History
Raven had found himself in trouble in TNA when his new Gathering (Julio Dinero, CM Punk, and Alexis Laree (now Mickie James) had turned on him and allied themselves with Father James Mitchell. He had called in backup in the form of old ECW compatriot Sabu.
Still, things can change.
The June 9, 2004 pay-per-view opened with Raven sitting in an empty ring as Mike Tenay filled us in. Raven had challenged Sabu to an empty arena match.
Later in the night, we saw Raven calling Sabu. Sabu just sat in the back, looking at a picture of his uncle – the original Sheik.
Raven had an interview with Shane Douglas later still. He said that he and Sabu had never had a match together. In ECW, he’d begged Heyman to face Sabu and it had never happened because Sabu was afraid of him. He then revealed that having a match with Sabu had been one of his motivating factors in bringing him to TNA. Raven then promised to retire if Sabu would only face him.
Backstage, Sonjay Dutt assured Sabu that he’d pass along his message to Raven.
Sonjay found Raven in the empty arena and told him that Sabu would not face him because of “the promise.†Raven attacked Dutt and wound up handcuffing him to a ring post. He called Sabu again and stated that promises were made to be broken. Sabu came out to help free Sonjay.
It would be revealed that “the promise†was a promise that Sabu and Raven had made to the Sheik, the man who had trained both of them. They had promised that they would never face each other in a match.
The next week Raven talked to Scott Hudson. He said that the Sheik was dead, and Sabu wasn’t worthy of him. He then said that he’d destroy Sonjay if it meant that Sabu would face him because while promises were made to be broken, so were bones.
As Sonjay came to the ring for his match, Raven attacked from behind and quickly overwhelmed Dutt. He taped his hands together and jabbed him in the head with a screwdriver. Every so often Raven would grab the microphone and call out Sabu to save Dutt. Raven hit two of his famed drop toe holds, sending Dutt face-first into a chair then pinned him for a fast three count.
After the match Raven taped Sonjay’s feet together and told him to call Sabu. Sabu came out and started trying to help Sonjay while Raven slapped him and tried to provoke him. Raven called him a coward as security came out and pushed him away from Sabu and Dutt. Dusty Rhodes got into Raven’s face and chewed him out for disrespecting the Sheik. In response, Raven simply left the ring.
Later in the night, Scott Hudson talked to Raven again. Raven apologized for what he’d done, saying that he’d gone too far. Raven promised a tribute to the Sheik for the next week.
The next week Shane Douglas was with Sabu when he found Raven’s tribute. A mannequin dressed up like the Sheik was hanging from the ceiling. Mickey Doyle (an older wrestler) walked in and gave Sabu some advice. He pointed out how Raven had dishonored his family and now he needed to do what was right.
Two weeks later, Sonjay and Sabu were wrestling Abyss and Alex Shelley when the lights went out. A spotlight came on and shined on a figure dressed as the Sheik was standing watching the ring. Raven’s voice came over the PA and announced that the Sheik was dead. When the lights came back on, Abyss was able to easily put the distracted Sabu away.
Sabu was fighting Abyss the next week when the two of them fought backstage. Suddenly Raven appeared and looped a noose around Sabu’s neck. Sabu fell onto a table and then Raven jumped on top of him to put him through it. Abyss hit an elbow drop and got the win.
Raven talked to Scott Hudson later and said that he was glad the Sheik was dead so he couldn’t see what was going on. He then added that Sabu was only a stepping stone on his path toward his destiny.
A week later, Mike Tenay was in the ring and announced that Sabu had accepted his challenge for one match only. Raven came out dressed as the Sheik and said that the match would be under his rules. He pulled off the Sheik outfit and stuffed it into a trash can to prepare to burn it. He then pulled a body bag out from under the ring. He opened it to reveal that Sonjay Dutt was inside. He pushed Dutt into the can and began dousing him with gasoline. Before he could light the fire, Sabu showed up and attacked Raven for the first time.
