All language subtitles for Dark Side of the Ring - S05E09 - Enter Sandman Legacy of a Hardcore Icon

In the 1990s, extreme championship
wrestling was meaner,

more aggressive, and bloodier than
anything audiences had seen before, as

demands of the company's rabid fan base
led to a dangerous escalation of in

-ring violence.

What is this? These guys are crazy.

It felt so personal.

And I think that's why the fans are so
involved with it. People don't know if

was scripted or not.

And the more popular it got, the more
they had to top the last show.

An escalation embodied by the Sandman.

You know, got his jeans on, his t -shirt
on, his kendo stick, smoking a

cigarette, drinking a beer. Fans are
like, I could be this guy.

You might think it is because all you
see is a beer -drinking, cigarette

-smoking scumbag.

Sandman's character was as organic as it
could get.

There's not a whole lot of difference
between James Fullington and the

What can I do that somebody hasn't done?

I can make myself bleed before I get
into the ring.

Nobody else has done that.

Though a hardcore icon.

Countless injuries and a lawless locker
room create no shortage of

controversies, leaving the Sandman with
a brutal and complicated legacy.

Somebody has got to stop the Sandman!

Why fuck with what's going on in the
back?

There was the cookheads, there was the
potheads, there was the painkillers. We

got all the alcohol, drugs, pills that
you could possibly think of.

I don't know if he remembers even half
of the stuff that has ever happened.

I told my family, I said, tell them the
fucking worst.

People need to know this.

He should have been dead a long time
ago.

Let's talk about it for a second.

People who have never experienced it,
like, what is the same man's entrance?

So my music's playing.

Maybe some days it's 30 seconds, some
days it's a minute and a half. But at

one point, it's like, all right,
everybody should be clapping your hands

point. So when I come in, I don't want
everybody to see me at one time. I want,

like, some people to see me, and they'll
be like, oh, shit, he's over there. And

then it works its way around the
building, and it might take 10, 15

until everybody actually figures out
you're over here.

And then at that point, I got him. Then
it's time to pop a beer.

Back in the day, dude, I would drink
like six beers on the way to the ring.

Smash him against my head. I'd be bloody
before I even get into the ring.

I mean, that's his personality.

He's drinking beer, spitting it out.
He's pouring beer down your throat.

You feel like you're part of it, and you
are.

If you got a Sandman shirt on, you're
definitely getting a beer poured down

throat. You know what I'm saying?

That's the best part of the show.

Unless you're wrestling. If you're
wrestling, it sucks. You've got to wait

him to get to the ring. But if you're
watching, it's great, you know, because

gives the fans what they want.

He's one of them, you know.

It's a great entrance.

With those pants and put the do -rag on,
it's like the equivalent of, like,

getting up and putting a hat on and, you
know, going and doing your errands.

Except this guy was putting his shit on
and going out and entertaining hundreds

of thousands of people.

At this point, I'm having as much fun as
they're having, you know what I mean?

Because this is what I want to do. This
is what I worked my whole life to be in

this fucking moment right now, you know
what I mean?

I want that moment to last forever. You
know, I want to live in that moment.

It's a party. You know, his answer is
it's a party.

And, you know, once that's over, then,
you know, you got to see him wrestle.

Yo, I'm the Sandman. What the fuck up?

But do people call you Hack? Yeah, dude.
My parents call me Hack.

My kids call me Hack. My granddaughter
calls me Poppy Hack.

I've had that name since I was five
years old. My older brother gave it to

And so what's your introduction to
professional wrestling?

Oh, dude, it was like Saturday
afternoon.

I watched WWWF at one o 'clock on
Saturdays.

Dude, that's all I ever wanted to be was
a professional wrestler.

Let's stick with your upbringing here.
You started getting in some trouble with

the law a little bit? I was all coked up
and I was drunk and I burglarized the

house, which is basically the only real
crime crime that I ever did.

And my first day in jail, I punched a
guard in the face.

I got in a fight with a guy over the
television. I was watching something and

wanted to change it. And then we got in
a fight, two guards went to break it up.

