Pro Wrestling Syndicate co-promoter Pat Buck has posted the following, lengthy account on Facebook:
((This is not for my non wrestling people, but you all may enjoy reading this as it’s pure craziness. It’s also very wordy.)
PWS believes in using talent that people want to see past, present, and future. Most of the time wrestlers are happy to be there and willing to go above and beyond. This weekend someone ripped off everyone.
PWS decided early this year to take a chance on Sabu to make a few interesting matchups within our promotion. The first two times this year, things went alright. He had a good match with John Morrison and a great match with Bonesaw. Can’t say the same for this weekend. This is a note for promoters to be wary of Sabu and also a call for him to get his act together while he’s still capable of wrestling or even alive. Let me go into some brief history.
My first two encounters with Sabu was unique. The first time was when Extreme Rising cancelled a show Mania 29 weekend, and Sabu was brought here with a vendor just to sell autos and photo ops. We wanted Sabu to work or do something on the show, but he wanted too much money to make that work so we happily declined. One of the main events was John Morrison vs Jushin Liger. Their intros were played, when all of a sudden “Huka Blues” started playing and Sabu stumbled out of the curtain. I didn’t approve this nor did my partner Eric, but we quickly realized that Sabu and his agent/vendor cornered the DJ to play his theme. The reason why they hijacked show was to get fans attention and hopefully sell autographs and photos as the fans leave the venue. It was very very carny. Sabu went to the ring and shook Jomo and Liger’s hands. He sat ringside and fell asleep three minutes into the match. I hope his nap was peaceful.
Despite my first run in, I thought maybe we could utilize Sabu since PWS has used in succession almost every major star from ECW’s past mixed with past WWE, WCW, and current independent stars while we feature our own roster. He was booked in January with PWS, and actually showed up on time like a pro. In 2015, Sabu now has a manager, Super Genie Melissa Coates, who he’s oddly protective of, and shoot controls. Doors were open, and there were a ton of fans in line for autographs. As I was walking down the hallway, Sabu and Coates were dressed in gimmick walking towards their assigned table. Having never met Sabu, I wanted to hand off his envelope early, have a few words, and go back to running a good show. Sabu blew passed me as I tried to say hello, so did Melissa. Melissa didn’t recognize me, and Sabu hadn’t met me yet. I yelled “Melissa, it’s me. Pat. Hold on a second.” She turned around and realized it was me. Sabu angrily turned around to address Melissa. “F*** him! Let’s go.” Sabu stormed off and Melissa like a scared dog followed. Even though I was in a suit, he actually thought I was a fan hitting on his chick. Mindblowing. It was there where I said I could tackle and pummel Sabu, but then I’d be leaving in handcuffs and the event would be ruined.
I was furious, so I followed him into the auto room and went face to face with Sabu. “Not sure if you know this, but I’m one of the promoters for tonight, but you can’t speak to me that way, and you can’t speak to fans that way. Do we have a problem?” Sabu was overly apologetic saying he was stressed out and wanted to do things on time. Things were smooth for the next few bookings.
On Saturday night at Starland Ballroom, Sabu showed up half hour late to the autograph signing, which is a big deal as he’s paid for his time. After the signing, Sabu was caught smoking weed in the lockerroom with an outsider. This sort of stuff used to be common in locker rooms for wrestling, but we don’t tolerate that at PWS especially when its in a nice venue that’s a big deal for us. Kevin Matthews screamed at Sabu for his lack of respect for the promotion that’s brought him in multiple times since 2007. Sabu back peddled and apologized until the second issue arose. I should make note here, that I normally have a friendly relationship with Sabu because I’m direct and he’s paid on time. One conversation came up prior to this show about how he takes less money to win and more money to lose. It’s a completely ludicrious and silly way of thinking, so I my reply was “Ok, I’ll have you win, and you’ll be paid less than what you agreed to come in for.” He chuckled, and said he would lose no problem.
Upon the show starting, Sabu demanded a substantial amount of money to put over his opponent Fallah Bahh. I was informed while I was in the production booth and PWS Co-Owner Eric Pleska had to figure out ways to get Sabu to do…well….his job. I knew that if I dealt with this situation myself, it would of ended up in a brawl that I would be happy to partake in, but I didn’t want to ruin everyone’s night. He buried me, said I knew what the deal was, and put up a hissy fit. He refused to speak to Fallah also, which makes the match suffer. Eric found a happy medium. The solve was a “Dusty Finish” which should we’re now calling a “Sabu Finish” because we’re finished using Sabu.
Sabu demanded that he wanted to be introduced as he got into the ring. I thought Sabu didn’t talk, but apparently Sabu’s new persona is he just doesn’t stop talking. Even though he was introduced going to the ring, he wanted a second introduction which was weird. Personally, I think he was high and didn’t realize they intro’d him. The match was what it was. Fallah has been tearing up PWS, Reality of Wrestling, and anywhere else he’s been working. Sabu was literally just talking and yelling the entire match at his Genie. It was weird. It wasn’t good and fans could tell.
I didn’t want to put this out, but more drama happened this morning. My CC bill was hit pretty hard for weird charges at the hotel Sabu stayed at. Oh, I should also mention that Sabu took a booking in Philly the next day to which they paid nothing to PWS nor did Sabu inform us of this. PWS covered his trans from Detroit to and fro. In wrestling world, someone (Sabu) piggy backed and took a booking the next day and presumingly took trans money from them, while we fronted a hotel bill.
Anyway, the hotel had a smoking charge of 250.00 on each night. I was pretty pissed, because it’s irresponsible but mostly because I’ve had a similar situation happen before. I always make sure (promoter note) to be responsible for just room and tax just in case this issue arose. Normally, the talent has to put their CC down for incidentals. I was told by the hotel that they did put a CC down and it was declined. Sabu made such a commotion that they unlawfully put the incidentals on my card to avoid his tantrums. I’m fighting this charge right now, but there’s more to the story. The hotel wanted to inform me that there were a few other issues. Apparently, they had a dog stay with them, and within the hotel room on the walls, towels, sheets, there was blood and feces everywhere. They showed me horrifying pictures. They also found several syringes/needles. Truly disturbing. I really hope a dog was not involved.
I wanted to put this out there for promoters to be alarmed, but more so because I’m one of the few people that actually could work with Sabu. Fans genuinely like him, he’s contributed so much, and is capable of performing when he wants to. We even spoke about hosting his retirement match (and getting the one match against Liger he wanted) and was thankful for all of the opportunities and said PWS was a pleasure to do business with. From man to man, Sabu you need to wake up and make the most of your time. You can take something from this or if you want to throw down, I really don’t care and welcome it, but just realize it’s 2015 and no one will tolerate your bullshit.
Regardless the rest of the show was awesome, and I hope everyone can join us in Brooklyn, NY in less than 3 weeks as we do it again. Check out our next show information at www.prowrestlingsyndicate.com.
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
