This week’s episode of Dark Side of the Ring was focused on Sandman’s career. Now by the time ECW was closed due to bankruptcy, I was not even born yet. However, as a standard wrestling fan, we all know how crazy ECW was in the ‘90s and all of the extreme things all of the wrestlers on the roster did. So, compared to all of the other episodes this season, how did this one compare? Let’s find out!
Sandman (real name Jim Fullington) started watching wrestling on Saturday afternoons watching WWWF and he knew that all he wanted to do was be a professional wrestler. In his adult life he went on to become a Chippendales dancer, after meeting a producer at a nightclub. He quit that gig when he was busted for solicitation. Soon, he met Peaches who he would not only go to manage Sandman, but also he’d marry (and then divorce) in real life. Sandman then found a wrestling school to train at as he began to pursue his dream of becoming a professional wrestler.
His first character would be a surfer character who would come out with a surfboard and sunglasses, while Peaches accompanied him to the ring. Although he was given a bad gimmick in the beginning, he was impressing a lot of people with his in-ring ability. His home promotion was Eastern Championship Wrestling. WWE Hall of Famer, Paul Heyman arrived there and was put in charge of creative, eventually changing the name to Extreme Championship Wrestling. One day Sandman forgot his wrestling boots and Heyman said he did not care, a lightbulb went off in his head and he came out in the clothes he wore to the building and there The Sandman gimmick was born.
The one thing that everyone loved about ECW was that all of the wrestlers were allowed to be themselves in and out of the ring and they did not have to fake a persona like other companies at the time. People were able to relate to Sandman which helped him get his new character over with the fans. Even though by the time he would be drunk after drinking five beers in his entrance people trusted him to be safe in the ring. The Singapore cane became a part of the gimmick after an American was arrested in Singapore and then caned as punishment. Heyman added it to the Sandman gimmick and the rest became history. As ECW became more popular, Sandman began spending less and less time at home and more time in the ring focusing on his career. This was until a storyline began with Raven bringing his real-life son to the show and blurring the lines between fake and reality.
At first, the storyline starts with Peaches being aligned with Raven. Heyman thought it was a good idea to have Tyler, Sandman’s real-life son, be involved in the feud as well. Wrestlers had to coach Tyler on what to do since he was only five years old and that is what made the storyline so great he played the part he needed to play. Tyler in his first promo told Sandman that he was a drunk and he worshiped Raven which led the crowd to be quiet and fully invested in the storyline. Since wrestlers did not break kayfabe at that point Peaches and Sandman had to travel separately and could barely interact in real-world settings so they could not ruin the storyline. The next part of the storyline was putting Sandman on the cross, which got mixed reactions from the loyal ECW crowd. Although the loyal ECW fans loved it, some others did not like the idea of ECW taking things to a much more serious level.
Kurt Angle who was in the process of signing with ECW was in the building when this segment took place. He said that if they aired this show with Angle on it he was going to sue Heyman, so the following week Raven came out and apologized to everyone he offended with the segment. With the intense style of wrestling that was happening every week, Sandman was becoming more injury-prone. There was one point where he had a concussion and he was not able to remember anything that happened that night on the show that scared Peaches and she tried to talk him out of wrestling. Since he was in an insane amount of pain he started taking painkillers and he started becoming more addicted as the pain was becoming worse. Sandman began experimenting on more drugs as the weeks went on. One week Sandman put a needle in his arm and his lips turned blue and he was not breathing properly Raven and Bill Alfonso quickly realized Sandman was dying.
After going to the hospital he woke up in the early morning, left the hospital and showed up to the show the next day to wrestle. When Peaches was looking at her mail she saw the bill for the hospital visit he had and she became mad that he did not tell him. At this point, a lot of the wrestlers were going to different companies to get more opportunities. Sandman decided to make the jump to WCW. He started doing steroids to become bigger to fit in with all of the wrestlers in the company. However, the steroids were making Sandman aggressive and abusive and he began hurting his wife. After pouring beer on his wife she poured out $10,000 worth of steroids as retribution for what he was doing to her. After all of the abuse, she and the kids left Sandman and they began to start a new life without him in it.
Sandman spent a brief time in WCW as “Hardcore Hak” but would return to the company in 1999 and remained there until it closed in 2001. After a brief run in TNA, he made his way to WWE. First, at ECW One Night Stand, then signing a full-time contract with the company. Although it was brief, he was able to be in the WWE and accomplish his dream. Sandman however still struggled with addiction as he was arrested in upstate New York for getting into a fight with someone. His kids were able to get his bail for $10,000 and send him home. Looking back now he realizes what he has done wrong as he tries to make right a lot of the things that he has done wrong in the past.
Overall: Like most of the episodes this season, I feel as if this did not deserve the episode of “Dark Side”. I felt as if this did a great job documenting the highs and lows of his career, but nothing was shocking or that different from a lot of the other ECW Wrestlers at the time. Especially since Sandman is still alive and is getting better by the day. However, Sandman is one of the most iconic wrestlers in ECW history and this was a great way to showcase his success in the company.
