Well, it’s official: as we predicted, Sabu has been released by the WWE and his ECW Superstar Profile was promptly removed from wwe.com.

Obviously this news is anything but shocking. Sabu has made no bones about being dissatisfied with the WWE, and things have been heading downhill since his arrest and related violation of the WWE “wellness policy” last fall.

Sabu was sent home this week after arriving at the ECW taping several hours late and failing to bring his wrasslin’ gear (for the second time in recent weeks.) Rumor has it that he purposely showed up late, perhaps to hasten his release. There is also unconfirmed news that an incident that transpired in Cincinnati last weekend may have contributed to his release, but the nature of the incident is unknown at this time.

Although Sabu’s recent performance has been less than stellar and the cumulative effect of his injuries are slowing him down in the ring, many in the wrestling industry are speculating that he will return to TNA. However, due to a non-compete clause in his WWE contract, Sabu will not be able to wrestle elsewhere for approximately three months. The timing may be just right for Rob Van Dam to jump off the sinking ECW ship and head for TNA as well.