Sabu and Rob Van Dam
Encyclopedia
Sabu and Rob Van Dam
are professional wrestlers who often competed as a tag team
in Extreme Championship Wrestling
and World Wrestling Entertainment
's ECW brand
. While teaming in the original ECW, the duo was managed by Bill Alfonso
.
, and fans wanted to see them face each other since they both utilized high-flying, daredevil techniques.
In 1997, they eventually became a tag team as they went for the ECW World Tag Team Championship. At ECW Barely Legal
, Bill Alfonso betrayed Taz
and joined Sabu and Van Dam. Four months later, Van Dam helped Sabu beat Terry Funk
in a barbed wire match to capture the ECW World title. After Sabu lost the belt in a three-way dance with Terry Funk and Shane Douglas
at ECW Hardcore Heaven 1997, Sabu and Van Dam joined Jerry "The King" Lawler
in his crusade to "kill" ECW. When the crusade ultimately failed, Sabu eventually set his sights on Bam Bam Bigelow's ECW TV title. So Bill Alfonso helped schedule a match between Bigelow and Van Dam, so that the latter could "soften" Bigelow before Sabu would face him at Wrestlepalooza 1998. When Sabu interfered in the match, however, he "accidentally" helped Van Dam win the title, so the two then faced each other at Wrestlepalooza. The match ended in a 30-minute draw, preventing title from changing hands. A month later, the two captured the ECW Tag Team titles when they defeated Chris Candido
and Lance Storm
. As champions, Sabu and Van Dam took on all challengers including Jinsei Shinzaki
and Hayabusa
at Heatwave 1998 in Dayton, Ohio
. They lost the titles to the Dudley Boyz
in October 1998; however, yet they went on to win them back from the Dudleyz in December.
After they lost the titles again to the Dudleyz, The Impact Players formed and started to attack Sabu and Van Dam. When Sabu broke his jaw, the Impact Players had him eventually banned because of his injury and because he was too "dangerous" or "violent." Sabu returned, and after his loss to Justin Credible
at Anarchy Rulz 1999, Sabu started to attack Van Dam because he was still jealous that Van Dam was the TV Champion; they would face each other at Guilty as Charged 2000. Sabu proclaimed before the match that if he could not win the belt, he would leave ECW. That night, Van Dam defeated Sabu with the Five Star Frog Splash, forcing Sabu leave the company.
(WWE) produced ECW One Night Stand
in 2005, when Van Dam helped Sabu defeat another former ECW wrestler, Rhyno
. When ECW became the third WWE brand (to RAW
and SmackDown), Van Dam and Sabu became a major part of the show and teamed on several occasions, including an "Extreme Rules" match against Test and Mike Knox on September 5, 2006.
The team also became part of the ECW Originals
stable in 2006 which feuded with the New Breed
. On March 31, 2007, Sabu and Van Dam inducted The Original Sheik
into the WWE Hall of Fame
. The following night, at WrestleMania 23
, the ECW Originals defeated the New Breed but continued battling them into spring. In May 2007, Sabu was released from WWE. Van Dam's WWE contract expired in June 2007, and he chose not to renew it.
(TNA) at Hardcore Justice
, where he was defeated by Van Dam in the main event of the evening. Sabu and Van Dam both then went on to join EV 2.0, a stable consisting of former ECW wrestlers. On the October 21 edition of TNA Impact!
Sabu and Rob Van Dam were defeated in a tag team match by Beer Money, Inc.
(James Storm
and Robert Roode), after Sabu accidentally hit his own partner with a chair. After the match Van Dam and Sabu began shoving each other, before being broken up by the rest of EV 2.0. In November 2010 Sabu was released from TNA.
Rob Van Dam
Robert Alexander "Rob" Szatkowski , better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam , is an American professional wrestler and actor who is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....
are professional wrestlers who often competed as a tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...
in Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001...
and World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
's ECW brand
WWE Brand Extension
WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation and World Wrestling Entertainment , currently promotes its core business of professional wrestling through two "brands" named after their two major television shows Raw and SmackDown...
. While teaming in the original ECW, the duo was managed by Bill Alfonso
Bill Alfonso
William Matthew "Bill" Alfonso is a former professional wrestling referee and manager. He achieved his greatest success in Extreme Championship Wrestling in the mid to late 1990s...
.
ECW (1996-2000)
Sabu and Rob Van Dam first met in December 1989 and became close friends. The pair started out as enemies in ECW when Van Dam debuted in 1996. Both men were trained by Sabu's uncle, The Original ShiekEd Farhat
Edward George Farhat was an American professional wrestler best known as by his ring name The Sheik...