The match took place the next week and got off to a fast start as Sabu attacked Raven (who had again dressed up as the Sheik) with a screwdriver. Sabu tried to put Raven through a table but was sent through himself. He recovered and put Raven through a table. Raven finally put Sabu through a third table and got the pinfall win.
The next week, Sabu had managed to loop a chain around Raven’s neck and dragged him out to the ring before attempting to hang him over the top rope. Raven fought back and wound up sending Sabu into the outside guard rail. That brought Sonjay Dutt out to help, only for security to break up the melee.
Later in the night, Raven announced that he would face Sabu in a Hangman’s Horror match the next week. The match would only end when someone was hung over the top rope until they passed out.
Plans went astray as Sabu suffered an injury over the weekend. Raven opened the next week’s show by saying that Sabu was faking because he was afraid and threw out an open challenge for the match. Sonjay appeared and accepted.
After a hard fought match, Sonjay finally threw a fireball in Raven’s face and hung him over the top rope. Raven soon lapsed into unconsciousness, giving Sonjay the victory.
And that was the end of the angle. While recovering from his back injury, Sabu contracted a virus that nearly ended his career. Sabu was able to make a full recovery and was back in the ring ten months later.
TNA gets a lot of stuff wrong. I’ll admit that. Look at their current television and you can name off several angles they are blowing or have blown. But, much like WCW, when they get something right, they can knock it out of the park.
Sabu and Raven had such a long history together the promise angle made sense. They were both trained by the Sheik, and had never fought each other one on one. The idea of the promise that they never would makes sense. (Of course, you also have to wonder why the Sheik never got Sabu and RVD to promise they’d never face each other, but that’s another story.)
The angle started off weak with Raven just suddenly deciding he wants to face Sabu. It was pretty abrupt, especially considering how focused he’d been on the NWA World title since his debut.
From there the mind games started. It was great to see Raven back in his element. Ever since the ECW days, he’d been a master of mind games. An excellent example occurred in 1997, when Terry Funk and Tommy Dreamer were facing Raven and Brian Lee in a tag match. If Funk pinned Raven, he got a title shot at the first Barely Legal. Raven starts the match by reminding Dreamer how they’d feuded for two years and Dreamer had never pinned him. Raven lay down in the middle of the ring and told Dreamer he’d allow him to pin him – if he was willing to cost Funk his title shot.
Raven’s mind games dug deeper into Sabu, who could only reply via Sonjay Dutt. Although Dutt’s inclusion may seem odd at first glance, really it makes sense. Sabu did not speak, so he therefore needed a mouthpiece. TNA needed someone who was available, and could hold their own on the mic against Raven. Dutt was a perfect fit, and also took a beating well.
Raven continuing to disrespect the Sheik kept digging at Sabu until finally he tried to light up Sonjay. Let’s face it. Setting someone on fire like that is something that deep down we know won’t happen. Still, you can’t look away just because something might happen.
Finally Sabu snaps and we have our match. Raven gets the win and traditional booking says that Sabu gets the win back in the next match to blow the feud off.
Unfortunately fate had other plans. Still the feud was what it was, and its intensity was incredible as Raven mocked the man who wasn’t only Sabu’s hero and mentor, but the man he had modeled his entire career after.
Raven remains with TNA. He recently recruited Frankie Kazarian, Matt Bentley, and Johnny Devine to form a new version of Raven’s Flock known as Serotonin. The group went nowhere and now Raven is feuding with Kazarian while Bentley has been released by TNA.
Sabu recovered from his illness and returned to TNA in July of 2005. He left the following April to join the WWE as part of the reformed ECW. Sabu was released from the WWE in May of 2007. His biggest appearance since has been at July’s Triplemania 15 for Mexico’s AAA promotion.
Sonjay Dutt remains with TNA. Dutt is still a part of the X-Division and recently, after his friend Jay Lethal got a makeover by Kevin Nash and turned into Black Machismo, has altered his own character as well. Dutt now comes out dressed in white with a positive attitude and calls himself the Guru.
