The Sandman (wrestler)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Sandman
J.T. Smith[1]
Debut1989[1]

James Fullington

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), and World Wrestling Entertainment
(WWE).

Professional wrestling career

Tri-State Wrestling (1989–1992)

Fullington got his start in professional wrestling in the

Peaches
. He also performed in Memphis in 1991–1992.

Eastern/Extreme Championship Wrestling (1992-1998)

Surfer and pimp (1992–1994)

In April 1992 he arrived in

JT Smith
and was featured regularly.

In 1994, Sandman changed his gimmick after ECW owner Tod Gordon suggested that he channel his own personality into his character, creating an edgier gimmick. In February 1994, he began a feud with his former tag team partner Tommy Cairo, after The Sandman was temporarily blinded following a match and inadvertently struck Peaches. When The Sandman regained his sight and saw Cairo assisting Peaches to her feet, he attacked Cairo. The Sandman subsequently became estranged from his wife (claiming "life's a bitch, and then you marry one"). After losing a match against Cairo, that led to Peaches hitting him with a strap profusely, Woman attacked Peaches and led her back to the ring where Sandman held her and Woman applied the strap to her skin before Cairo returned to save her. After this event Sandman adopted Woman as his new manager. In keeping with The Sandman's character, Woman opened his beers and lit his cigarettes prior to matches. She began carrying a Singapore cane with which she struck The Sandman's opponents.[3][4][5]

After Cairo insinuated that he was sleeping with Peaches, The Sandman stated that Cairo owed him "$25 a romp" and began demanding that Cairo "pay your bills".

Michael P. Fay in Singapore on May 5, 1994, Sandman adopted another defining attribute of his new gimmick as he began wielding a kendo stick, referred to as a Singapore cane, taking delight in caning other wrestlers such as rookie Tommy Dreamer or his "estranged" wife.[1] Sandman and Woman faced Cairo and Lori in a mixed Singapore Caning match on May 14, 1994, at When Worlds Collide. After Cairo and Lori defeated their opponents, Lori caned Sandman's crotch until Woman threw salt in her eyes, enabling Sandman to regroup and use his cane on both Lori and Cairo.[6]

During a match against Tommy Dreamer, Sandman's valet: Woman attempted to attack Dreamer on his behalf when Dreamer planted a long kiss on her. After the match Sandman was told by Woman that Dreamer was with Cairo and that they were both sleeping with his wife, which enraged Sandman. Woman wanted to make Dreamer suffer and so she lured Dreamer into a match with Sandman wherein whoever lost would have to receive ten strikes from the other with a Singapore cane. After losing the match Tommy began to take the strokes, when it became clear that Woman's intention was to humiliate him by making him beg her for mercy, which he did not, much to her chagrin, and Dreamer was idolized by the fans for his resolve and the level of disdain for the Sandman was increased. This was a defining moment for both men and for ECW in years to come.[7]

In late-1994, The Sandman was once again (kayfabe) blinded after a lit cigarette was pushed into his eye during an

"I Quit" match with Tommy Dreamer. Woman blamed Sandman for the injury and abandoned him. The Sandman subsequently claimed that he would have to retire as a result, with Dreamer responding by dedicating the remainder of his career to The Sandman. Cairo began mocking The Sandman, which led to Dreamer heavily beating him during a match at November to Remember. At Sandman's retirement ceremony during the same event, an attempted reconciliation with Lori was interrupted by Woman, who caned Lori and threatened Sandman. As Dreamer came to the rescue, Sandman revealed that he was not in fact blinded and attacked Dreamer. The Sandman later revealed that his blinding had been an elaborate ruse concocted to trick Dreamer into hurting Cairo on his behalf. Sandman had to wrestle Dreamer again the following month at Holiday Hell
when he and now reconciled partner Tommy Cairo, teamed up against Cactus Jack and Dreamer, but were defeated by the duo.

