For weeks, Sabu has been lobbying for a chance to face Big Show for the ECW World Title. Thanks to a victory over Rob Van Dam Tuesday night in a No. 1 Contender Ladder Match, he has earned that opportunity. On Sunday, he will cash in when he faces Big Show in the first-ever ECW match at SummerSlam.

Every time Sabu asked Heyman for a title opportunity, he was turned down because Heyman thought it was too risky to put Big Show in the ring with him. Heyman still feels that way, but now that the Death-Defying Maniac has earned the opportunity, Heyman has no choice but to accept it. Still, based on Sabu's track record, ECW's "Messiah" is afraid of what could happen in Boston.

"Come Tuesday night, the ECW television program is going to have to inform the public of a casualty, because Sabu is willing to sacrifice himself to win any match, let alone a match for the ECW World Heavyweight Title," Heyman explained. "The last time Sabu was placed in this situation, he was the challenger against Terry Funk in August, 1997.  Sabu had a Barbed Wire Match against Terry Funk, and it was the last Barbed Wire Match in the history of ECW because I could not in good conscience subject anybody else to that level of brutality. Sabu ripped his arm in the barbed wire and ended up receiving more than 100 stitches, but didn't stop the match; he continued to wrestle after taping his own arm together so that he could continue. And I would suggest that Sabu so shocked Terry Funk with his willingness to endure the pain to become the champion that Funk became vulnerable because of that shock."

With that said, the ECW World Champion himself still isn't worried. Two weeks ago he said that he would crush whoever he faced like soup crackers, and he still believes that will be the case this Sunday night.

"I think Paul Heyman is worried because Sabu is such a risk-taker, that Sabu will kill himself to kill me; Paul doesn't want that right now for the ECW brand," Big Show explained. "He wants me to be the flagship and the carrier of the ECW brand. The thing is, I'm not going to duck and hide from anyone. I face the top contenders from every show, from Ric Flair to Undertaker to Kane to Batista. Any and all challenges were accepted, and we went balls to the wall, ECW-style. I know Sabu's got a great arsenal. He's an innovative thinker, and he's dangerous, no doubt about it. But in that environment, I'm just as dangerous, so we'll just have to find out how committed Sabu is. That's the hardest part about playing chicken -- knowing when to flinch. So we'll see who flinches first, me or Sabu."

Ever since Heyman screwed Rob Van Dam out of the ECW World Title on July 4, it has become apparent that Big Show is his hand-picked champion. As such, Heyman knows what he is capable of, and he believes his champion will come out on top.

"The problem is The Big Show won't be in shock (like Terry Funk) this Sunday.  He will be ready," Heyman declared. "He will be prepared by me. And if Sabu is willing to ride that line of being death-defying, then Big Show might have to make that a self-fulfilling prophecy for Sabu."

Of course, Heyman does still have a little bit of trepidation. Whether Big Show wins or loses, Heyman is most worried about his physical survival.

"The flipside of the coin -- the one that I worry about the most of course -- is what Sabu can do to Big Show. The fact is that Big Show is a worldwide commodity that ECW banks on right now. Sabu ripping Big Show's eye out of his socket, or biting Big Show's ear off, or ripping Big Show's calf off of his leg or breaking every bone in Big Show's face is a realistic fear on my end. So this is a match where it's almost guaranteed that someone is going to be harmed badly, and either way, ECW loses."

While Big Show and Heyman had a lot to say regarding this Sunday's extreme warfare, the more silent Sabu offered only one simple prediction:

"No matter what the price or the sacrifice, I will beat Big Show at SummerSlam for the ECW World Title."

So will Big Show crush Sabu like a soup cracker on Sunday night, or will Sabu's quest end with him leaving Boston as the ECW World Champion? Find out at SummerSlam.