He ducked, I punched a guard in the
face.

Broke his glasses. I was lucky I didn't
get charged with assault on a car. That

could have been a couple years, you know
what I mean? But I ended up literally

going to the hole for six months.

I'm glad it happened because, you know,
it's throwing a rock in a pond. But that

ripple's not there. Maybe this ripple's
not here.

It's just the stupid shit I walk into in
my life.

I get out of jail. It's like 84, and,
like, this new club opens up.

Dude, the place holds 2 ,000 people.
It's like five stories high.

It's like the greatest thing ever. So
Thursday night was $10 all you could

drink. So I'm out there. I'm on the
dance floor.

Some blonde comes up and starts dancing
with me, grabs me by my hand and starts

walking me across the dance floor. I'm
like, all right, where am I going to go

have sex with this chick? Because that's
exactly what I'm thinking.

We end up going up these stairs. We're
in this little freaking office. And I'm

like, well, how am I going to do this in
this little office?

She goes, take your shirt off.

I'm thinking, how am I going to screw
her? She goes, listen, I'm a producer

director for the Chippendales.

I want you to be a Chippendales.

I was one of those guys who wore the
black pants, tight pants, the cuffs and

collar, and I just entertained the
women.

I don't leave the club until 2 o 'clock
in the morning, you know. You're

snorting coke with the boys who's down
in the locker room because that's just

what you did back in them days.

You know what I mean? And then I go out
to the after -hours club, and then I go

to the club that opened up at 6 a .m.

It was just crazy, man.

And that was my job for the next year or
so. So I got fired for soliciting.

You got fired for what?

Soliciting. Because they weren't paying
a lot of money.

I had like four guys in on it with me.

So it was $100 to do us. There was the
Alpine Inn down the street. That was $42

.50. So it would cost you $100 for us,
$42 .50 for the Alpine Inn for however

long it took.

And that lasted for about six months
until, I don't know, just one day. There

was a couple state troopers. They're
like, listen, we can file some charges

you can quit and tell us who your boys
are. I said, well, I'm not telling you

who my boys are.

That's your job to figure that out. But
I'll quit. So I was done.

He was not the type that I would have
saw myself going for, really. He was

I don't know if you want to say
flamboyant, but something drew me to

And believe it or not, that night we sat
and talked, and he was just like, I

think I could love you.

Hey, I work quick.

Dude, that's kind of how I've been.

It's like I meet him, and then, like,
I'm in. I ended up actually, a few

later, finding out I was pregnant, and
he said he'd like to get married before

the child was born, so he wasn't born
out of wedlock.

Miss Pete!

My name is Lori Stralecki, a .k .a.
Peaches from ECW, and say a man's ex

He was in construction at the time, and
Joel Goodhart opened up a wrestling

school. I had to go check it out. And
then next thing you know, dude, like

days later, I gave the guy like $3 ,500.

Three months later, I was in the ring.

It's not going to be pretty.

There's going to be blood. There's going
to be broken bones, and it's me and

you. When I first saw him, it was
probably 1991.

He was a surfer. He had white stuff on
his nose. He wore a wetsuit, and he

carried a surfboard.

From South Beach, California.

This is the Sandman! My name's Sabu.
I've been wrestling over 30 years, and I

participated in ECW.

Oh, my God!

I remember him, and he came out with
Peaches, his wife. I met up with the

promoter, and he goes, I got your name.
You're going to be Mr. Sandman, and he

looks at my wife, and he goes, you're
going to be Peaches.

Peaches!

I used to wear this god -awful wetsuit
that smelled horrible.

I'm Kelly.

And the Sandman is my dad.

And he would come out with my mom, Miss
Peaches, and he would come out with his

stupid surfboard.

That was his very first gimmick. You
know, it started out doing, like, little

gymnasiums and, like, car dealerships.

But it was, like, just a fresh new
company. It was like everybody was just

getting their bearings, you know, or
feeling it out.

