By Michael Moore, PWTorch Collectibles specialist

In Brief: Twenty years after establishing himself as a cult favorite, Sabu still has a loyal following of collectors.

Card Show #46: Sabu

In 1994, Sabu was everyone’s favorite wrestler who they never actually saw.

Wrestling fans looked in awe at this scarred maniac who was unlike anyone they had seen before. Pictures of Sabu crashing through tables became monthly features in the Apter mags, and hardcore fans went to great lengths to obtain tapes of his brutal matches with Cactus Jack after reading about them in the Pro Wrestling Torch newsletter.

Twenty years later, Sabu is still a favorite among hardcore fans, yet somewhat forgotten by younger and more casual fans. Today’s wrestling fans have seen so much that those who didn’t live through Sabu’s early career may not grasp just how special he was.

Sabu flirted with stardom on a national basis a couple times, early in his career with WCW in 1994 and then with WWE and the McMahon-ized ECW in 2006. He also appeared with TNA a few times, early on in the company’s history and then during their EV 2.0/ECW nostalgia angle in 2010. But his outlaw style and unpredictability were much more suited for ECW and smaller independent promotions.

Because of this, Sabu has surprisingly few trading cards. His first appearance on a trading card was in 1995, on a card few North American collectors have probably ever seen. He appeared on card #34 in the 1995 BBM Pro Wrestling Collector Cards from Japan. This is a card that is very difficult to find today and because of that is hard to put a price on.

It would be more than a decade before Sabu would appear on another licensed wrestling trading card. Topps included Sabu in three WWE sets in 2007: WWE Action, WWE Heritage Chrome II and the European-exclusive WWE Payback. The WWE Heritage Chrome II set includes several different Refractor cards and Sabu’s first certified autograph. Sabu’s Topps WWE autograph is tough to find but very affordable. If you’re patient, you can probably pick one up for under $15.




Sabu’s coolest cards can be found in the 2010 TRISTAR TNA Xtreme set. This set was created using photos and event-worn relics from TNA’s ECW-themed 2010 Hardcore Justice pay-per-view. While the event itself might not have been a hit, the cards were a favorite among collectors. This set featured the first autographs and memorabilia cards from many of the original ECW alumni, and is still popular with collectors for that reason.

Sabu is featured on a variety of cards in the 2010 TNA Xtreme set. TRISTAR cut up the pants Sabu wore at Hardcore Justice, and inserted jumbo swatches into memorabilia cards. The basic memorabilia cards were numbered to 199, with several different serial numbered parallels. Most of these can be found for under $10. There were also multi-person memorabilia cards of the ECW originals, including a dual Sabu-Rob Van Dam memorabilia card and a quad memorabilia card of Sabu, RVD, Al Snow, and Tommy Dreamer.




Sabu signed hundreds of cards for this product as well. His basic autograph is serial numbered to 99, and usually sells in the $10-15 range. Sabu is also paired with longtime partner and nemesis Rob Van Dam on a couple of dual autograph cards. A basic Sabu-RVD dual signature usually sells in the $50-60 range. A dual autograph, dual memorabilia card of RVD and Sabu usually sells for $75-100.

PWTorch Collectibles Specialist Michael Moore can be reached at michaelmoorewriter@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @MMooreWriter .

We suggest these recent related articles...

10/5 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Natalya vs. Paige, Owens vs. Cara, Stephanie McMahon, Sasha Banks, Xavier Woods

COLLECTIBLES COLUMN: The History of Foam Hands in Pro Wrestling

9/28 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Kane's Split Personality, Divas Revolution, Heyman & Big Show, Reigns vs. Wyatt