A revealing story about the late Sabu has surfaced thanks to longtime tag team partner and WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam.
While revisiting one of the most important matches of his career, Van Dam shared a little-known detail about the hardcore icon that sheds light on how seriously he approached his personal safety.
The comments came during a recent WWE Vault retrospective video in which RVD looked back at his ECW World Television Championship victory on April 4, 1998.
The match featured Van Dam, then-champion Bam Bam Bigelow, and Sabu in a moment that helped change the trajectory of RVD’s career.
Rob Van Dam reveals Sabu’s longtime Boot Nail habit
Discussing a spot from the match, Van Dam explained that Sabu’s use of a nail wasn’t a one-time stunt designed for television.
“I loved working with Sabu. He’s pulling out a nail now. People don’t know this,” Van Dam said.
He then revealed the purpose behind it.
“Sabu carried a nail in his boot all the time for protection.”
According to RVD, the object seen during the match was the same nail Sabu routinely kept with him.
“That’s what he just pulled out and stabbed him in the eye with.”
Van Dam stressed that the habit was not part of a wrestling character or storyline.
“But he always had that, like even in a, he always, it wasn’t a gimmick, it was something ever since we started, he always had the nail.”
He added that Sabu viewed it as a form of self-defense.
“In case something didn’t go his way and he needed to defend himself in the ring.”
The story aligns with Sabu’s reputation as one of wrestling’s most unpredictable performers. Trained by his uncle, The Original Sheik, Sabu built a career around risk-taking and hardcore wrestling, often blurring the line between preparation and punishment.
Van Dam also reflected on the same ECW match, noting that it elevated him to a new level as a performer. For fans looking back at wrestling’s extreme era, the revelation is another reminder that with Sabu, there was rarely anything soft about the hardcore lifestyle — even his boots came loaded.
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