Early career (1985–1991) Brunk began his wrestling career in 1985, working for his uncle
Ed "The Sheik" Farhat's promotion,
Big Time Wrestling. Over the next few years, Brunk wrestled for various independent promotions and made a few appearances for
United States Wrestling Association in 1991 as Samu, feuding with
Jeff Jarrett and
Robert Fuller.
World Wrestling Federation (1993) Sabu made three appearances for the
World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1993. He defeated
Scott Taylor in a
dark match before
Monday Night Raw on October 18, lost to
Owen Hart the next night for a dark match at a
Wrestling Challenge taping, and defeated Taylor again in a dark match at a
WWF Superstars of Wrestling taping on October 20.
Frontier Martial–Arts Wrestling (1991–1994) In 1991, Sabu made his first tour of
Japan with
Frontier Martial–Arts Wrestling (FMW). While wrestling for FMW, Sabu received many of the scars on his arms and torso for which he became famous. His final match in FMW was a loss to the debuting
Hayabusa at
Summer Spectacular on August 28, 1994.
Eastern/Extreme Championship Wrestling (1993–1995) On October 1, 1993, Sabu debuted in
Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) as a
villain at
NWA Bloodfest, defeating
The Tazmaniac. Sabu lost the Television Championship to The Tazmaniac, which aired on the March 15 episode of
Hardcore TV. At
Heat Wave on July 16, Sabu turned into a
fan favorite by forming a tag team with Tazmaniac to defeat
The Pitbulls. Later that night, Sabu faced Douglas for the Heavyweight Championship, but lost via count-out. On February 4, 1995, Sabu and Tazmaniac defeated
The Public Enemy (Johnny Grunge and Rocco Rock) to win the
ECW World Tag Team Championship in a
double tables match at
Double Tables. They lost the titles to Benoit and Malenko three weeks later at
Return of the Funker. Sabu wrestled his last match of his first tenure in ECW on the March 28 episode of
Hardcore TV by defeating
Mikey Whipwreck. In April, after being scheduled to compete in the main event of
Three Way Dance for the World Tag Team Championship, Sabu
no–showed the event to accept a booking in Japan for
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), which led
Paul Heyman to publicly and legitimately fire Sabu at the event.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1995) Sabu wrestled for
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) throughout 1995, making his debut on January 4 in the
Tokyo Dome, teaming with
Masahiro Chono to defeat
Junji Hirata and
Tatsumi Fujinami. On May 3, Sabu defeated
Koji Kanemoto at
Wrestling Dontaku in the
Fukuoka Dome to win the
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. He lost the title to Kanemoto on June 14 in Tokyo's
Nippon Budokan in a bout where Kanemoto's
UWA World Welterweight Championship was also on the line. Sabu defeated
Mr. J.L. on the October 9 episode of
Nitro and at
Halloween Havoc on October 29; following the latter match, Sabu's uncle Sheik shot J.L. in the face with his trademark
fireball. His last match in WCW was a victory against
Disco Inferno on the October 30 episode of
Nitro. He made his debut for
All Japan Pro Wrestling in November 1996, initially teaming with
Gary Albright before teaming with
Rob Van Dam the following year.
Return to ECW (1995–2000) Various feuds (1995–1997) On November 18, 1995, Sabu returned to ECW at
November to Remember, defeating
Hack Meyers in his first match in the promotion in eight months. He would embark on a winning streak against the likes of
Cactus Jack at
Holiday Hell on December 29,
Stevie Richards at
House Party on January 5, and
Mr. Hughes at
Big Apple Blizzard Blast on February 3. He faced
2 Cold Scorpio for the
World Television Championship at
CyberSlam on February 17,
Just Another Night on February 23, and
Big Ass Extreme Bash on March 8, but the matches ended in twenty-minute time limit draws. Sabu defeated
Rob Van Dam on April 20 at
Hostile City Showdown. Van Dam refused to shake hands with him after the match, leading to a respect match at
A Matter of Respect on May 11, which Sabu lost. He was forced to shake hands with Van Dam, who refused by saying "not only do I not respect you, you're a piece of shit". Sabu defeated Van Dam at
Hardcore Heaven on June 22, in a
stretcher match at
The Doctor Is In on August 3, and at
Unlucky Lottery on September 13, after which Sabu finally earned Van Dam's respect. Van Dam was about to shake Sabu's hand until they were both attacked by
The Can-Am Express. Their match against the Can-Am Express on September 14 at
When Worlds Collide ended in a thirty-minute time limit draw, but they defeated them in a rematch at
High Incident on October 26. At this time, Sabu's former tag team partner Tazmaniac (who had shortened his name to "Taz") began to publicly challenge Sabu at every given opportunity, but got no response. After a year of call-outs and insults from Taz, Paul Heyman revealed that he had asked Sabu, as a friend, to ignore Taz's challenge. This culminated in a match on April 13 at ECW's first
pay-per-view,
Barely Legal, which Taz won. At
Born to be Wired on August 9, Sabu competed in a no-rope
barbed wire match against
Terry Funk for the
ECW World Heavyweight Championship, which was promoted as being "too extreme even for ECW". In one of the most memorable moments in ECW history, Sabu attempted the "Air Sabu" corner splash on Funk, but he moved and Sabu collided violently into the wire, which tore open his biceps. At
Hardcore Heaven on August 17, Sabu lost the title to
Shane Douglas in a three-way elimination match also involving Funk.
