The Sandman (wrestler)
James Fullington, better known by his ring name The Sandman, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, best known for his career with Extreme Championship Wrestling, where he developed into a smoking and drinking "Hardcore Icon" and held the ECW World Heavyweight Championship a record five times. He also had stints in World Championship Wrestling, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and World Wrestling Entertainment.
Professional wrestling career
Tri-State Wrestling (1989–1992)
Fullington got his start in professional wrestling in the Philadelphia-based Tri-State Wrestling Alliance under the ring name Mr. Sandman, managed by his then real-life wife Peaches. He also performed in Memphis for United States Wrestling Association from 1991–1992 feuding with Jerry Lawler.Eastern/Extreme Championship Wrestling (1992–1998)
Surfer and Pimp (1992–1994)
In April 1992 he arrived in Eastern Championship Wrestling as a crowd favorite. His gimmick was a surfer carruing a surf board and wore a black wet suit with blue and pink lines. He won his first ECW Championship from Don Muraco on November 16, 1992, but lost it back to Muraco on April 3, 1993. At the end of 1992, he changed his name from Mr. Sandman to The Sandman. For the rest of 1993, Sandman teamed on and off with J. T. 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. 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.
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". Following the highly publicized caning of 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. 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.
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.
In late-1994, The Sandman was once again 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 Shane Douglas for the ECW Championship in April 1995 at 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 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 barbed wire. In a Texas Death match in February 1995, Sandman was hit with a heavy metal frying pan, giving Fullington a legitimate concussion. Throughout the remainder of the match, Fullington was visibly disoriented and forgot the scripted ending of the match; several times Cactus Jack hit Sandman with his signature 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 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 brainwashed her and Sandman's real-life son into joining his cult-like following, turning him against his father. Raven psychologically attacked Sandman by having his son deny his relationship with his father, telling Tyler that his parents' divorce was Sandman's fault, and making him perform Raven's trademark taunt "The Raven's Crucifix" and other mannerisms. On October 26, 1996, at High Incident, Tyler interfered to help his father. Afterward, the two embraced, but Raven came from behind with a Singapore Cane and smacked his enemy by piledriving Sandman through the table. Stevie Richards and The Blue Meanie came out with a giant wooden cross and crucified him. On December 7 at 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. At World Wrestling Federation '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 Barely Legal, Sandman wrestled a three-way dance with Terry Funk and Stevie Richards, for a shot at the ECW title later that night, but fell short of the title. In the summer of 1997, the Sandman began a long feud with Sabu. Although he was too injured to compete at Hardcore Heaven 1997, Sandman got involved in a skirmish with Rob Van Dam 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.