, and fans wanted to see them face each other since they both utilized high-flying, daredevil techniques.
In 1997, they eventually became a tag team as they went for the ECW World Tag Team Championship. At ECW Barely Legal
ECW Barely Legal
Barely Legal was the first professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Extreme Championship Wrestling . It took place on April 13, 1997 from the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-Production:...
, Bill Alfonso betrayed Taz
Tazz
Peter Senerchia is a retired American professional wrestler and current color commentator best known by his ring name Tazz, originally Tazmaniac and later shortened to simply Taz...
and joined Sabu and Van Dam. Four months later, Van Dam helped Sabu beat Terry Funk
Terry Funk
Terrence "Terry" Funk is an American professional wrestler and actor known chiefly for the hardcore wrestling style he adopted in the latter part of his career that inspired many younger wrestlers, including Mick Foley...
in a barbed wire match to capture the ECW World title. After Sabu lost the belt in a three-way dance with Terry Funk and Shane Douglas
Shane Douglas
Troy Alan Martin is an American professional wrestler and promoter, better known by his ring name "The Franchise" Shane Douglas. In the course of his career, which has spanned nearly three decades, Douglas has wrestled in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling and briefly...
at ECW Hardcore Heaven 1997, Sabu and Van Dam joined Jerry "The King" Lawler
Jerry Lawler
Jerry O'Neil Lawler is an American professional wrestler, wrestling commentator, musician, businessman, commercial artist and film actor, known throughout the wrestling world as Jerry "The King" Lawler. He is currently signed to WWE, working on its Raw brand as the color commentator and occasional...
in his crusade to "kill" ECW. When the crusade ultimately failed, Sabu eventually set his sights on Bam Bam Bigelow's ECW TV title. So Bill Alfonso helped schedule a match between Bigelow and Van Dam, so that the latter could "soften" Bigelow before Sabu would face him at Wrestlepalooza 1998. When Sabu interfered in the match, however, he "accidentally" helped Van Dam win the title, so the two then faced each other at Wrestlepalooza. The match ended in a 30-minute draw, preventing title from changing hands. A month later, the two captured the ECW Tag Team titles when they defeated Chris Candido
Chris Candido
Christopher Raul Candito was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Chris Candido...
and Lance Storm
Lance Storm
Lance Timothy Evers known professionally by his ring name Lance Storm, is a semi-retired Canadian professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in World Wrestling Entertainment, Extreme Championship Wrestling, and World Championship Wrestling...
. As champions, Sabu and Van Dam took on all challengers including Jinsei Shinzaki
Jinsei Shinzaki
Kensuke Shinzaki is a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by his stage names Jinsei Shinzaki and Hakushi...
and Hayabusa
Eiji Ezaki
is a former Japanese professional wrestler better known as the masked Hayabusa , who worked primarily for Atsushi Onita's Frontier Martial Arts Wrestling promotion.-Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling :...
at Heatwave 1998 in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...
. They lost the titles to the Dudley Boyz
Dudley Boyz
Team 3D was a professional wrestling tag team, consisting of Brother Ray and Brother Devon, formerly sporadically joined into a stable by Brother Runt on several intervals...
in October 1998; however, yet they went on to win them back from the Dudleyz in December.
After they lost the titles again to the Dudleyz, The Impact Players formed and started to attack Sabu and Van Dam. When Sabu broke his jaw, the Impact Players had him eventually banned because of his injury and because he was too "dangerous" or "violent." Sabu returned, and after his loss to Justin Credible
Peter Polaco
Peter Joseph Polaco is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name Justin Credible. He is also known for his earlier stint with the WWF under the ringname Aldo Montoya...
at Anarchy Rulz 1999, Sabu started to attack Van Dam because he was still jealous that Van Dam was the TV Champion; they would face each other at Guilty as Charged 2000. Sabu proclaimed before the match that if he could not win the belt, he would leave ECW. That night, Van Dam defeated Sabu with the Five Star Frog Splash, forcing Sabu leave the company.