Teaming with Rob Van Dam (1997–2000) In mid-1997, Sabu was included in the WWF invasion
angle, in which ECW wrestlers invaded WWF's
Monday Night Raw program and held ECW-style matches and angles on the show. One memorable moment occurred when Sabu appeared during a match and performed an aerial move off the "R" in the "RAW" lettered entryway onto Team Taz members. He and Van Dam defeated ECW loyalists
Tommy Dreamer and
The Sandman at
Orgy of Violence on June 28. lost to him in a
Stairway to Hell match at
House Party on January 10, and defeated him again in a
Dueling Canes match at
Living Dangerously on March 1, 1998 to conclude the rivalry. Shortly after the event, Sabu and Van Dam turned into fan favorites. At
Wrestlepalooza on May 3, Sabu challenged Van Dam for the World Television Championship, but the match ended in a thirty-minute time limit draw. On the July 1 episode of
Hardcore TV, Sabu and Van Dam defeated
Chris Candido and
Lance Storm to win the
World Tag Team Championship, beginning Sabu's second individual reign with the title. They also defeated the Japanese team of
Hayabusa and
Jinsei Shinzaki at
Heat Wave. Sabu and Van Dam lost the titles to the Dudley Boyz on the October 28 episode of
Hardcore TV. At the
ECW/FMW Supershow II in Japan on December 13, Sabu and Van Dam defeated the Dudley Boyz to win their second World Tag Team Championship, marking Sabu's third individual title reign. Sabu and Taz competed in a
falls count anywhere title unification match for Sabu's FTW Championship and Taz's ECW World Heavyweight Championship at
Living Dangerously on March 21, which Taz won to unify both titles. Sabu would begin wearing a neck brace and take some time off, resulting in his partner Van Dam defending the World Tag Team Championship against
D-Von Dudley in a singles match on the April 23 episode of
Hardcore TV, which D-Von won. As a result, the Dudley Boyz won the titles. in December 1999|289x289px Sabu failed to win the World Television Championship from Van Dam on the November 19 episode of
Hardcore TV and the November 26 episode of
ECW on TNN. Sabu again failed to win the title at
Guilty as Charged on January 9, 2000, in his final ECW pay-per-view appearance. On the January 29 episode of
Hardcore TV, Sabu wrestled his last televised match in ECW, in which he defeated
C.W. Anderson. Sabu left ECW following a victory over
Scott D'Amore on February 26. The show was considered a success, raising enough money for Brunk to cover the costs of his medical care and make a full recovery. Sabu appeared at
Hardcore Homecoming on June 10, where he defeated
Terry Funk and
Shane Douglas in a three-way no-ropes
barbed wire match,
Return to Frontier Martial–Arts Wrestling (1997–2002) Sabu returned to Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling on December 22, 1997, when he defeated ECW rival
The Sandman at Super Extreme Wrestling War 1997 at Tokyo's
Korakuen Hall. Then on December 13, 1998, he and
Rob Van Dam defeated the
Dudley Boyz to retain the
ECW World Tag Team Titles at
ECW/FMW Supershow. He would team up with
Super Leather in a few tag team matches during 1999. On February 3, 2002, Sabu defeated former ECW wrestlers The Sandman and
Vic Grimes in a three-way dance. The next day was his last match with FMW was when he teamed with
Tetsuhiro Kuroda and lost to The Sandman and
Kodo Fuyuki for the vacated WEW Tag Team titles. This would be the promotion last event as it went bankrupt on the 15th.