ECW World Heavyweight Champion (1995–1996)

Sandman challenged

Three Way Dance, but was attacked by his own valet, Woman, who helped Shane Douglas retain the title. In a rematch at Hostile City Showdown on April 15, 1995, Sandman faced Douglas (who had Woman in his corner) in a rematch. During the course of the match, Woman turned on the now overconfident Douglas, helping Sandman become the ECW World Heavyweight 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. Sandman's first title defenses after winning the ECW Championship were against Cactus Jack, with the latter never getting the upper hand due to interference by Woman, rival Terry Funk, 'stickler' referee Bill Alfonso
, and Douglas, who was bitter over losing his title.

Sandman's feud with Cactus Jack lasted throughout 1995 and culminated in a series of matches involving

double underhook DDT
and again and again Sandman instinctively kicked out. This went on for about a minute before Cactus Jack delivered a legit maneuver, hoping it would keep Sandman down. The referee also had to resort to making the ten-count (as per the match's rules) at nearly double his original speed.

On October 25, Sandman lost the title to Mikey Whipwreck in a ladder match. Three days later, Sandman teamed up with then Television Champion 2 Cold Scorpio to win the ECW Tag Team Championship from The Public Enemy. On December 9 at December to Dismember, Sandman regained his World Heavyweight title by defeating Whipwreck and Steve Austin in a Three-Way Dance. At the end of the month, 2 Cold Scorpio lost both the Television and Tag Team Championships to Whipwreck in a singles match on December 29, while Sandman became embroiled in his feud with Raven.

Sandman spent the time period from December 1995 through May 1997 engaged in a feud with Raven. On January 27, 1996, Sandman lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Raven and the two subsequently traded the title back and forth. Sandman joined forces with Raven's nemesis Tommy Dreamer and on October 5, 1996, at Ultimate Jeopardy, regained the title by pinning Stevie Richards in an Ultimate Jeopardy tag team match pitting Sandman and Dreamer against Brian Lee and Richards, who replaced Raven when he no-showed the event.

During the feud, Raven allied himself to the returned Lori Fullington and

Holiday Hell
, Sandman again lost the title to Raven in a barbed wire match.

Various rivalries (1996–1998)

In 1996, the team of Sandman and Tommy Dreamer became more permanent as the duo feuded with anti-ECW team of

Sabu and Rob Van Dam, as well as the Dudley Boyz.[1] At World Wrestling Federation (WWF)'s 1996 In Your House: Mind Games, Sandman, Tommy Dreamer, Paul Heyman and a number of other ECW stars caused a storyline disturbance at ringside during a Caribbean Strap match between Savio Vega and Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw. The disturbance resulted in Sandman whacking Vega over the head with his signature Singapore cane and spitting beer in his face. 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
.

At the ECW premier pay-per-view event

Hardcore Heaven 1997, Sandman got involved in a skirmish with Rob Van Damn and Sabu who then brutalized him to the point of hospitalization, however, he returned later that evening to interference in the main event by assaulting Sabu, leading to Sabu's elimination, costing Sabu the ECW title. In September of that year at As Good as It Gets
, Sabu badly burned the Sandman in a scheduled contest between the two. The damage to Sandman from the burn was considered so bad that the match was discontinued. As a result, Sandman was out of action until he once again attacked Van Dam and Sabu in the ring that November, earning a measure of revenge on Sabu. This led to their match at the November to Remember pay per view, which was promoted as a major cornerstone and culmination of all the events that year. In the match, Sandman dodged an attempt by Sabu to burn him, however Sabu went on to win the match. Over the next few months, they competed in high profile specialty matches such as ladder matches, table matches, and a dueling cane match. In one of the most notable examples, the Sandman fought Sabu in the 1st ever "stairway to hell" match involving tables ladders chairs and barbwire, which is especially noteworthy because no barb wire matches had been scheduled in ECW since after barb wire ripped open Sabu's bicep and required over 100 stitches in August 1997. The stairway to hell match proved to be one of the most violent in ECW history, coincidentally Sabu broke his jaw when missing a dive onto Sandman and inadvertently hit the guard rail, but continued to fight. After suffering heavy damage, Sandman earned the victory by finally pinning Sabu after hitting him with a cane. However, it wasn't until almost two months later that their feud effectively came to an end at Living Dangerously 1998. This match was heavily promoted and designated the penultimate which featured a dueling canes gimmick. During the match, the combination of Rob Van Dam and Sabu turned out to be too much for the Sandman, which led to him losing the contest.

