The Sandman (wrestler)

Jim Fullington
Born	(1963-06-16) June 16, 1963 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Website	[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	(The) Sandman Hak Hardcore Hak
Billed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Billed weight
Billed from	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Trained by	Larry Winters Tri-State Wrestling Academy Mark Tendler J.T. Smith
Debut	1989

James ("Jim") Fullington (born June 16, 1963) better known by his ring name The Sandman, is an American professional wrestler, best known for his career with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), where he was dubbed "The Hardcore Icon" and was a multi-time Heavyweight Champion. He also had stints in World Championship Wrestling and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

Fullington worked for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on the company's ECW and RAW brands from June 2006 to September 2007.

He currently works for a small American promotion called Pro Wrestling Unplugged, and is also scheduled to appear for 1PW in the UK.

Character

Fullington's character The Sandman is a harsh, abrasive, anti-social brawler who smokes cigarettes and drinks beer on his way to the ring, and sometimes even during a match, often crushing the can on his forehead and thus causing himself to bleed. This persona, used from 1994 and onward, is often compared to the character that Steve Austin assumed in 1997. Sandman's lengthy ring entrance, where he would typically approach the ring via the audience, often sharing beer with fans, were closely linked to his popular entrance music, Metallica's "Enter Sandman" which live crowds would sing along with.

Career

Tri-State Wrestling Alliance (1992)

Jim Fullington got his start in professional wrestling in the Philadelphia-based Tri-State Wrestling Alliance under the ring name Mr. Sandman, being managed by Peaches.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (First run, 1992-1999)

In April 1992 he arrived in Eastern Championship Wrestling, the precursor to Extreme Championship Wrestling, changing his name to The Sandman. After a brief period where the Sandman gimmick was that of a surfer, Tod Gordon suggested that Fullington channel his own personality into his character. Fullington agreed. As The Sandman, Fullington began carrying a Singapore cane to the ring during his 1994 feud with Tommy Cairo as a reference to the caning of Michael P. Fay in Singapore.

During his initial run with ECW, the Sandman feuded with Tommy Cairo, Tommy Dreamer, Cactus Jack, Shane Douglas, The Public Enemy, Raven, Sabu, and The Dudleys.

Title reigns

He won the ECW Heavyweight Title from Don Muraco on November 16, 1992. He would also go on to win the ECW World Heavyweight Title a record-setting five times. He defeated Shane Douglas for the title on April 15, 1995. His next reign came when he defeated Mikey Whipwreck and Steve Austin in a 3-Way Dance on December 9, 1995. On October 5, 1996, he defeated Stevie Richards, who was defending the title for Raven, for his third ECW World Title. His fourth title win would come on January 7, 2001 when he defeated Steve Corino and Justin Credible at ECW's last Pay Per View, Guilty as Charged in a Tables, Ladders, Chairs, and Canes match. He also teamed up with 2 Cold Scorpio to reign as ECW World Tag Team Champions in late 1995.

Feud with Tommy Cairo

Sandman began a feud in 1994 with Tommy Cairo over Sandman's kayfabe treatment of his valet, "Peaches", who was revealed to be Fullington's real-life wife, Lori. This feud began to define the attributes of the Sandman character. He began wielding a (relatively safe but very loud) kendo stick, referred to as a Singapore Cane, reflecting the current event of the controversial caning of American Michael P. Fay in Singapore. During this time, Sandman displayed a delight in caning other wrestlers, notably a rookie Tommy Dreamer. He also showed no qualms over striking his wife with the weapon.

Sandman acquired a new valet, Woman, and the feud continued with Cairo and Peaches against Sandman and Woman.

In late 1994, The Sandman was "blinded" after a lit cigarette was pushed into his eye during an "I Quit" match with Tommy Dreamer. The Sandman subsequently claimed that he would have to retire as a result, with Dreamer responding by dedicating the remainder of his career to him. Cairo began mocking The Sandman, which led to Dreamer heavily beating him during a match at November to Remember 1994. During The Sandman's retirement ceremony, The Sandman reconciled with Peaches (Woman had abandoned him upon his blinding) before revealing that he was not in fact blinded and attacking Dreamer. The Sandman later revealed that his "blinding" had been an elaborate ruse concocted to trick Dreamer into hurting Cairo on his behalf.

Feud with Shane Douglas

Sandman challenged Shane Douglas for the ECW Heavyweight Championship in April 1995, but was attacked by his own valet, Woman, who helped Shane Douglas retain the title.