WWE (2005-2007)
Several years after ECW folded, Sabu and Rob Van Dam reunited at World Wrestling EntertainmentWorld Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
(WWE) produced ECW One Night Stand
ECW One Night Stand (2005)
ECW One Night Stand was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It was held on June 12, 2005 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, New York. The main event was a tag team match between The Dudley Boyz and the team of Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman...
in 2005, when Van Dam helped Sabu defeat another former ECW wrestler, Rhyno
Terry Gerin
Terrance "Terry" Gerin is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by the ring name Rhino . He is best known for his career in Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
. When ECW became the third WWE brand (to RAW
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
and SmackDown), Van Dam and Sabu became a major part of the show and teamed on several occasions, including an "Extreme Rules" match against Test and Mike Knox on September 5, 2006.
The team also became part of the ECW Originals
ECW Originals
The ECW Originals was a professional wrestling stable that made sporadic appearances in various wrestling promotions, including World Wrestling Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling....
stable in 2006 which feuded with the New Breed
New Breed (ECW)
The New Breed was a professional wrestling stable that appeared on the ECW brand of World Wrestling Entertainment in 2007. It was initially composed of Elijah Burke, Marcus Cor Von, Matt Striker, Kevin Thorn, and Ariel...
. On March 31, 2007, Sabu and Van Dam inducted The Original Sheik
Ed Farhat
Edward George Farhat was an American professional wrestler best known as by his ring name The Sheik...
into the WWE Hall of Fame
WWE Hall of Fame
The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame for professional wrestlers maintained by WWE. It was officially created on the February 1, 1993 episode of the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw television program...
. The following night, at WrestleMania 23
WrestleMania 23
WrestleMania 23 was the twenty-third annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on April 1, 2007 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan...
, the ECW Originals defeated the New Breed but continued battling them into spring. In May 2007, Sabu was released from WWE. Van Dam's WWE contract expired in June 2007, and he chose not to renew it.
TNA (2010)
On August 8, 2010, Sabu returned to Total Nonstop Action WrestlingTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...
(TNA) at Hardcore Justice
Hardcore Justice (2010)
Hardcore Justice was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , which took place on August 8, 2010 at the TNA Impact! Zone in Orlando, Florida...
, where he was defeated by Van Dam in the main event of the evening. Sabu and Van Dam both then went on to join EV 2.0, a stable consisting of former ECW wrestlers. On the October 21 edition of TNA Impact!
TNA iMPACT!
Impact Wrestling is a professional wrestling television program for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling that currently airs in the United States and Canada on Spike...
Sabu and Rob Van Dam were defeated in a tag team match by Beer Money, Inc.
Beer Money, Inc.
Beer Money, Inc. was a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Robert "Bobby" Roode and James Storm in the professional wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , where they are former four-time TNA World Tag Team Champions, while also holding the record for the longest reign as...
(James Storm
James Storm
James Allen Cox is an American professional wrestler who competes under the ring name "The Cowboy" James Storm. Since 2002, Storm has been employed by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he, along with A.J...
and Robert Roode), after Sabu accidentally hit his own partner with a chair. After the match Van Dam and Sabu began shoving each other, before being broken up by the rest of EV 2.0. In November 2010 Sabu was released from TNA.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Stereo diving leg drops usually through a table to prone opponentLeg dropA leg drop or legdrop refers to an attack used in professional wrestling in which an attacking wrestler will jump and land his leg across a fallen opponent's chest, throat, face or head or in some cases, the groin/lower-abdominal area...
- Combination Five Star Frog Splash | Arabian Facebuster usually through a table to prone opponent.
- Triple Jump Moonsault followed by a Five Star Frog Splash or vice versa
- Stereo diving leg drops usually through a table to prone opponent
- Signature moves
- Air Sabu
- Rolling Thunder, springboard leg drop combination
- Simultaneous Standing Arabian Facebusters
- Simultaneous Standing Arabian Skullcrushers
- Simultaneous Van Daminators
Championships and accomplishments
- Extreme Championship WrestlingExtreme Championship WrestlingExtreme Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001...
- ECW World Tag Team Championship (2 times)
- ECW World Television ChampionshipECW World Television ChampionshipThe ECW World Television Championship was a professional wrestling television championship in Extreme Championship Wrestling . It was introduced in National Wrestling Alliance affiliate and ECW precursor, Eastern Championship Wrestling in 1992 but was established under ECW in 1994...
(1 time) - Rob Van DamRob Van DamRobert Alexander "Rob" Szatkowski , better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam , is an American professional wrestler and actor who is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling .... - ECW FTW Heavyweight ChampionshipECW FTW Heavyweight ChampionshipThe Extreme Championship Wrestling FTW Heavyweight Championship was an alternate World Heavyweight Championship in the professional wrestling promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling...
(1 time) - Sabu