The Sandman

Professional wrestling career

Early career (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)

In April 1992 he arrived in Eastern Championship Wrestling (later renamed Extreme Championship Wrestling) as a crowd favorite. His gimmick was a surfer carrying 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 (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.

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.

World Championship Wrestling (1993, 1998–1999)

Sandman made an appearance in July 1993 where he defeated JT Smith at a house show.

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 first appeared in vignettes promoting Raven as a spoiled rich kid and Fullington as his preppy neighbor. The original plan to debut under this gimmick were scrapped. 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. A few weeks later, Turner Standards & Practices became aware of Chastity's participation in a hardcore pornographic movie. She was immediately removed from television with no explanation and her contract was terminated. His presence also helped to bolster WCW's fledgling hardcore division. 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. 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 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. 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 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.

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

The Sandman made his surprise debut in NWA Total Nonstop Action on February 12, 2003, where he was defeated by Raven in a falls count anywhere match. a week later on February 19 Sandman and Steve Corino faced Raven and Low Ki in a losing effort, on February 26 NWA/TNA Weekly PPV, Sandman lost to A.J. Styles after Raven hit Sandman with a steel chair. After several matches in the promotion, in June 2003 Sandman competed in a TNA Hard 10, a tournament to proclaim the most hardcore wrestler in the company. Sandman defeated Devon Storm in the Quarterfinals, Sonny Siaki in the semifinals and New Jack in the finals to win the tournament. On July 9, Sandman accepted the Hard 10 Cup, and was attacked by Don Callous and 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 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. 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. Sandman no-showed a TNA Impact! taping on August 23 and parted ways with the company.

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. 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 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 Dreamer to face The Dudley Boyz. The match saw Sandman and Dreamer lose to the Dudleys after Dreamer was powerbombed through a flaming table. 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.

On June 13, 2006, WWE officially relaunched ECW as a 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 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 WWE and soon after Rob Van Dam left to take a sabbatical from wrestling, leaving Sandman and Dreamer alone to feud with the New Breed. Sandman and Dreamer teamed up with CM Punk on multiple occasions, who was also feuding with the New Breed. On the June 4 episode of ECW, Sandman, Dreamer, and Balls Mahoney lost to Bobby Lashley in a hardcore three-on-one handicap match.

Later career (2007–2026)

The Sandman appeared at IWA Mid-South's Ian Rotten Retirement Show in Plainfield, Indiana, on December 7, 2007, in a losing effort to Drake Younger. The next night, in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, at the International Wrestling Cartel's A Call To Arms 4: Controlled Chaos, Sandman defeated Dennis Gregory in a steel cage match to capture the IWC Heavyweight Championship. The next night after that, he competed at the debut show for Firestorm Pro Wrestling, Destroy Erase Improve, in a match against Samoa Joe which he lost. On January 3, 2008, at the All Entertainment Action Wrestling event Crucifix Bombardment 2008 Sandman defeated 'The Raging Rhino' Hans Wilkshire in a Hardcore Match to win the vacant AEAW American Heavyweight Championship and the AEAW Hardcore Wrestling Championship. On April 19, 2008, he appeared on 1PW's supershow, 'Know Your Enemy 2008', in a losing effort to Damned Nation in an 8-man tag team match, where he teamed up with El Ligero and 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.

The Sandman appeared at the Armageddon convention in Auckland, New Zealand, wrestling for Impact Pro Wrestling between October 25–27, 2008. He defeated Joseph Kinkade in his first match and The Machine in his second match, both with the White Russian Legsweep. He then teamed up with IPW New Zealand Heavyweight Championship holder "The Deal" Dal Knox in a tag match against Kinkade and The Machine, which saw Knox take the win with a Knox Out on Kinkade. Sandman appeared at the Lonestar Bar & Grill in Temple, Texas, on July 13, 2009, wrestling for New School Federation. He was in a Tag Team match with the at the time NSF champion Ryan Genesis against the tag team of The Fringe Connection (Myke Fyre and Caribbean Tiger) in a NO-DQ match. Genesis scored the pinfall with the help of Sandman armed with a Singapore cane. On August 1, Fullington made an appearance at the Morecambe Carlton for the promotion SPW. There he along with fellow ECW alumnus Little Guido teamed up to take on the team of EGO.

Cameo appearances for major companies (2018–2022)

In November 2018 Sandman lost to Silas Young on Ring of Honor (ROH) weekly television show. In February 2019, Sandman teamed with Tommy Dreamer to face Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Brian Pillman Jr. at Major League Wrestling (MLW). They lost the match after Dreamer was pinned.

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.

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.

On April 29, 2023 The Sandman made an appearance at Find Yourself Wrestling in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey where he successfully defeated The Dilf.

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, WWE 2K24 as downloadable content, and WWE 2K25.

Professional wrestling style and persona

Fullington's style of wrestling is hardcore. For most of his career he used a Singapore cane as a signature weapon. He came to use it on the suggestion of Paul Heyman, as the caning of Michael Fay in Singapore was a significant news story at the time. He is also known for his lengthy ring entrance where, to the sound of Metallica's "Enter Sandman", he would enter through the crowd, drinking beer as he went.

His finishing move is the White Russian legsweep. He will also use the Heinekenrana, Rolling Rock senton bomb and the DDT.

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.

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. He was at first denied bail on July 23, due to two previous convictions for burglary in 1983. His bail was later set at US$10,000. 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. 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

All Entertainment Action Wrestling

AEAW American Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

AEAW Hardcore Wrestling Championship (1 time)

DDT Pro-Wrestling

Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship (1 time)

Eastern Championship Wrestling / Extreme Championship Wrestling

ECW World Heavyweight Championship (5 times)1

ECW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with 2 Cold Scorpio

Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling

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

Future of Wrestling

FOW Hardcore Championship (1 time)

Hardcore Hall of Fame

Class of 2007

International Wrestling Cartel

IWC World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

PWI ranked him #60 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1995

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