In a rematch at Hostile City Showdown 1995, Sandman faced Douglas (who had Woman in his corner) in a rematch. During the course of the match, Woman turned on Douglas, helping Sandman defeat the now over-confident Douglas and become the ECW Champion. It was revealed that the entire sequence of events was a double-cross planned all along by Woman to aid Sandman while psychologically destroying Douglas in the process.

Douglas attempted to regain the championship in the following months, but left for the World Wrestling Federation before he was able.

Feud with Cactus Jack

Sandman's feud with Cactus Jack lasted throughout 1995, and culminated in a series of matches involving barbed wire. In a Texas Death match in February 1995, Fullington was hit with a heavy metal frying pan, giving him a legitimate concussion.

Sandman's first title defenses after winning the ECW Championship from Douglas were against Cactus Jack, with Jack never getting the upper hand due to interference by Woman, rival Terry Funk, 'stickler' referee Bill Alfonso, and Shane Douglas, who was bitter over losing his title.

Feud with Raven

Sandman spent the time period from December 1995 through May 1997 engaged in a bloody war with Raven. In the storyline, Raven brainwashed Fullington's real-life son into joining his cult-like following and turned him against his father. Raven psychologically attacked Sandman by having his son deny his relationship with his father and perform Raven's trademark taunt and other mannerisms. This led to many bloody matches between Sandman and Raven.

During one particularly brutal match, Sandman's son interfered to help his father. Afterward, the two embraced, but Raven came from behind with a Singapore Cane, and smacked his enemy. Steven Richards and the Blue Meanie came out with a giant wooden cross, tied Sandman down to it, and then lifted it up and "crucified" him. At the time, Kurt Angle was backstage and the offensive angle caused him to leave and threaten a lawsuit if his name appeared on the same episode as the "crucifixion". Raven came back onstage after the event and gave a questionable apology for his actions. To this day, Scott Levy (Raven), who came up with the idea, claims that the angle wasn't intended as an insult to Jesus Christ, but an insult to The Sandman, by using religious iconography to convey an artistic standpoint. The footage of the crucifixion was never used by ECW and was not publicly seen until it appeared on the WWE DVD The Rise and Fall of ECW.

Sandman joined forces with Tommy Dreamer, temporarily, in 1996 as the two were battling Raven. This team would become more permanent in 1997 as the duo feuded with the Dudleys and the anti-ECW team of Sabu & Rob Van Dam .

World Championship Wrestling (1999)

In 1999, Fullington joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He first appeared in vignettes promoting Raven as a spoiled rich kid and Fullington as his preppy neighbor, but the original plan to debut under this gimmick were scrapped due to negative fan reaction. He later debuted under the name Hak. Many believe that this name was derived from his longtime nickname "Hack", although speculation exists that the name was given to him because WCW's higher powers considered hardcore wrestlers to be "wrestling hacks".

In his short time there, Hak was mostly involved in angles featuring fellow ECW alumni Raven, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Raven's (kayfabe) sister Chastity, with whom he developed an on-screen relationship after she turned on Raven.

His presence also helped to bolster WCW's fledging hardcore division. WCW started promoting hardcore wrestling within their product through utilising wrestlers like Hak and Bam Bam Bigelow.

Extreme Championship Wrestling (Second run, 1999-2001)

After leaving WCW in late 1999 The Sandman returned to ECW remaining with the company until its demise in March 2001. On January 7th 2001 at ECW's last pay-per-view, Guilty as Charged, at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom, The Sandman won his 5th ECW World Heavyweight Championship in a three-way dance with the champion Steve Corino and Justin Credible. However, after The Sandman won, the ECW World Television Champion Rhino came out to the ring and challenged him to an impromtu title match. The Sandman accepted the challenge and after a 60 second match, Rhino defeated The Sandman to become ECW World Heavyweight Champion unifying ECW's two singles titles.

Xtreme Pro Wrestling (2001-2002)

After the close of ECW The Sandman wrestled for Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW) for a time. While he was there he won the XPW World Heavyweight Championship once, by defeating Johnny Webb, as well as the XPW King of the Deathmatch Championship. On a number of occasions Sandman was accompanied to the ring by former World Championship Wrestling (WCW) valet Tylene Buck.

