During a recent appearance on Talk Is Jericho, ECW legend Tommy Dreamer opened up about the backstage struggles behind Sabu’s short-lived push in WWE’s ECW revival, revealing how Vince McMahon’s insistence on making Sabu speak derailed his momentum.
According to Dreamer, Vince McMahon was initially high on Sabu, viewing him as a standout talent for the newly relaunched ECW brand. However, everything changed once Vince pushed for Sabu to cut promos on TV.
“Vince loved him until Vince forced him to talk. It was like the worst day ever,” Dreamer recalled. “Paul [Heyman]’s like, ‘They’re gonna push Sabu to the moon.’ This is the last time I saw Paul actually fight for something with Vince.”
Dreamer explained that Paul Heyman fought hard to preserve Sabu’s mystique, even offering to manage him to avoid the need for promos.
“He’s not a good talker,” Heyman allegedly warned. “Let me be his manager… This guy’s got the aura, like The Sheik.”
But Vince remained firm, telling Heyman that “you gotta be a good talker to make it in this business.”
Dreamer said it all fell apart after multiple failed takes trying to get a usable promo from Sabu.
“I remember Vince watching with these half glasses that he had. He’s like ‘ugh, who made him talk?’ And I was just like ‘You, you did. You killed his mystique.’”
Following the incident, Sabu’s momentum stalled, and he was eventually “lumped in with all the other ECW guys,” Dreamer added.
The story adds another layer to the behind-the-scenes challenges during WWE’s reboot of ECW, and highlights how creative decisions — even well-intentioned ones — can significantly alter a wrestler’s trajectory.
