Early career (1977–1984) James Hines started wrestling as a 16-year-old, under the name Bobby Fulton. His first match was on June 17, 1977, in Clarksburg, West Virginia, in which he defeated Mad Dog Michaels by disqualification. In the main event of that same card, he lost a battle royal. He spent his early career in Ohio, training and wrestling with the likes of
Lord Zoltan,
Fred Curry,
Bull Curry and
Dr. Jerry Graham. He worked for the
WWWF on the Allentown and Hamburg television tapings where he faced
Steve Travis and Fred Curry. He worked for
Nick Gulas's
Nashville territory, where he paired up with
Eric Embry as the "brother" tag team of Bobby and Don Fulton. He then moved on to
Stu Hart's
Calgary territory working with the likes of
Bret Hart,
The Dynamite Kid,
The Cuban Assassin,
Bobby Bass,
Ross Hart,
Bruce Hart,
Giant Haystacks and
Davey Boy Smith. Then it was on to the short-lived Knoxville territory forming a tag team with
Terry Taylor called "The Fantastic Ones". After the territory closed, Hines and Taylor split up.
Fantastics (1984–2000) He then moved on to the
Jerry Jarrett's
Continental Wrestling Association territory, where he worked preliminary matches. He then went to
Southwest Championship Wrestling in San Antonio, Texas for
Joe Blanchard, battling
Adrian Street and Eric Embry in a series of scaffold matches. His new tag team partner
Tommy Rogers started for
Bill Watts'
Mid-South Wrestling. There the Fantastics (Fulton and Rogers) formed and feuded with the Midnight Express. In 1984, the team continued their feud with The
Midnight Express in
World Class Championship Wrestling that later extended into
Jim Crockett Promotions. In 1986, they had a feud with
The Sheepherders (who would become the "Bushwhackers"),
Butch Miller and
Luke Williams in the
Universal Wrestling Federation. In 1987, back in WCCW, they feuded with the
Rock 'n' Roll RPMs (
Mike Davis and
Tommy Lane). They won the feud by winning a scaffold match at the "
Parade of Champions" on May 3, 1987. The Fantastics also made an appearance at the
World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico. They next went to the
NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions to continue their feud with The Midnight Express and to win the NWA United States Tag Team Titles on two occasions. They also defeated
The Sheepherders to win the vacant
NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship. In 1989, they left and have been wrestling, sometimes together, sometimes not, in the independent circuit around the
United States, and in
All Japan Pro Wrestling. In 1990, he started his own territory in Ohio called James Hines presents Big Time Wrestling (which was a precursor to
Smoky Mountain Wrestling). The federation was based primarily in
Circleville, Ohio. Hines brought in talent like
Hacksaw Jim Duggan,
Ronnie Garvin,
Abdullah the Butcher,
Cactus Jack,
Wahoo McDaniel,
Jake Roberts, Beau James and many more to participate in regular cards held in Circleville at the Pickaway County Fairgrounds Coliseum. Hines was the Big Time Wrestling champion several times, and also often teamed with his brother,
Jackie Fulton, as the Fantastics, on these cards. These cards inspired wrestlers like
Shark Boy and many others to become pro wrestlers. Fulton and
Ivan Koloff ran a wrestling school in North Carolina in the early 1990s. The Fantastics (Bobby and Jackie Fulton) then made regular appearances in
All Japan and in Smoky Mountain Wrestling. The Fantastics made a brief appearance in the
WWF in June 1997 when Fulton wrestled Rogers in what was billed as a Light Heavyweight Match. According to Fulton, they were brought in at the request of
Jim Cornette to convince
Vince McMahon to start a light heavyweight division, which eventually started.
Later career (2000–2020) After 2000, Fulton started wrestling under a mask at various shows as the Sheik of Araby as a tribute to one of his idols the Original Sheik. Often he would taunt the crowd by threatening to raise gas prices. He worked with a lot of young new talent under this persona and helped them as they were breaking in. In October 2015, Fulton announced he will undergo a retirement tour called the "Fantastic Finale", which ended in 2017. On June 10, 2017, Fulton teamed up with "Big Time" Josh Lewis to win the
NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championships from The East and West Express in NWA Supreme. The East and West Express regained the championship on June 23, 2017. In March 2016, Hines started promoting events again under the banner World Classic Professional Big Time Wrestling, in which he had an ongoing rivalry with ECW original
Shane Douglas. Some of the stars who have appeared in WCPBTW include
Sting,
Tito Santana,
Ricky Morton,
Ronnie Garvin,
Cowboy Bob Orton,
Tony Atlas,
Kevin Sullivan,
J. J. Dillon,
Jimmy Valiant,
The Sandman,
Sabu,
The Barbarian,
Buff Bagwell,
Bobby Eaton,
The Honky Tonk Man,
Bushwhacker Luke,
Bill Dundee,
Tracy Smothers, and
Tommy Rich. Fulton wrestled his final match on December 14, 2019 at the independent show "Bobby Eaton: A Night of Appreciation," in an 8-man tag team match where he teamed with Brad Thomas, Ryan Dookie, and Shane Williams to defeat the team of Beau James,
Bill Dundee,
George South, and Stan Lee. On July 16, 2020, he announced his retirement but still wrestles from time to time for World Classic Professional Big Time Wrestling. ==Personal life==