Tarzan Goto . The match
14946-423: The show. One memorable moment occurred at this show when Sabu appeared during a match and prepared for an aerial move off the "R" in the "RAW" lettered entryway onto Team Taz members, but accidentally fell off the "R". This was not planned which led to Sabu landing on top of Team Taz members and becoming an inside joke between him and Taz backstage. This was incorporated in ECW, as Sabu, RVD and Alfonso began promoting
15087-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
15228-472: The summer of 1996, Sabu had planned on signing with the WWF . He was the original choice for The Sultan gimmick but rejected the offer when he learned that he was gonna be managed by The Iron Sheik instead of his uncle The Original Sheik and the gimmick was given to Fatu . Sabu returned to ECW at November to Remember , defeating Hack Meyers in his first match in the promotion in eight months. He would embark on
15369-468: The summer of 1998. They also defeated the Japanese team of Hayabusa and Jinsei Shinzaki at Heat Wave . RVD and Sabu finally lost the titles to Dudley Boyz on the October 28 episode of Hardcore TV . Around the same time, RVD and Sabu joined forces with former rival Taz to feud with The Triple Threat and formed a short-lived alliance to counter the faction called New Triple Threat. The rivalry culminated in
15510-463: The team of Big Show, Test , Montel Vontavious Porter , Finlay and Umaga . Sabu eliminated Test following a Tornado DDT, but he was later eliminated by Big Show via pinfall after receiving a chokeslam. In the end, Team Cena gained victory. At December to Dismember , Sabu was originally set to appear in the main event, an Extreme Elimination Chamber match for the ECW World Championship against Big Show, Test, Rob Van Dam, CM Punk and Bobby Lashley, but
15651-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
15792-665: The title in a match against Matt Hardy for the Family Wrestling Entertainment promotion in New York. The championship has been defended in the United Kingdom , Ireland , the United States , Australia , Denmark , Italy , Germany , Spain , Sweden and Canada . In addition to these international title matches, defenses televised in 38 countries via Fight Network as well as an international presence on iPPV. Overall, there have been twenty-seven reigns shared among twenty wrestlers, with three vacancies. The championship
15933-752: The title over Wolfgang on April 2, 2017, at a WWE WrestleMania Axxess show. Leyton Buzzard made the first defences of the title in Sweden, Spain and Canada in 2022 and 2023. In addition to these international title matches, numerous wrestlers from outside Scotland have challenged for the title domestically, including Kassius Ohno , Sabu , Fergal Devitt , Martin Stone , Doug Williams , Rhino , Colt Cabana , Tommy End , Noam Dar , Pete Dunne , Jordan Devlin , Dave Mastiff , Robbie Dynamite , Zack Gibson , Johnny Moss, Rampage Brown , Kris Travis , Keith Lee , Kassius Ohno , and Bram . The only non-Scottish wrestlers to hold
16074-604: The title overseas more often and make it a World Championship . His second international title defense was booked for February 7, 2015 against Matt Hardy in New York, USA after which the title was officially renamed the ICW World Heavyweight Championship. The ICW World Heavyweight Championship was defended in Australia for the first time on March 20, 2015 when Galloway retained in a Title-for-Title match over OCW Championship Andy Phoenix at an Outback Championship Wrestling show. The title
16215-456: The titles in 1997 after the latter team won the tag team titles. They failed to win the titles from Eliminators in a standard tag team match at Crossing the Line Again and a Tables and Ladders match at CyberSlam . In the meantime, Sabu's former tag team partner Tazmaniac (who had shortened his name to "Taz") began to publicly challenge Sabu at every given opportunity, but got no response. After
16356-461: The titles to Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko, just three weeks later at Return of the Funker . Sabu would soon wrestle his last match of his first tenure in ECW on the March 28 episode of Hardcore TV by defeating Mikey Whipwreck . The following month in April, after being scheduled to compete in the main event of Three Way Dance for the World Tag Team Championship, Sabu no–showed the event to accept
16497-505: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
16638-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
16779-665: The tutelage of his uncle Ed "The Sheik" Farhat , Brunk began his career wrestling in the North American independent scene in 1985 under the name of Sabu, before traveling to Japan, competing in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), winning several championships , including the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship . He returned to the United States in 1995, briefly working for World Championship Wrestling (WCW), before beginning his most well-known stint in ECW, where he quickly became
16920-520: The vacated WEW Tag Team titles. This would be the promotion last event as it went bankrupt on the 15th. Sabu competed for the World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) in a number of events during 2002 and 2003. This included four appearances on PPV and a number of memorable matches. His first appearance was at Revolution PPV in Las Vegas in February 2002. He faced Devon Storm in a hardcore match. He
17061-405: The venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as a performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in
17202-491: The virtues of the WWF product over ECW's. Sabu and RVD feuded with ECW loyalists Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman during this period, and were joined by Jerry Lawler from WWF. RVD and Sabu defeated Dreamer and Sandman in the first major meeting of the two teams at Orgy of Violence . After that, RVD and Sabu teamed with Lawler to take on the team of Dreamer, Sandman and Rick Rude in a steel cage match at Heat Wave . However, Rude turned on his teammates by attacking them and
