Rob Van Dam Defends GCW & Joey Janela Over Sabu's Last Match

The wrestling world reels from the loss of the legendary Sabu, with the ECW icon passing away on May 11.

Sabu’s passing comes mere weeks after his last match, with the former ECW World Heavyweight Champion having battled Joey Janela in a GCW ring at Joey Janela’s Spring Break 9 in a no-rope barbed wire match.

Prior to the match there were concerns that Sabu would not be fit to compete, having to take kratom in order to get through the bout. During the course of the match Sabu took a hard bump to the floor, with Janela and GCW owner Brett Lauderdale coming under fire for allowing Sabu to perform.

Sabu’s long-time tag partner-turned-rival Rob Van Dam has defended GCW and Janela, saying the following on his 1 of a Kind podcast:

"As my regular listeners know, I'm an advocate for kratom. It says in there Sabu got some kratom so he could make it through the match. The way Joey puts it, he said, 'He was on another f****** planet.' I don't like that he put that, I really doubt that's true, but I've had people say that about me. In fact, I'm going to administer some kratom. Woooo! [Show Wooo! Energy Drink] Did you know Ric Flair has his own kratom? You didn't know that. That shows you how dangerous this is.

"Joey is getting a bunch of heat. GCW is getting (a bunch of heat). People saying, 'I can't believe I supported them. They killed Sabu.' First off, they didn't give him the kratom. It was his own people. For sure, Sabu had some kratom. He eats it every day. I usually eat it every day. It's good for blocking pain, sleeping, and anxiety. It's a plant that comes from the coffee plant family. They dry the leaves, grind them into a powder, and you can put the powder into a capsule, a drink, gummies, or eat the powder. It tastes horrible," said RVD.

RVD continued: "People are saying, 'Shame on GCW for allowing a 60-year-old to get in the ring and have a match like that.' I can tell you, he's my closest dude friend, I can tell you he was 61 (years old) and he wanted that. He wanted that for a long time. In fact, Joe Clark had been working with Sabu on filming a documentary. He was training. He was wanting to have this big retirement match, so much that when it got down to it, he knew he had more in him. One thing he said after his match with Janela, 'I got one more match in me. If you're still interested in doing a barbed wire match, I'm interested.' I talked to him before about being the guy that is his last opponent, but he said that was cheating."

H/T: Fightful

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