Over the spring and summer of 1998, Sandman teamed up with Dreamer and

Spike Dudley to feud with the Dudley Boyz, finally securing a victory in a six-man match at Heat Wave
.

World Championship Wrestling (1998–1999)

In September 1998, Fullington joined

Brian Knobs in another Hardcore match. And a month later at Bash at the Beach, Hak competed in the Junkyard Invitational, which was won by Fit Finlay
. He suffered a separated shoulder and a neck injury during the contest. This turned out to be his final appearance in WCW because during his recovery, Fullington was released from his WCW contract in September 1999 as part of a cost-cutting measure by new WCW Executive Vice President Bill Busch.

Return to ECW (1999–2001)

After leaving WCW in late 1999, Fullington, as The Sandman, returned to ECW at

Rhino
came out to the ring and challenged him to an impromptu title match. The Sandman accepted the challenge and after a 60-second match, Rhino defeated The Sandman to become the new World Heavyweight Champion, unifying ECW's two singles titles.

Xtreme Pro Wrestling (2001–2003)

After the closure of ECW The Sandman wrestled for Xtreme Pro Wrestling (XPW) for a time. In February 2002, at the event Free Fall, he won the XPW King of the Deathmatch Championship from Supreme, turning heel and aligning himself with heel faction 'The E'. On a number of occasions Sandman was accompanied to the ring by former World Championship Wrestling (WCW) valet Tylene Buck. At XPW's 'Cold Day in Hell' reunion show, Sandman defeated Pogo the Clown, the wrestler he last feuded with before the company went out of business. While at XPW Sandman also wrestled within the fledgling Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling 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 and Broads.

In late 2002 and early 2003, The Sandman had a tenure in

Hard 10 Tournament, where he partly feuded with Sonny Siaki
before winning the overall event.

NWA Total Nonstop Action (2003–2004, 2010, 2019)

The Sandman made his surprise debut in

Iceberg
. After a 3-month absence Sandman returned on the November 5 where he was defeated by Shane Douglas. He worked for TNA until February 4, when Sandman and Terry Funk lost to The Gathering (CM Punk and Julio Dinero) and after the match The Sandman left TNA.

Sandman upon his return to TNA in July 2010

Sandman returned to TNA on July 27, 2010, at the tapings of the August 5 edition of

Matt Morgan of Ric Flair's Fourtune stable, who thought they didn't deserve to be in TNA.[13][14] The following week TNA president Dixie Carter gave each member of EV 2.0 TNA contracts in order for them to settle their score with Fourtune.[15] Sandman no-showed a TNA Impact! taping on August 23 and parted ways with the company.[16]

On the May 31, 2019, episode of TNA Impact!, Sandman appeared during a match between

Killer Kross
where he gave a Kendo Stick to Edwards helping him win the match. on the June 14, 2019, episode of TNA Impact!, Sandman lost to Killer Kross.

World Wrestling Entertainment (2005–2007)

In 2005, Sandman participated in the ECW reunion show

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.

ECW's
return in June 2006

On June 13, 2006, WWE

brand equal to Raw and 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 emerged 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 "exposé" 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) versus 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 secondary feud with him.

Subsequently, 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

ECW, Sandman, Dreamer, and Balls Mahoney lost to Bobby Lashley
in a hardcore three-on-one handicap match.