Pro-Pain Pro-Wrestling (2002)

Whilst at XPW Sandman also wrestled within the fledgling 3PW promotion. His most notable match was a 3-way dance with Sabu and New Jack. It is featured as a "bonus match" on the 3PW DVD Blood, Brawls & Broads.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2002-2003)

In late 2002 and early 2003, The Sandman had a tenure in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), joining former-ECW wrestlers Justin Credible and Raven along with New Jack and Perry Saturn in a stable known as Team Extreme and later "Extreme Revolution". He also competed in the Hard 10 Tournament, where he partly feuded with Sonny Siaki before winning the overall event.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2005-2007)

It can be argued that The Sandman made his World Wrestling Federation (WWF) debut at the 1996 In Your House: Mind Games Pay-Per-View event in Philadelphia where he and a number of other ECW stars caused a (kayfabe) disturbance at ringside. This event marked the start of the on-air working relationship between Vince McMahon's WWF and Paul Heyman's ECW and eventually led to ECW appearing on the February 24, 1997 WWF program 'RAW'.

In 2005, Sandman participated in the ECW reunion show Hardcore Homecoming against longtime rival Raven. Two nights later he appeared at the WWE produced ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view event, another ECW reunion show, teaming with Tommy Dreamer to face The Dudley Boyz. The match would see Sandman and Dreamer lose to the Dudleys after Dreamer was powerbombed through a flaming table. The end of the match was highlighted with Sandman screaming "He needs help. I need beer".

ECW

File:SANDMAN247.JPG

The Sandman wielding his signature Singapore cane at the fabled ECW arena.

In 2006, prior to the June 11 One Night Stand, The Sandman made a number of promotional appearances on WWE programming, first appearing, along with a number of other ECW stars, on RAW attacking John Cena then, two nights later, on the WWE vs. ECW Head to Head special taking part in a battle royal, in which it can be argued that he was the last ECW original eliminated. At One Night Stand, when Eugene made his way to the ring to read a poem expressing his love of ECW, The Sandman came out with his Singapore Cane and caned Eugene to the back. Sandman received a great reaction from the fans at One Night Stand but his actions were vilified by Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler the next night on RAW, thus making him a heel on RAW but a face on ECW.

On June 13, 2006 WWE officially relaunched ECW as a brand equal to RAW or SmackDown! with its own show on the Sci Fi Channel. In the new ECW, The Sandman was used for the first few weeks as a character who would emerge from the crowd when a non-ECW style character was annoying the audience. Once the character had a few minutes to talk Sandman appeared and destroyed the character with his cane, often ending the "match" with his signature White Russian Legsweep.

This gimmick escalated when Sandman confronted regular ECW fixture Mike Knox while he was attempting to stop his exhibitionist girlfriend, Kelly Kelly, in the middle of her weekly "exposê" strip show. The Sandman began a feud with Knox over this and eventually began teaming up with fellow ECW original Tommy Dreamer to take on Knox and Test in a feud that many felt symbolized the original vision of ECW (Sandman and Dreamer) vs. the "new" vision of ECW (Knox and Test). At the same time Sandman was feuding with Test and Knox, a debuting Matt Striker began to rub him the wrong way and he started a second feud with him.

Since then, the Sandman has made several short appearances, mostly coming out through the crowd and caning someone whenever some injustice was done. After being briefly included in a feud with Elijah Burke, he became part of the ECW Originals stable and joined their feud with the New Breed. On April 1 2007 at WrestleMania 23 he teamed with RVD, Sabu, and Dreamer to defeat Marcus Cor Von, Burke, Striker, and Kevin Thorn. On May 16, Sabu was released by the WWE and soon after Rob Van Dam left to take a sabbatical from wrestling, leaving Sandman and Tommy Dreamer alone to feud with the New Breed. However, Sandman and Dreamer would team up with CM Punk on multiple occasions, who was also feuding with the New Breed. On the June 4 edition of ECW, Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, and Balls Mahoney faced Bobby Lashley in a 3 on 1 Hardcore Handicap Match, in which they were defeated.