World Wrestling All-Stars (2002, 2003) Sabu competed for the
World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) in a number of events during 2002 and 2003. This included four appearances on PPV and a number of memorable matches. His first appearance was at Revolution PPV in Las Vegas in February 2002. He faced
Devon Storm in a hardcore match. He was defeated in this match after his manager
Bill Alfonso accidentally hit him with a chair after Storm moved out the way. After the match Sabu and Storm continued to fight onto the ring entrance way. Sabu placed Storm on a table and leaped from the entrance way through Storm and the table. This feud continued on the next PPV, the Eruption, in Australia in April. Sabu fought Storm in a steel cage match. The action spilled out of the ring and the cage with Sabu gaining the victory after leaping from the top of the cage through Storm, who was placed on top of two tables on top of each other. Next up Sabu took part in WWA European tour of November–December 2002. This included the Retribution PPV in Glasgow, which was broadcast two months later in February 2003. On this tour and PPV he fought former fellow ECW stars
Perry Saturn and
Simon Diamond in a three-way hardcore match. Sabu took the victory in each of these matches, usually gaining the pinfall over Diamond after Saturn left the match to defend his companion. His final appearance for the WWA came in their last PPV, The Reckoning, in New Zealand. During this tour he first fought
Shane Douglas but due to injury he did not face him at the PPV. Instead, Douglas came to the ring and eventually allowed
Joe E Legend to face Sabu instead. Sabu won this match, his second and last WWA match ever. When the All World Wrestling League began in April 2003 (a spin-off of Big Time Wrestling), which was run by Eddie & Tom Farhat, Sabu joined them for a while, before he left for another territory.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002–2006) Sabu debuted in
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) on July 17, 2002, defeating
Malice in a
ladder match. The following week, he faced
Ken Shamrock in a ladder match which ended in a no contest after interference from Malice. On February 25, 2004, Sabu teamed with
Raven to defeat Raven's former "
Gathering" protégés
CM Punk and
Julio Dinero. The following month, he began feuding with
Monty Brown and
Abyss, who outnumbered him on several occasions after Raven failed to "watch his back". Sabu was eventually challenged to a match by Raven, but he refused to wrestle Raven as part of a promise he made to his uncle
Ed "The Sheik" Farhat. Raven tormented Sabu by assaulting his friend
Sonjay Dutt and waging a campaign against Sabu by disrespecting his uncle's memory, causing him to finally attack Raven on July 23. On August 4, Sabu lost to Raven, and a scheduled return match on August 18 was canceled after Sabu suffered a legitimate back injury. Sabu returned to TNA on July 29, 2005. At
Sacrifice on August 14, Sabu teamed with old rival and then-
NWA World Heavyweight Champion Raven to face
Jeff Jarrett and Rhino. During the match, which Rhino and Jarrett won, Abyss interfered and attacked Sabu, starting a feud between the two. At
Unbreakable on September 11, Abyss defeated Sabu after performing his
Black Hole Slam finisher onto a pile of tacks in the ring. On October 23, at
Bound for Glory, Sabu lost to Rhino in a
Monster's Ball match also involving Abyss and
Jeff Hardy, as well as in a ten-man gauntlet match later that night. Sabu again lost to Abyss on November 13 at
Genesis, before defeating him in the promotion's first ever
Barbed Wire Massacre at
Turning Point on December 11, ending their feud. After a hiatus, Sabu, having a broken forearm, returned at
Lockdown on April 23, 2006, facing
Samoa Joe for the
TNA X Division Championship in a losing effort; he was released from TNA following this match.
