Pro Wrestling Legend Sabu Reportedly Passes Away
The wrestling world lost a legend on May 11 with the passing of one of its most vibrant and charismatic extreme wrestling stars of the 1990s.
According to a report from PWInsider.com's Mike Johnson, ECW legend Sabu, whose real name was Terry Brunk, has died at 60 years old. There are no additional details about his cause of death at this time.
"PWInsider.com is extremely saddened to report that former ECW World Champion Sabu, one of the most vibrant and groundbreaking professional wrestlers of his era, Sabu (real name Terry Brunk) has passed away," Johnson said in a statement. "We are working on additional details at this time."
Johnson added that the wrestling great had just worked his final match at Wrestlemania weekend in Las Vegas on April 18, defeating Joey Janela. He also appeared last weekend at the Tri-State Wrestling Alliance reunion show convention at the 2300 (ECW) Arena, "which appears to have been his final public appearance," Johnson notes. The Janela match was his first match in roughly four years.
Johnson's statement continued, "On behalf of everyone associated with PWInsider.com, I'd like to send our deepest condolences to Sabu's family, friends and fans. He was one of a kind and changed professional wrestling forever."
Sabu was the nephew of professional wrestling pioneer Ed "The Sheik" Farhat, who help train and hone his craft. Sabu made his professional wresting debut in 1985 after training under "The Sheik."
Sabu is considered one of the early pioneers of extreme wrestling in the 1990s and became one of the faces in the ECW. He was an ECW World Heavyweight Champion and a two-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion. Sabu was also a significant part of WWE trying to relaunch the ECW in 2006 and wrestled for TNA and All Japan, so his influence was wide-reaching. Sabu's ECW debut took place in 1993 at what was then the "Eastern Championship Wrestling" in 1993.