On June 17, 2007, Sandman was drafted to the Raw brand via the

Carlito with his Singapore cane. On the July 2 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 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 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 snuck up on The Sandman and hit him in the back of the head with his boot. His last match was on the September 10 edition of Raw against Santino Marella which he won by disqualification. Fullington appeared to injure his ankle during a missed spot in this match and was released from his WWE contract on September 12, 2007.[17]

Independent circuit (2007–present)

The Sandman appeared at

Bubblegum (Hubba Bubba Lucha) and Iceman. The Sandman then took part in a No Limit Wrestling special, in which he participated in a tag team match, in which he and his partner, Joe E. Legend, defeated Test and Chris Masters
after a cane from Sandman allowed Legend to make the pin.

In October 2008, Sandman announced through a bulletin posted by his official MySpace account that he would be retiring from pro wrestling in the coming weeks. The bulletin stated that Sandman has a two-month-old child and a girlfriend to take care of, so he feels it is time to leave the wrestling business after a 20 plus year career. The bulletin also noted that he would still be accepting bookings over the next few weeks and that his official retirement date would be announced soon.[18]

The Sandman appeared at the

Little Guido
teamed up to take on the team of EGO.

Fullington made appearances with the Shane Douglas promotion Extreme Rising. Fullington's appearances mainly centered around him doing entrances to his theme music and performing "saves" for other wrestlers by caning their opponents. On February 2, 2013, Fullington made an appearance for WWC where he competed in a 4-way match for the #1 contender at the Puerto Rican title the match was won by Apolo. On June 21, 2013, Fullington competed for Family Wrestling Entertainment where he competed in a battle royal that was won by Tommy Dreamer. On February 8, 2014, Fullington teamed with his son Tyler Fullington to defeat Riley and Pete Lombardo.

On October 25, 2014, Fullington and Tommy Dreamer defeated Damien Darling and Danny Demanto. On July 2, 2016, Sandman lost a cage match to Sabu, in a match where Bill Alfonso was the referee. In March 2017 he teamed with New Jack and Justin Credible in a winning effort at an ECPW show.

Cameo appearances for major companies (2018–2019)

In November 2018 Sandman lost to

Brian Pillman Jr. at Major League Wrestling (MLW). They lost the match after Dreamer was pinned.[20]

During 2019 The Sandman made various sporadic TV appearances and has participated in a match for TNA Impact! as part of a storyline involving

Killer Kross and Eddie Edwards.[citation needed
]

On July 4, 2020, The Sandman made an appearance at ICW No Holds Barred 3 in Millville, New Jersey.

On April 1, 2022, The Sandman made an appearance at ICW No Holds Barred 24 in Newark, New Jersey.

In other media

Fullington appeared as The Sandman in the video games ECW Anarchy Rulz, Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes the Neighborhood, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008[21] and WWE 2K24 as downloadable content.[22]

Personal life

Fullington was married to Lori Fullington, with whom he has three children: Kelly (born 1987), Tyler (born 1989) and Austin Oliver (born 1998). Tyler was featured in ECW's Sandman versus Raven storyline and debuted as a wrestler himself in August 2008, wrestling as "Twisted Sand". Fullington also has another son with his second wife.[23]

On July 20, 2008, at a party for Lou Albano, Fullington began fighting a Yonkers, New York, restaurant's employee when they called the police. Upon the police's arrival, he turned on them and started throwing glasses their way, injuring two of them.[24][25] He was at first denied bail on July 23, due to two previous convictions for burglary in 1983.[24] His bail was later set at US$10,000.[26] The judge also issued a restraining order, barring Fullington from contacting the owner of the restaurant where the incident had occurred and Fullington was ordered to stay away from the restaurant.[24] Fullington was fined $1,000, had to pay another $200 in court costs and was given a one-year conditional discharge. Fullington was also facing criminal mischief and assault charges, which were dropped in return for the guilty plea.

Championships and accomplishments

Sandman's Hardcore Hall of Fame banner in the former ECW Arena.