But he was consistent with it. It was
like his life's dream. It's my pleasure

for being here with all you people.

Because if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't
have been so.

The gimmick was bad.

His ability was not.

I mean, he was big.

He was good looking. Very bright.

Very athletic.

My name is Todd Gordon. I'm the creator
and the founder of Extreme Championship

Wrestling. Well, thank heaven. Here's
our commissioner. Here's Todd.

Sandman and I have been best friends
since we first met 30 years ago when I

started my own company, which was
Eastern Championship Wrestling at the

which became Extreme Championship
Wrestling.

Here's all my first grouping of people
to use.

I've had that belt. I've been there
before, and I'll be there again.

Sandman now on top of things.

Philadelphia's Eastern Championship
Wrestling was a struggling indie

until the arrival of Paul Heyman
transforms the company.

into extreme championship wrestling.

Paul Heyman was the right guy because he
had a great mind for the business.

How to be a world breaker, 101.

Dude, he's the greatest mind ever in the
history of professional wrestling.

Creatively, nobody could touch Paul
Heyman and come anywhere close to that

I would not be sitting here right now if
it wasn't for Paul Heyman giving me the

ball and letting me run.

First night, I go in there. He sees me
at the surfboard. He goes, that's

broken over your head tonight.

And then the next thing you know, I
forgot my wrestling boots.

I'm like, Paul, I'm sorry, dude. I
forgot my wrestling boots. He goes, I

give a fuck.

I'm like.

I don't have to wear wrestling shoes no
more.

Dude, it was a fucking light bulb going
off in my head when Paul Heyman says,

give a fuck if they're wearing wrestling
boots.

I'm like, boom, I'm not even going to
change. I'm going to wear the clothes.

I'm going to show up to the arena. And,
dude, I'm going to be me.

I'm just going to fucking be me out
there.

And it got to that, it was at that
point, I'm like, you're never going to

able to walk through this curtain again.

Like, you literally cannot enter the
ring like a normal wrestler ever again,

because this is what's expected of you.

Upon Paul Heyman's arrival, the Sandman
drops his surfer look, changing with the

times to reinvent himself with a whole
new persona.

Well, the good time's over. Here comes
the Sandman.

I'm the guy that's in the bar, loses a
game of pool, and once again, I don't

fight with you. That was me in my life,
dude. That was my regular Friday and

Saturday night.

You know what I mean? Like, I was a
gimmick by myself. I was born as a

We got to be ourselves in the dressing
room and ourselves in the ring. The

beauty of Paul's intelligence is he
makes you figure it out.

The trial and error.

That's how he became the Sandman.

Hey, Daddy.

My name is Bill Fonzie Alfonso, and I am
a 40 -year -plus veteran of

sports entertainment.

He's a winner!

He's a winner! Fuck you, Alfonso! He
would put things together in his head

he thought would work in ECW, and they
did.

Life's a bitch.

And then you marry one.

He's the typical Philly guy. Like, you
go to a bar, you get in a brawl, you

know, here's the dude.

He was a relatable character.

People could kind of identify with that
South Philly vibe.

He was your buddy who would come off the
couch and just step into the ring and

swing a cane and drink a beer.

My name is Raven, professional wrestling
superstar.

But you already know that.

For the first time ever, Raven.

You know, every fan says, oh, I would
get in the ring.

But he's the guy that actually goes and
does it. Part of being a good worker is

knowing how to get your character over
and how to keep your character over.

And he's done that for, you know, 35
years now.

Is there trial and error when you're
coming up with stuff?

Well, yeah, and like coming through the
crowd.

I think I came through the crowd because
me and Missy were coming through the

crowd.

Dude.

Me and Missy.

We're in fucking Queens.

And there's a strip club.

Me and Missy are over in the strip club
and my music's playing. It's already

played once this whole time.

So I wasn't going fucking up through the
back and doing that. I just went

through the front fucking door.

Boom. Light bulb.

Nobody's come through the crowd before.

Just drinking his beer.

Walking through the audience, meanwhile,
he's drunk off his ass by then.

