Mick Foley has a lot of respect for Sabu.
The WWE Hall of Fame legend took some time out on his “Foley Is Pod” program to talk about how he would like to see Sabu get his flowers while he’s still here.
Featured below are some of the highlights.
On how he hopes Sabu will get his flowers one day for being such a dynamic figure in the industry: “Sabu is another guy I’d like to see get his accolades. It’s just a shame that when the only crime — the only thing Sabu ever did was get older. A lot of the people who were on the bandwagon see him, you know, he hasn’t gone on to be part of people’s childhoods the way that we had the opportunity to, so the wave of popularity goes from here, then there’s a big downturn and then one day when Halloween, you realize that people are dressing up like you for Halloween. You’re no longer irrelevant. You’re now part of people’s childhoods. Also, he didn’t have a chance to endear himself to people. I understand why he didn’t speak. He was the nephew of The Sheik, and The Sheik, I don’t think, spoke and if he did, it was rarely. It was never more than a few words. He was sticking to that character.”
On how Sabu could have had more longevity in the business if he shifted into a different type of character, citing himself, Ric Flair, and DX as examples of guys who evolved into a comedy act: “[Sabu] never found that other gear to shift into, which usually involves comedy. Ric [Flair] was connecting with audiences more efficiently ten years past his physical prime. DX, clearly, humor was on display as Shawn Michaels and Triple H got older. [Sabu] didn’t have that other gear. Unfortunately, as time goes by, you’re seeing the same guy do things a little bit slower. And fans can be man, they can be pretty merciless. Yeah. They can be very forgiving, and they can be great, but they can be pretty merciless when somebody’s stumbling.”
Check out the complete interview at Spotify.com. H/T to Fightful.com for transcribing the above quotes.