1 The Sandman's first reign occurred while the promotion was an NWA affiliate named Eastern Championship Wrestling, and was prior to the promotion becoming Extreme Championship Wrestling and the title being declared a world title by ECW. Sandman held the title an additional four times after the events.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Sandman Profile". Online World Of Wrestling. Archived from the original on January 8, 2020. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Sandman WWE Profile". WWE.
  3. Québecor Média. Archived from the original on May 26, 2012. Retrieved January 17, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link
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  4. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4165-6156-9
    .
  5. ISBN 978-1-55490-315-3
    .
  6. ^ a b T, J. "All In A Days Workrate: The Definitive History of ECW, part 1"
  7. ^ The Rise and Fall of ECW
  8. ^ Thom Loverro, The Rise & Fall of ECW: Extreme Championship Wrestling, p. 172f.
  9. ^ "Wrestling Observer Rewind ★ Sept. 21, 1998". February 7, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  10. ^ "Sandman still bleeds ECW". Slam!. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  11. ^ Martin, Adam (July 27, 2010). "Spoilers: TNA Impact for August 5". WrestleView. Archived from the original on September 28, 2010. Retrieved August 5, 2010.
  12. ^ Caldwell, James (August 8, 2010). "Caldwell's TNA Hardcore Justice PPV results 8/8: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of ECW-themed PPV headlined by RVD vs. Sabu". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
  13. ^ Tomich, Kevin (August 9, 2010). "TNA News: Spoilers – detailed Impact TV taping report for "Whole F'n Show" featuring new angle, MOTY candidate?, three title matches". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
  14. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on June 29, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link
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  15. ^ Wilkenfeld, Daniel (August 19, 2010). "Wilkenfeld's TNA Impact report 8/19: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of Spike TV broadcast". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 19, 2010.
  16. ^ Meltzer, Dave (August 25, 2010). "Wed. update: Ratings, main event announced, Fedor's people want big fight, TNA no-show and departure". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved September 8, 2010.
  17. ^ "Sandman released". WWE.
  18. ^ Sandman Announces His Retirement From Wrestling, Terry Funk Pulls Out, Heart Throbs' Romeo Archived October 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  19. ^ Armageddon Day 3: Sandman & Knox defeat Machine & Kinkade! – NZPWI Archived December 27, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  20. ^ "MLW Superfight Results". Thechairshot.com. February 3, 2019. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
  21. ^ "Wrestling Games « Sandman « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". Archived from the original on February 7, 2015.
  22. ^ 2K Games. "WWE2K24 - SEASON PASS IS BACK". WWE 2K. Retrieved February 27, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ "Sandman Dream". House of Hardcore. November 29, 2016. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
  24. ^ a b c David, Will (July 24, 2008). "Wrestler to spend another night in Yonkers jail". The Journal News. Archived from the original on August 1, 2008. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
  25. ^ "Wrestler 'Sandman' Makes Bail in Party Brawl". myfoxny.com. July 25, 2008.
  26. ^ Baker, Rebecca (July 24, 2008). "County judge sets $10,000 bail for pro wrestler 'The Sandman,' charged in Yonkers brawl". The Journal News. Archived from the original on August 2, 2008. Retrieved July 25, 2008.
  27. ^ "海外絶賛流出中のアイアンマンヘビーメタル級王座の動向＜3月31日分＞". DDT Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  28. ^ "PWU "Crazy 8" Results From Biggest Crowd In PWU History. 2 Cold Wins Belt". Warned.net – Wrestling News. June 18, 2007. Archived from the original on December 23, 2007. Retrieved February 22, 2009.
  29. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Top 500 – 1995". Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on June 7, 2008. Retrieved April 5, 2011.
  30. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Top 500 Wrestlers of the PWI Years". Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on May 15, 2011. Retrieved May 8, 2008.
  31. ^ "Independent Wrestling Results – March 2003". onlineworldofwrestling.com. Retrieved July 5, 2008.
  32. ^ "Independent Wrestling Results – October 2002". onlineworldofwrestling.com. Retrieved July 6, 2008.
  33. ^ "Westside Xtreme Wrestling Title Histories". titlehistories.com. Archived from the original on August 8, 2008. Retrieved July 11, 2008.

Footnotes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jim Fullington.
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