J. T. James Fullington (born June 16, 1963), famously known as The Sandman, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his career with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), where he developed into a smoking and drinking "Hardcore Icon" and held the ECW World Heavyweight Championship a record five times.
The Sandman at WrestleCon 2017
This article explores the highs and lows of his wrestling journey, from his early days in ECW to his stints in WCW, TNA, and WWE.
Early Career and the Rise of The Sandman
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. In April 1992 he arrived in Eastern Championship Wrestling (later renamed Extreme Championship Wrestling) as a crowd favorite. 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.
In 1994, The Sandman changed his gimmick after ECW owner Tod Gordon suggested that he channel his own personality into his character, creating an edgier gimmick. 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.
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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. The Sandman later revealed that his blinding had been an elaborate ruse concocted to trick Dreamer into hurting Cairo on his behalf.
ECW World Heavyweight Championship Reign
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 (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. On October 25, Sandman lost the title to Mikey Whipwreck in a ladder match.
On December 9 at December to Dismember, Sandman regained his World Heavyweight title by defeating Whipwreck and Steve Austin in a Three-Way Dance.
Feud with Raven and Family Involvement
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. 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.
Fullington entered Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in June 1996 at the age of six. Tyler's father, The Sandman, had begun feuding with Raven over the ECW World Heavyweight Championship earlier that year. In the course of the feud, Raven attempted to play mind games with The Sandman by brainwashing his ex-wife, Lori, to become part of his entourage, Raven's Nest. At Hardcore Heaven on June 22, 1996, Raven revealed that Tyler had also joined his side.
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Tyler subsequently began accompanying Raven to ringside for his matches, with Raven using him to wage psychological warfare against The Sandman. At Heat Wave on July 13, 1996, The Sandman teamed with Terry Gordy and Tommy Dreamer to face Raven and his allies Brian Lee and Stevie Richards in a cage match. After Dreamer handcuffed Raven to the cage, Tyler entered the ring and stood between Raven and The Sandman, preventing The Sandman from hitting Raven and allowing Raven's lackey, Super Nova, to free him. Despite Tyler's involvement, The Sandman was ultimately able to pin Raven and win the match.
At The Doctor is In on August 3, 1996, Tyler again placed himself in front of Raven during his ECW World Heavyweight Championship title match with The Sandman, helping Raven pin The Sandman and retain the title. At Natural Born Killaz on August 24, 1996, The Sandman and Pitbull 2 defeated Raven and Shane Douglas in a dog collar match. Following the match, Tyler demanded that The Sandman give him his Singapore cane.
On October 5, 1996, at Ultimate Jeopardy, The Sandman and Dreamer faced Lee and Richards in a tag team bout with Raven's ECW World Heavyweight Championship on the line (Raven was unable to compete). The Sandman pinned Richards to win the title. At November to Remember on November 16, 1996, Raven faced The Sandman in a rematch, but was unable to defeat him, despite assistance from Lori and Tyler.
In late December 1996, Raven's longtime lackey Stevie Richards turned on him. On February 1, 1997, at Crossing the Line Again, Tyler and Lori left Raven and joined Richards' Blue World Order. At CyberSlam on February 22, 1997, Richards, Tyler and Lori came to the ring to berate Raven and Lee, who had given a concussion to Terry Funk. After Lee chokeslammed Richards and Raven DDT'ed Lori, Tyler ran backstage and reemerged with The Sandman, who entered the ring and fought off Raven and Lee.
Sandman vs Raven (Referee - Tommy Dreamer) part 1/2
Tag Team with Tommy Dreamer
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 (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.
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Feud with Sabu
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.
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.
WCW Tenure
In September 1998, Fullington joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW), signing a 3-year deal believed to be worth $200,000 annually according to Dave Meltzer. He later debuted under his longtime nickname, Hak (The Sandman name was trademarked by ECW) when he called out Bam Bam Bigelow and challenged him to a Hardcore match on Monday Nitro. During the match he was defeated by Bigelow and was not named on screen during the entire segment.
In his short time there, Hak was mostly involved in angles featuring fellow ECW alumni Raven, Bigelow and Raven's storyline sister Chastity, with whom he developed an on-screen relationship after she turned on Raven. WCW started promoting hardcore wrestling within their product through utilizing wrestlers like Hak and Bam Bam Bigelow.
At Uncensored, Hak defeated Bam Bam Bigelow and Raven in a Falls Count Anywhere Triple Threat match. At Spring Stampede, Hak lost to Bam Bam Bigelow in a Hardcore match. At The Great American Bash, Hak defeated 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.
Return to ECW
After leaving WCW in late 1999, Fullington, as The Sandman, returned to ECW at Re-enter the Sandman in October 1999. He remained with the company until its demise in January 2001. He began a feud with Rhino in 2000, losing to him at Hardcore Heaven, Heat Wave, and other shows.
On January 7, 2001, at ECW's last pay-per-view, Guilty as Charged, the Sandman won his fifth World Heavyweight Championship in a Tables, Ladders, Chairs, and Canes three-way dance with the champion Steve Corino and Justin Credible. After The Sandman won, however, the World Television Champion Rhino came out to the ring and challenged him to an impromptu title match.
Post-ECW Career
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.
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".
Sandman returned to TNA on July 27, 2010, at the tapings of the August 5 edition of TNA Impact!, in order to take part in the August 8 ECW reunion show, Hardcore Justice. At the event on August 8, Sandman assaulted former rival P.J. Polaco (Justin Credible) after his match with Stevie Richards. On the following edition of TNA Impact!, the ECW alumni, known collectively as EV 2.0, were assaulted by A.J. Styles, Kazarian, Robert Roode, James Storm, Douglas Williams and Matt Morgan of Ric Flair's Fourtune stable, who thought they didn't deserve to be in TNA.
On the May 31, 2019, episode of TNA Impact!, Sandman appeared during a match between Eddie Edwards and Killer Kross where he gave a Kendo Stick to Edwards helping him win the match.
WWE and ECW Reunion
In 2005, Sandman participated in the ECW reunion show Hardcore Homecoming against longtime rival Raven. Two nights later he appeared at the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) produced ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view event, another ECW reunion show, teaming with Tommy Dream...
Personal Struggles and Controversies
The years in ECW took a tremendous toll on Sandman, as he shared heâs broken 27 bones and many other injuries. The ECW style caught up to him and he got hooked on pain pills. He combined that addiction with his existing issues with booze, other pills and cocaine and it turned into a dangerous mix. His family life also took a drastic turn. To try to compete with the muscular giants at WCW, Sandman began taking large amounts of steroids and that use changed his mood for the worse. His daughter Kelly Fullington recalled that he became abusive to her mother, while her mother was subservient and scared of his violence.
The show concludes with a very brief look at his run with the WWEâs version of ECW. Sandman did not seem to be a fit on the brand and the show described it as unremarkable.
Here's a table summarizing The Sandman's championship reigns:
| Championship | Reigns | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ECW World Heavyweight Championship | 5 | Most reigns in ECW history |
| ECW Tag Team Championship | 1 | With 2 Cold Scorpio |
| XPW King of the Deathmatch Championship | 1 | Defeated Supreme |
The ECW Logo
tags: #tyler #fullington #wrestler