The professional wrestling community is grappling with the heartbreaking news of Sabu’s passing. Terry Brunk, known to fans around the world as the hardcore icon Sabu, died on Sunday, leaving behind a legacy etched into the fabric of ECW and beyond. As tributes poured in from across the industry, SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio aired a special edition of its program, bringing together Bully Ray, Tommy Dreamer, Mark Henry, and ECW original The Sandman to remember their fallen friend.

Bully Ray opened the emotional broadcast by revealing why he immediately knew Sandman had to be part of the tribute. “I personally knew who I wanted on this show today with Sandman, obviously Tommy, but Sandman being one of the very first names that came to mind,” he said. Recalling his call to Sandman just hours after the news broke, Bully shared a moving moment: “A couple of hours later, I called Sandman, and he picks up the phone and he said, ‘Dude, I’m literally wiping away the last of my tears.’ And that really hit home with me, because I didn’t know that the Sandman cried… to hear Sandman wiping away the final tears was was huge.”

Sandman then joined the broadcast and spoke candidly about how he received the devastating news. “Yeah, freaking yesterday, I got the news from Tod Gordon, my best friend in the world, says we SOS need to talk to you immediately, and he tells me what happened,” he recalled. “But it it didn’t hit me until like 5:30, 6 o’clock, and I just lost it for a little while, you know. And just like, grieving is a very personal thing for people, you know what I mean, like, so I can’t understand, like, what took so long with me to cry or whatever, like that.”

In one of the most heartfelt parts of the conversation, Sandman spoke about a dream he had the night before, in which Sabu appeared. “It was nice that he visited me in a dream last night. He I’m driving, of course, Tod Gordon’s in the front seat, Franny (Francine) and [inaudible] in the backseat. We’re arguing over directions… but Sabu just kept saying, and Tod’s like, ‘No, you gotta go left friend.’ He’s like, ‘No, right?’ Sabu is like, ‘No, everything’s going to be okay. Everything’s going to be fine.’ I woke up real quick… and to me, that was just a good sign, like, like that, he’s there. He’s in my mind, and I’ll mourn him.” He added, “I also texted him last night too. I texted his phone because I don’t know. I feel like I wanted to just to talk to him… I believe there’s an afterlife after this, guys. I really believe they’re all going to see each other again in a big steel cage match in the freaking sky.”

As the tribute continued, Sandman reminisced about their in-ring relationship and Sabu’s deep-rooted respect for wrestling tradition. “He would never let me win. Well, because he was brought up old school, but I think I never had to win it. You could beat me, but I’m going to get over at the end, when I drink a beer with the audience. You know what I’m saying. So I never had to win and that was fine with him, of course.”

He also recalled their first meeting in the ring. “Yeah, it was actually Tri-State Wrestling Alliance… it was like a last to bleed battle royal or something. It was in the civic center, and Abby (Abdullah The Butcher) was brought in, and The Sheik was brought in and Sabu, just like he did every other match I was ever with him, he slid under the bottom rope when it was his turn to come in… slid under the bottom rope and punched me right in the face, hard, and then he just kept Hey, it’s hard. Sorry. Sorry, that was his deal, dude.”

A strong bond formed between Sandman, Sabu, Rob Van Dam, and Bill Alfonso, affectionately known as Fonzie, much of which Sandman attributed to time spent on the road, particularly in Sabu’s Winnebago. “So Fonzie wanted to be the liaison to get all of us to be friends… We flying into Pittsburgh or something. Sabu is there with this, with his Winnebago, I got this bag of beer… Fonzie’s like, ‘No, he’ll be fine. He let him come on the Winnipeg and drive with us.’ We get 50 yards down the road, my beer spills all over the floor, under the Sabu’s feet… just stupid funny sh*t like should be on TV. But that’s how we got close. The only reason why, why we got close was because of Fonz.” Tommy Dreamer chimed in, describing the Winnebago as a “rolling Cheech and Chong mobile” that attracted all the boys.

Despite Sabu’s reputation for high-risk maneuvers, Sandman noted his unwavering trust in him. “To me when, when I know I can trust you with anything that we’re doing out there that will obviously make me gravitate towards your soul. And I knew that Sabu cared about like he’s doing this, this crazy stuff that nobody else is doing. But he certainly knew what he was doing every second out there. The dude never hurt me, ever, except the first punch in any match.” He compared their approach to today’s more scripted style, saying, “With me and Sabu, we, we never had to go out there like, you know, like in AEW match. How many things is an AEW, six man remembering right now, 150 things that go on in the ring in a 20 minute match. Several we went out there with, like, three, four ideas of what we want to do… Just go out there and you flow and you feel it.”

As the conversation drew to a close, the topic turned to why Sabu might not have received the mainstream recognition many believe he deserved. Mark Henry pointed out that ECW was often viewed as the “evil step cousin of wrestling” and a “wild card.” Sandman offered a deeper look: “The biggest reason I know, I think that that ‘Bu didn’t get his dues. He he didn’t cut promos… if you could talk to people, you could suck them into your world, more than Fonzie blowing a damn whistle and screaming at you… And Sabu too you know, because the guy knows who he is, and he knows who his character is. He knows you’re not supposed to go out there and talk like his regular American self.”