World Wrestling Entertainment (2005, 2006–2007) in 2006 At
ECW One Night Stand, Sabu defeated
Rhyno. On April 23, 2006, Sabu signed a one-year contract with
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). At
ECW One Night Stand on June 11, Sabu faced
Rey Mysterio for the
World Heavyweight Championship, but the match ended in a no contest after Sabu caught Mysterio in a front facelock and hit him with a
DDT which caused both men to crash through a table. WWE medical staff rushed to the injured men and declared neither of them could continue, thus Mysterio retained his title. On the June 13 premiere of
ECW on Sci Fi, Sabu won a 10-man Extreme
Battle Royal to earn a match against
John Cena at
Vengeance. Sabu lost to Cena in their "Extreme
Lumberjack match" at Vengeance on June 25. On July 2, while traveling with fellow ECW wrestler Rob Van Dam, he was arrested and charged with possession of
drug paraphernalia and nine
Vicodin tablets on
U.S. Route 52 in
Hanging Rock, Ohio. Brunk was fined $1,000 based on the guidelines of WWE's Wellness Policy. He pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance and the charge of possession of drug paraphernalia was dropped. He was given a suspended sentence of 10 days in jail and a $500 fine. at the
ECW Arena in June 2006 Towards the end of July, Sabu began to talk on camera for himself – instead of using a
go between – and demanded a shot at
Big Show's
ECW World Championship which Paul Heyman refused to grant him in order to "protect" his champion. Instead, he forced him into a match against the returning
Kurt Angle to determine a number one contender, which ended in a no contest after interference from the returning Van Dam. On the August 15 episode of
ECW, Sabu defeated Van Dam in a ladder match to earn the title match against Big Show at
SummerSlam on August 20, which he lost. At
Survivor Series on November 26, Sabu was a part of Team Cena (John Cena,
Bobby Lashley,
Kane and Van Dam), defeating Team Big Show (Big Show,
Montel Vontavious Porter,
Finlay,
Test and
Umaga); he eliminated Test but was eliminated by Big Show. At
December to Dismember on December 3, Sabu was originally set to appear in the main event, an Extreme
Elimination Chamber match for the ECW World Championship, but was "taken out" and replaced by
Hardcore Holly. The following episode on
ECW, after Punk and Van Dam defeated Test and Holly in a match they dedicated to Sabu, Heyman and his security team came out and beat them down until Sabu, with a heavily wrapped arm, returned to save them. On January 28, 2007 at
Royal Rumble, Sabu made his
Royal Rumble match debut at number 7, but was eliminated by Kane after receiving a chokeslam over the top rope and through a table. Sabu then joined the
ECW Originals along with Van Dam,
Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman and feuded with the
New Breed (
Elijah Burke,
Kevin Thorn,
Marcus Cor Von and
Matt Striker), defeating them at
WrestleMania 23 on April 1 but lost a rematch two nights later on
ECW. Sabu's final WWE match was on the May 1 episode of
ECW, where he competed in a fatal four-way match against Dreamer, Van Dam and Sandman to determine the number one contender for the ECW World Championship, which Van Dam won. On May 16, Sabu was released from his WWE contract.
Independent circuit (2007–2010) On July 13, 2007, it was announced that Sabu would be working in Mexico's
AAA promotion in Mexico for their
Triplemanía XV event. Sabu came out during the main event and put
La Parka through a table, joining forces with the heels
X-Pack,
Ron "The Truth" Killings, and
Konnan. Thereafter, he made appearances on their major televised programs on
Galavision as a minor part of Konnan's heel stable,
La Legión Extranjera. On October 30, 2010, Sabu defeated
Damián 666 to win Xtreme Latin American Wrestling's International Championship.
Juggalo Championship Wrestling (2007–2011) In 2007, Sabu teamed with
Insane Clown Posse to defeat
Trent Acid and the Young Alter Boys at Juggalo Championship Wrestling's
Bloodymania. During the second season of the company's
internet wrestling show
SlamTV!, Raven was involved in a feud with JCW Heavyweight Champion
Corporal Robinson. In the third episode, Sabu appeared from out of the crowd and saved Robinson from an attack by Raven and his lackey Sexy Slim Goody. Raven and Goody teamed up against Robinson and Sabu in the following episode, but Raven fled from the match. At
Bloodymania III, Sabu defeated Raven in a
Raven's Rules match. He returned as a full-time member of the roster at Oddball Wrestling 2010, where he defeated
Officer Colt Cabana in an
"I Quit" match. Following two victories, Sabu teamed with The Weedman to defeat
Bull Pain and
Isabella Smothers at Hardcore Hell. After the match, per
narrative thread, he aligned himself with
villainous manager Charlie Brown. He and Tony wrestled again at Up in Smoke in a match where
Rob Conway was hired by Brown to attack Tony. After Rhino scared off Sabu and Conway, a tag team match was scheduled between the two and Rhino and Tony at St. Andrew's Brawl. which he lost. On the following edition of
Impact!, the ECW alumni, known collectively as
Extreme, Version 2.0 (EV 2.0), were assaulted by
A.J. Styles,
Kazarian,
Robert Roode,
James Storm,
Douglas Williams and
Matt Morgan of
Ric Flair's stable, who thought they did not deserve to be in TNA. The following week, TNA president
Dixie Carter gave each member of EV 2.0 TNA contracts in order for them to settle their score with . At
No Surrender on September 5, Sabu unsuccessfully challenged Williams for the TNA X Division Championship. At
Bound for Glory on October 10, Sabu, Tommy Dreamer, Raven, Rhino and Stevie Richards defeated Fortune members Styles, Kazarian, Morgan, Roode and Storm in a
Lethal Lockdown match. On the October 21 edition of
Impact!, Sabu and Van Dam lost to Storm and Roode after Sabu accidentally hit Van Dam 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. At
Turning Point on November 7, EV 2.0 faced Fortune in a ten-man tag team match, where each member of EV 2.0 put their TNA careers on the line. Styles won the match for his team by pinning Sabu, who as a result was fired from TNA. It had been reported earlier that Brunk's release from TNA was legitimate.
