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 (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. 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. 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 (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. 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 (as per the match's rules) 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. 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 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 . 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. during
ECW's return in June 2006 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. On June 17, 2007, Sandman was drafted to the Raw brand via the
WWE Supplemental Draft. On the June 18 edition of
Raw, Sandman debuted, going after
Carlito with his Singapore cane. On the July 2 edition of
Raw, Sandman had his first match on Raw, facing Carlito. Carlito won the match due to a disqualification when Sandman struck him with his cane after Carlito tried to use it on him. This started a feud between the two. Sandman did a similar thing next week when he lost to
William Regal by disqualification, after hitting Regal and Carlito with his cane. The next week, Sandman faced Carlito again, this time winning when Regal attacked him. The Sandman was saved when
Jim Duggan (who had a confrontation with Regal earlier that night) came down to the ring. At
The Great American Bash he lost to Carlito in a
Singapore Cane on a Pole match. The Sandman lost in a battle royal to determine the new
General Manager of
Raw where he was the last one eliminated by Regal who had faked an injury and was not in the match until Sandman was the only superstar in the ring; Regal then won after he snuck up on The Sandman and hit him in the back of the head with his boot. His last match was on the September 10 edition of
Raw against
Santino Marella which he won by disqualification. Fullington appeared to injure his ankle during a missed spot in this match and was released from his WWE contract on September 12, 2007.
Independent circuit (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. Fullington made appearances with the
Shane Douglas promotion
Extreme Rising. Fullington's appearances mainly centered around him doing entrances to his theme music and performing "saves" for other wrestlers by caning their opponents. On February 2, 2013, Fullington made an appearance for WWC where he competed in a 4-way match for the #1 contender at the Puerto Rican title the match was won by Apolo. On June 21, 2013, Fullington competed for Family Wrestling Entertainment where he competed in a battle royal that was won by Tommy Dreamer. On February 8, 2014, Fullington teamed with his son Tyler Fullington to defeat Riley and Pete Lombardo. On October 25, 2014, Fullington and Tommy Dreamer defeated Damien Darling and Danny Demanto. On July 2, 2016, Sandman lost a cage match to Sabu, in a match where Bill Alfonso was the referee. In March 2017 he teamed with
New Jack and
Justin Credible in a winning effort at an ECPW show. On February 1, 2026, it was announced that Sandman would have his final match at
Game Changer Wrestling's Collective during
Joey Janela's Spring Break X on April 17, 2026 at
Horseshoe Las Vegas in
Paradise, Nevada. 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==