17343-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
17484-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
17625-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
17766-431: Was "taken out" and replaced by Hardcore Holly . The following episode on ECW , CM Punk and Rob Van Dam got on the mic before their match with Test and Hardcore Holly and dedicated the match to Sabu. When Punk and Van Dam won the match, Paul Heyman and his security team came out and had beaten down on the two. Sabu later made his return with a heavily wrapped arm to make the save. Sabu made his Royal Rumble match debut in
17907-872: Was also on the line. He went on to face Gran Hamada in a series of matches, culminating in Sabu defeating Gran Hamada to win the UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship on November 23, 1995, in the Todoroki Arena in Kawasaki . He held the championship for just over a week, losing to El Samurai on December 1, 1995, in Niigata City . Sabu made his final appearance with NJPW on December 11, 1995, in Osaka, teaming with Hiro Saito to defeat Dean Malenko and Wild Pegasus . Sabu made his WCW debut on
18048-511: Was arrested and charged with possession of drug paraphernalia , and nine Vicodin tablets following a traffic stop in Hanging Rock, Ohio following a house show in Huntington, West Virginia. Brunk was fined $ 1,000 based on the guidelines of WWE's Wellness Policy. He pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance and the charge of possession of drug paraphernalia was dropped. He was given
18189-438: Was billed as being from Saudi Arabia , or Bombay , India (in real life he is a second generation Lebanese American from a suburb of Detroit ). In ECW, however, he was clearly heard speaking in the ring on several occasions and it was fairly common knowledge that Brunk was an American citizen from birth. This led to a joke at kayfabe's expense when Sabu began to be billed as hailing from "Bombay, Michigan". Brunk revealed in
18330-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
18471-537: Was defeated in this match after his manager Bill Alfonso accidentally hit him with a chair after Storm moved out the way. After the match Sabu and Storm continued to fight onto the ring entrance way. Sabu placed Storm on a table and leaped from the entrance way through Storm and the table. This feud continued on the next PPV, the Eruption, in Australia in April. Sabu fought Storm in a steel cage match. The action spilled out of
18612-594: Was first defended in Northern Ireland when Galloway retained over Joe Hendry , TRON and Luther Valentine in a four-way match at a Pro Wrestling Ulster. Galloway again defended the title in America on July 18, 2015 at a Warriors of Wrestling show in Staten Island where he retained over Joey Ace, Matt Macintosh and Logan Black. Galloway defended the championship in Kiel, Germany at a Maximum Wrestling show on October 16, retaining in
18753-611: Was initially trained to be a technical wrestler. He began his wrestling career in 1985 in Farhat's promotion, Big Time Wrestling , and was billed as being from Saudi Arabia under the ring names "Sabu the Elephant Boy" (use of "The Elephant Boy" was later dropped) and "Terry S.R." (the "S.R." standing for "Sheik's Revenge"). During the 1980s, Brunk wrestled for various independent promotions in Memphis , Michigan , Ohio , Canada , and Hawaii . He
18894-490: Was normally tired before he started his match). Sabu could only be released from his bonds to wrestle his matches. Sabu also quickly became synonymous with table-breaking at this time; if a table was not broken during the match, Sabu would break a table with his own body after the bell had sounded, sometimes leading to 911 having to restrain Sabu during backstage interviews if a table was present. Sabu would quickly rise to main event status upon his debut. In his second match with
19035-636: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
19176-452: Was rarely billed under his real name, in order to avoid confusion with the similarly named wrestler Terry Funk , but has wrestled under his real name in Hawaii. In 1991, Sabu made a few appearances for United States Wrestling Association as Samu. He feuded with Jeff Jarrett and Robert Fuller . Sabu made three appearances for the World Wrestling Federation . He defeated Scott Taylor in
19317-464: Was released from his WWE contract. On July 13, 2007, it was announced that Sabu would be working in Mexico's AAA promotion in Mexico for their Triplemanía XV event. Sabu came out during the main event and put La Parka through a table, joining forces with the heels X-Pack , Ron "The Truth" Killings , and Konnan . Since then, he has made appearances on their major televised programs on Galavision as
19458-576: Was set in a ring where the ropes were replaced with barbed wire with sheets soaked in gas wrapped around it. As the match started, the ring crew lit the sheets on fire using torches. They were in the ring for about a minute before all men got out of the ring due to the intense heat. The match ended with no winner. Sabu said in an interview that the ring burned for 19 hours. Sabu often competed in Japanese hardcore matches, where he teamed with The Sheik , Tiger Jeet Singh and Horace Boulder . Sabu feuded with
19599-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
19740-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
19881-555: Was vacant for 74 days as ICW had to strip Noam Dar of the title on 7 September 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions. The championship was featured prominently in both the Insane Fight Club documentaries produced by the BBC . Drew Galloway became the inaugural champion of Mark Dallas ' ICW promotion on 15 October 2006 at their debut show "Fear & Loathing," having won a triple threat match against Darkside and Allan Grogan. Initially
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