Return to independent circuit (2012–2021) in August 2011 On January 14, 2012, Sabu returned to the former
ECW Arena, when he defeated
Justin Credible at an
Evolve event in the venue's final professional wrestling event. In 2013, Sabu completed a UK tour, wrestling for a number of the UK's top promotions. Sabu entered the
Extreme Rising World Championship tournament but was eliminated in the first round by
Devon Storm. On March 30, 2013, Sabu made his Newfoundland wrestling debut when he wrestled in the Newfoundland and Labrador based company's CEW "King Of The Rock" tournament. This was a two-show event which saw Sabu defeat multiple CEW mainstays such as CEW headliners Psycho Mitch and Krys Krysmon. Sabu ultimately lost the tournament after a brutal match with Scott Gotch in which Sabu lost intentionally at the request of CEW owner Dennis Guthrie. As a reward, CEW owner enshrined Sabu as the new CEW Newfoundland Heritage Champion. He defended his title in a Fatal Four-Way elimination match on April 1, 2013, for CEW in St. Lawrence, NL against Justin Lock, Tony King and Brandon Flip. In Scotland, Sabu challenged
Jack Jester for the
ICW Heavyweight Championship but was defeated. Sabu returned to ICW in 2015 to continue his feud with Jester and challenge the ICW World Heavyweight Champion
Drew Galloway but was again defeated. Sabu also worked for Pro Wrestling Holland, where he held the PWH Championship. On August 17, 2018, Sabu lost to
Nick Gage at a GCW event. On November 5, 2021, Sabu officially announced his retirement from professional wrestling.
Second return to Impact Wrestling (2019, 2020) On February 8, 2019, it was revealed that Sabu would return to TNA, now named
Impact Wrestling, at
United We Stand on April 4, where Sabu and
Rob Van Dam were defeated by the
Lucha Bros (
Pentagón Jr. and
Fénix). On the May 31 episode of Impact, Sabu, Rob Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer defeated
The North and
Moose. On the June 6 episode of Impact, Sabu and Rob Van Dam lost to The North (Ethan Page and Josh Alexander). on the July 20 episode of Xplosion, Sabu defeated
Raj Singh. On September 4, it was reported that Impact would bring him back for more dates in the future. Two days later, Sabu fought
Rohit Raju to a double countout at the Impact television tapings in Las Vegas. At
Bound for Glory on October 20, Sabu competed in the
Call Your Shot Gauntlet match, which was won by
Eddie Edwards. On the March 24, 2020 episode of Impact, Sabu and Rhino defeated
Ohio Versus Everything (Dave Crist and
Madman Fulton) in Sabu's final match in TNA.
Final appearances (2023–2025) On May 24, 2023, Sabu made his debut for
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) on
Dynamite, where he was revealed to be the special guest enforcer for the unsanctioned match between
Adam Cole and
Chris Jericho at
Double or Nothing. On April 18, 2025, Sabu won his retirement match, a
No Rope Barbed Wire match against
Joey Janela at
Game Changer Wrestling (GCW)'s
Joey Janela's Spring Break 9, three weeks before his death. The match and GCW would later come under scrutiny after an interview with Janela was published in which he intimated that Sabu was unfit to wrestle the match until he was provided a dose of the opiate substitute
kratom in response to pain to ensure his attendance, and that he still appeared intoxicated backstage when he arrived at the show. ==Other media==