Details on John Laurinaitis firing former WWE Superstar after angry phone call

Sabu recently recalled the time John Laurinaitis fired him after he refused to compete in a WWE ECW match.

The ECW legend, who recently retired from wrestling, was due to lose against Kevin Thorn in 2007. Although he had no problem with Thorn, the veteran was frustrated with his position in WWE at the time and did not want to wrestle.

Speaking in a Title Match Wrestling video, Sabu revealed he called John Laurinaitis earlier in the day and told him he would be late. WWE’s Head of Talent Relations yelled at Sabu and fired him after the incident:

“I show up way late and he goes, ‘Terry [Terry Brunk, Sabu’s real name], you’re doing this and you’re doing that.’ I go, ‘I don’t think so.’ He goes, ‘Why not?’ I said, ‘My neck hurts, I’m not doing nothing.’ He goes, ‘You worked in pain before.’ I said, ‘Not anymore I don’t.’ So they ended up firing me after that. I kind of quit and they fired me,” Sabu said.

Sabu made his name in the wrestling business during his two spells in ECW between 1993 and 2000. He signed with WWE in 2006 and left the company in 2007.

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John Laurinaitis “scolded” Sabu during their phone call

Sabu went on to admit that he should have tried harder to fit in during his one-year WWE run.

The 56-year-old added that John Laurinaitis “scolded” him and treated him like a child when they spoke on the phone before the show:

“I had to draw a line. That’s where I drew the line, ‘I’m not wrestling this guy, my neck hurts.’ And my neck did hurt, not enough to quit the match, but I was mad enough to quit the match. The way he [John Laurinaitis] was yelling at me over the phone, talking to me like a little kid. I was sort of giggling inside... He scolded me, calling at me, yelling at me, ‘Terry!’” he said.

Sabu’s final WWE match took place on the May 1, 2007 episode of WWE ECW. In the main event, Rob Van Dam won an Extreme Rules Fatal 4-Way match against Sabu, The Sandman, and Tommy Dreamer.

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Please credit Title Match Wrestling and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.