AEW star Chris Jericho has paid tribute to the late ECW original Sabu, reflecting on their shared history and the unique connection they maintained over the years. Speaking in a heartfelt interview with 101 WRIF, Jericho opened up about his experiences with Sabu, both in and out of the ring, and offered insight into the man behind the legendary mystique.

“Of course I knew Sabu. Yeah. Worked with him when I was in ECW. We had one match in 1996 and I think it was my second , last match I had there. But, Paul Heyman sold that match for 10 years afterwards. It was back when tape trading was a thing. He’d still always advertise that match on his TV shows for years and years and years afterwards,” Jericho said.

Jericho shared that despite only wrestling Sabu once, the bout lived on through underground wrestling fan circles for years, further solidifying its cult classic status. He also recalled their more recent interaction in AEW and the surprising moment when Sabu showed up to a FOZZY concert without saying hello.

“Actually, I just had Sabu work with us in AEW a couple years ago and I always talked with him a lot on Instagram on DMs… He DM’d me, text me, when we were in Las Vegas at the beginning of this FOZZY tour and he said, ‘Are you guys playing tonight?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, we’re at the Count’s Vamp’d’ or whatever the venue’s called. Didn’t hear anything else and then when I got off stage, he had text me at like 9 o’clock or so. We usually go at 9:30. ‘Can you put me on the list?’ I never saw it because I was getting ready for the gig. Then, I find out, ‘Oh yeah, Sabu was here.’ I was like, ‘What?’ ‘Yeah, he was here.’ Like, really? He didn’t come and say hi or anything so, and he never mentioned it. I talked to him afterwards, just up until about two weeks ago. We had a quick conversation, and he never mentioned he was at the show so, a very Sabu-esque thing to do but, it’s a true shame. What a pioneer in the wrestling business in so many different ways. So important and so legendary. A true legend and a true character in the business for sure.”

Jericho went on to emphasize Sabu’s complexity, noting that beneath the wild persona was a deeply kind and humorous man.

“He was an enigma. I think a lot of that was by design, but also a very good-hearted guy. Very great sense of humor. Detroit guy. He came from Detroit. I think he grew up here. But yeah, a very strange guy until you get to know him and then he was just a very , like I said, a very good-hearted, good dude so, I’m glad that I had reconnected with him. I brought him on the Jericho Cruise a few years ago. So yeah, I hadn’t seen him for a while. But then over the last few years, we had reestablished a relationship so I’m glad that we did because, like I said, he’ll be missed in the business for sure, and as a person…”

Jericho closed by reflecting on the singularity of their in-ring encounter and its long-lasting impact.

“Only one (match with Sabu). Yeah, one match is all we ever had and like I said, it was kind of, you know, a tape trading classic at the time when that was still a thing back in the 90s.”