RAW

On June 17 2007, Sandman was drafted to the RAW brand via the WWE Supplemental Draft, making him the first ever original ECW wrestler since the rebirth of ECW to be drafted away from the brand, and the first ECW original to leave the brand but still be employed by the company (Sabu and Rob Van Dam each were released by WWE entirely). On the June 18, 2007 edition of RAW, Sandman debuted, going after Carlito with his singapore cane after Carlito ran his mouth too long for Sandman to bear, but Carlito ran away quickly. On the July 2, 2007 edition of Raw, Sandman had his first match on Raw, facing Carlito. Carlito won the match due to a disqualification when Sandman struck him with his cane after Carlito tried to use it on him. This started a feud between the two. Sandman did a similar thing next week when he lost to William Regal by disqualification, after hitting Regal and Carlito with his cane. The next week, Sandman faced Carlito again, this time winning when Regal attacked him. The Sandman was saved when "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan (who had a confrontation with Regal earlier that night) came down to the ring. At The Great American Bash he lost to Carlito in a Singapore Cane on a Pole Match. The Sandman lost in a battle royal to determine the new General Manager of RAW where he was the last one eliminated by William Regal who had faked an injury and was not in the match until Sandman was the only superstar in the ring; Regal then won after he sneaked up on The Sandman and hit him in the back of the head with his boot. His last match was on a September 10 edition of RAW against Santino Marella which he won by DQ. Sandman appeared to injure his ankle during a missed spot in this match. Sandman was later fired in a South African tour after a fight on an airplane with Ricky Steamboat over a cigarette on a plane.

Independents

The Sandman appaered on IWA Mid Souths Ian Rotten retirement show losing to Drake Younger

In wrestling

• Finishing and signature moves

• White Russian Legsweep (Russian legsweep, generally used with a Singapore cane across opponent's throat)
• Rolling Rock (Senton bomb, often on to a ladder that has been placed on the opponent's chest)
• DDT, usually onto a chairs / barbed wire
• Heineken-rana (Top rope hurricanrana)
• Philadelphia Jam / Bitchin' Leg Drop (Diving leg drop)
• Piledriver
• Diving leg drop bulldog to a rope-hung opponent
• Bulldog

• Signature foreign objects

• Singapore cane
• Spool of barbed wire

• Managers

• Lori Fullington
• Woman
• Missy Hyatt
• Beulah McGillicutty
• Chastity
• Veronica Caine
• Allison Danger
• Tylene Buck
• G.Q. Money
• Rob Van Dam
• Tommy Dreamer
• Sabu

• Ring entrance and music

• Enter Sandman by Motörhead (ECW/WWE)
• Enter Sandman by Metallica (ECW, CZW)
• Twisted Transistor by KoRn
• In WWE, Sandman uses an in-house track by WWE composer Jim Johnston.
• The Bitch Is Back by Elton John
• Surfing USA by The Beach Boys

Championships and accomplishments

• Eastern Championship Wrestling | Extreme Championship Wrestling

• ECW World Heavyweight Championship (5 times)¹
• ECW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with 2 Cold Scorpio

• Future of Wrestling

• FOW Hardcore Championship (1 time)

• Stars and Stripes Championship Wrestling

• SSCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

• TNA Hard 10 Tournament winner in 2003

• USA Xtreme Wrestling

• UXW United States Championship (1 time)

• Universal Wrestling Federation

• UWF Universal Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Westside Xtreme Wrestling

• wXw Hardcore Championship (1 time)

• World Entertainment Wrestling

• WEW World Tag Team Championship - (1 time) - with Kodo Fuyuki

• Xtreme Pro Wrestling

• XPW King of the Deathmatch Championship (1 time)
• XPW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated

• PWI ranked him # 250 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003.

¹Sandman's first reign occurred while the promotion was an NWA affliate, was named Eastern Championship Wrestling, and was prior to ECW declaring the championship as a "world" title. Though he later held the title another four times after it was declared a "world" title.

Personal life

Before wrestling, Jim worked as a construction worker in his hometown of Philadelphia. It is noted that his portrayal of ‘The Sandman’ is heavily influenced through his own experience and habits, namely his heavy drinking and bar fighter attitude. This attitude, which has served him well wrestling wise, led to him being jailed during his early life.

Fullington was married to Lori Fullington, and has three children; Kelly born in 1987, Tyler born in 1989, and Oliver born in 1994. Tyler would feature in the infamous ECW ‘ Raven Vs. Sandman’ storyline.

Jim has two tattoos; a strand of barbed wire and a portrait of his own face on his right arm. He also has a fondness for rugby.

References

• Thom Loverro (2006). The Rise & Fall of ECW: Extreme Championship Wrestling. World Wrestling Entertainment. p. 384. ISBN 1416510583.