Sabu, the legendary high-flyer, popular for his extreme efforts in pro-wrestling, recently revealed that he had rejected an offer to work for WWE after Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon made him an offer to join the company back in the day. It was back in 1993, that Sabu competed in two WWE try-out matches against Scott Taylor (a.k.a. Scotty 2 Hotty) and another against another legend Owen Hart. Vince McMahon was impressed with the high-flyer’s ability and ended up offering him a WWE contract.
Sabu rejected Vince McMahon’s offer due to other commitments
It is never easy to impress Vince McMahon as he is extremely selective when roping in talents for the company. However, he has an eye for excellence and Sabu was one of the impressive talents early in his career.
While speaking to WSI’s James Romero, Sabu explained that he only took part in the try-out matches because WWE paid him $300 per match. At the time, he already had other work lined up and he did not have much of an interest in inking a deal with WWE.
“They made an offer for me and I said I couldn’t do it because I already had a job in Japan and I was working for ECW. Vince said, ‘How can you give up a job we have here for a company that might not even be here tomorrow?’ I said, ‘I don’t know, I’ve just got to,’” he said.
Sabu’s engagements in ECW and Japan were not the only reasons why he did not want to sign a permanent deal with Vince McMahon’s WWE. He revealed that he was told he would start portraying ‘The Sultan’ gimmick if he would join WWE. The gimmick was later given to WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi back in 1996.
“They wanted me to be The Sultan. They wanted me to wear a mask with my tongue cut out or something and use The Iron Sheik as my manager. I said, ‘There’s no way I can do that.’ But that’s what they wanted me to do,” the two-time ECW World Heavyweight Champion further revealed.
Sabu had a couple of stints with Paul Heyman’s ECW between 1993 and 2000 and he later worked for WWE in 2006 and 2007. He recently retired from in-ring competition due to a back injury.
Highlights:
- Sabu rejected Vince McMahon’s offer due to works in ECW and Japan
- He revealed he was given ‘The Sultan’ gimmick which was another reason not to join
- Sabu retired on November 5, 2021
