This week, WWE Mobile Alerts subscribers received a strange message in their inboxes. Following ECW on Sci Fi, Paul Heyman had the following to say about his recent troubles with Sabu:

“I crucified RVD for the good of ECW. Sabu's killing years of collaboration over the title. Next ECW, it will be addressed in a most historic way.”

Being the diligent reporter that I am, I contacted Heyman to try to get him to shed some more light on this train of thought. I never actually talked to him, though; all I got was a voicemail from his assistant that simply said “Mr. Dee, Mr. Heyman requests your presence in his office Thursday at 3 p.m. sharp.”

Apparently, Heyman (or his people) even called over here to the ECW.com offices to make sure I am who I said I was and that this was scheduled and approved by my bosses. Keep in mind that he knows who I am, and he knew who I was when I approached him on July 4 to ask him about screwing Rob Van Dam. But hey, I’m just here to do my job, so I did as I was told.

So I walk into Heyman’s office, expecting it to be me and Paul. Instead, as I walk in I see his personal security force stationed by his desk, seemingly ready to strike at a moment’s notice. You would’ve thought I was interviewing George Bush or Suge Knight or someone.

As he motioned for me to sit, I told him I really only had one question, that being what he meant by saying he would address the Sabu situation in a historic way. I turned on my tape recorder, and Heyman cleared his throat in a demonic way; he then smiled at me, and gave me the following:

“I sacrificed…I crucified my 10-year brotherhood with Rob Van Dam for the betterment of ECW. But Sabu is killing a 13-year collaborative effort with me based on his selfish desire to chase after Big Show and the ECW World Title. Sabu is scarred from head to toe because of his willingness to do anything to win, and he doesn’t care what price he or his opponent pays to get there. This is most troubling to me, because Big Show is our champion, and he is a most recognizable figure on a worldwide basis.”

He stopped to take a breath and smile again before continuing.

“I can attest to this myself; when I was Big Show’s agent, we went to South Africa. We would walk down the street and we were mobbed; it was like the Beatles. It was like when Michael Jackson went to Europe and dangled his child over his balcony…just throngs and throngs of people outside like the Pope was about to speak. It was insane, like a mob scene. This is what it’s like on a worldwide basis with Big Show, and that’s for the betterment of ECW. Putting Sabu into the ring with Big Show is very risky. For two weeks I’ve been telling my friend Sabu no, and for two weeks he has defied my messianic message.”

I don’t know if that’s actually a word, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to question it. Finally, after all that, Heyman actually answered my question.

“I think it’s come to a head to where I’m going to have to address this, both on behalf of ECW and Sabu’s lack of respect. I would suggest that live on Tuesday on ECW on Sci Fi is the best place to address the situation. I would remind Sabu, however, that the two times in his career he came up against Paul Heyman, he lost. I would suggest that Sabu govern his actions accordingly or suffer the same fate as Rob Van Dam.”

The two incidents Heyman refers to happened during ECW’s original tenure. On April 8, 1995, Heyman publicly fired Sabu during an ECW event at the ECW Arena. That night, Sabu was scheduled to wrestle in both Japan and Philadelphia. In a controversial moment chronicled on the Rise and Fall of ECW home video, Heyman poured the Kool-Aid for the ECW faithful and got them all to turn on Sabu.

Five years later in 2000, Sabu was presented with a multi-million dollar offer to jump to WCW when his ECW contract was expiring. However, Heyman blocked it through his attorneys, and even froze Sabu out of wrestling in the United States for a year.

Despite all this, it’s evident that their bond may actually be stronger than ever. In fact, it was Heyman who set up the chair Sabu used as a springboard when he put John Cena through a table on RAW back in June. Up until two weeks ago, when Heyman found out Sabu’s intentions of challenging Big Show, everything seemed cool between the two.  

But now Sabu is rebelling against Heyman’s surprising protection of the champion. Two weeks in a row, he has attacked Big Show to apparently send a message. He doesn’t seem inclined to stop, so I asked Heyman if he’s thought about that and prepared a plan of action to deal with that behavior should it continue.

His simple response: “Yes, yes and no.”

With that, I turned off my tape recorder and politely thanked him for his time. But instead of shaking my hand, Heyman rose from his desk. I thought I was in trouble when the security force parted, but I was actually the recipient of a hug from Paul Heyman. That’s right…Paul Heyman hugged me. Not only that, but he whispered in my ear.

“Thank you, my friend. Thank you for your contributions to ECW and ECW.com. You are a part of our family now, and you are appreciated for that.”

With that, I left his office, thus concluding the longest 10 minutes of my life. I’m not sure Heyman himself knows what’s going on in his mind these days…but I’d be willing to bet that whatever happens Tuesday on Sci Fi regarding Sabu is something you won’t want to miss.