Sabu, a professional fighting legend “hardcore” whose real name was Terry Brunk, he has died at age 60, World Wrestling Entertainment announced Sunday.
“WWE is sad to find out that Terry Brunk, known for wrestling fans as Sabu, has died,” the company said in a statement.
All elite wrestling also announced the news in a publication on social networks.
“From spike wire battles to unforgettable high -risk times, Sabu gave everything to professional struggle,” AEW wrote in X. “Our thoughts are with his family, his friends and his fans.”
The cause of Sabu’s death was not released on Sunday, and it was not clear when he died.
Sabu jumped to fame while fighting for the extreme fight of the championship in the 1990s, where he was “a pioneer of the hardcore struggle, jumping from the chairs and leading his opponents through tables and even barbed wire”, taking after his uncle, member of the Hall of Fame Ed “The Sheik” Farhat, WWE wrote.
As part of ECW, Sabu fought against contemporaries like Rob Van Dam, Mick Foley and Taz. In a company known to push the envelope in terms of the risks that the fighters were willing to take, Sabu still managed to stand out.
Whether he was jumping from the strings of the ring to his opponents abroad or delivering double leg drops through tables and stairs, his struggle, it is not always beautiful, but certainly impressive and striking, he made it a favorite of fans.
He signed with WWE as part of the Renaissance of the brand of the company of the ECW brand in 2006. The following year, in Wrestlemania 23, he and his partner Ecw Originals Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer and the Sandman defeated the new race in front of 80,000 fans in Detroit. He left the company that same year.
Both and after WWE, Sabu fought for the main promotions worldwide, including New Japan Pro-Wrestling, AAA and CMLL, as well as dozens of other independent promotions.
He continued to fight long after many of his contemporaries had already retired. His last game, and first since 2021, according to Cage Match, was April 18, when he defeated Joey Janela, was driven through a table and landing on spike wire in the process.
Janela called Sabu “My idol, a trailblazer, a Gamechanger and an icon”, in a commemorative publication in X that presented photos and videos of him and Sabu.
The Libre Journalist, Dave Meltzer, called Sabu the “King of the Death Matches” in Wrestling Observer Radio on Sunday, and attributed the popularization of the hardcore fight in the United States
“He was the godfather in every way,” said Meltzer.
Great names from all over the wrestling world resorted to social networks to remember Sabu as a legend in the countryside and as a friend.
In a video posted in X, Taz said that Sabu’s death “breaks my heart,” and added that he had seen an old Sabu’s interview as recently as Saturday night.
“I would not have had the career that I have had and I have been blessed to have if it were not for Sabu,” Taz said, noting that the couple debuted with each other for ECW in 1993.
The X account of the documentary series “Dark Side of the Ring” said that Sabu’s death “is a shock”, since it appears in the episode that is broadcast on Tuesday that pays tribute to his uncle.
“Sabu was a breakwater who played an important role in the expansion of what could be a professional struggle party,” said fighter Matt Hardy in X. “The fact that the tables are commonly used in the professional struggle is due to Terry Brunk and how an inanimate object did as a mandatory component in his coincidence.”
Hardy also called Sabu “very influential in today’s current style, despite the fact that most of their contributions are still appreciated by the majority.”
In an X publication, an Aew Mark Briscoe fighter said: “No one made me want to be a fighter more than Sabu. RIP to a true hardcore legend.”