And he's drinking five on the way to the
ring.

We trusted him because we knew he was
able to do it.

My name is RVD. That stands for Rob Van
Dam.

You know, he proved himself that he was
able to wrestle when he was

drunk. Watching him, I would get nervous
with his...

freaking ass climbing up on the top
rope. And I'm like, is he really going

attempt this aerial maneuver right now?

I know I can trust him. Drunk. Anybody
drunk? No.

Sandman, yes.

Anybody else? I wouldn't allow it
either.

Sandman, you're not drunk.

I'm not wrestling you.

So how did the Singapore cane come to
be? So it's a Sunday.

Paul's like, let's go outside, and we're
standing next to this fucking tree.

Paul goes, you know that kid overseas
that got caught spray baiting the car?

I'm like, yeah, the kid Michael Fay. He
goes, good, you know what I'm talking

about. Singapore had sentenced an 18
-year -old American to six strokes with

bamboo cane.

And I said, yeah, dude, you ever see
that fucking cane that they use? Every

they hit you with, it makes you bleed.

He goes, you're going to start carrying
a Singapore cane to the ring.

I'm like, Paul, okay, what am I going to
use? He goes, rips a branch off the

fucking tree, rips all the little other
branches off, and says, get some tape

wrapping around there, and that's going
to be your Singapore caning. I want you

to cut a promo with it. The first ever
Singapore caning match.

May 14th, Saturday night, ECW.

And now, it's the Sandman caning,
Ironman Tommy Cairo.

Did you hear that? And then the angle
with Dreamer.

What happened there?

What, the ten lashes?

I can't look.

It skyrocketed both of our careers.

He got his ass kicked, but he took it
like a man. And Philly loves that. Thank

you, sir.

May I have another?

It's hardcore because it's real.

And to me, you're pulling something out
of the inside of somebody that they're

feeling somehow what you're doing in the
ring.

Hardcore isn't violence to do violence.

To me, like the hardcore is violence for
a reason. And then it just means more

people and you can see it in their
faces. Then you see how they react.

Sandman wasn't a wrestler.

He was a entertainer. That's what ECW
was about.

Wrestling is entertainment. You don't
have to do a wrist lock, a wrist watch,

moonsault to get over it. It doesn't
have to be wrestling.

I am getting ready to take you to a new
level of extreme.

He got better and better and knew how to
play the Sandman, and he was just

acting this part out.

Everybody was kind of riding that high.
Everyone was like, man, like, they made

it. We're in this very concentrated
community, and everybody knew who he

He was dropping me off at school, and
he's got gas marks on his head from,

the beer can.

And my teacher's like, Tyler, are you
all right?

I'm Tyler Fullington, and the Sandman is
my father.

Every time he was home, you know, he
made sure to spend time with us because

knew he would be on the road, you know,
a lot and be away. And he wanted to make

sure that his kids were having a time
when he was home, you know, hurting or

not. He would just roll out of bed,
throw his pants on, and like, let's

Literally, he would say, let's roll.

The older and older I got, I felt, I
think it's cool and all, but at times

rather just have my dad around.

Sandman's schedule becomes even more
punishing as ECW explodes in popularity

constantly pushing their own limits.

Paul's show was aimed at adults.

And so storylines were adult.

Just thought, like, this is, like, the
furthest thing

from pro wrestling. But Paul would guide
us the way that ECW Energy needed to

be. Well, I had Nancy with me, too, so
that helps. Why, thank you, Sandman.

And that's just the beginning.

I've been known to enhance a few
careers.

She was so smart. I would be like, yeah,
I want to do it this way. She goes, no,

we're not doing it that way. We're doing
it this way. I'm like, all right.

And so if something happens outside of
the wrestling world, they're

going to go with it. And the fans are
going to know about it anyway because

were all what we called the smart fans
or the smarts.

I walk into the building and Paul Heyman
goes to me, I've been talking to

Macaulay Culkin.

This is what we're going to do. We're
going to bring him in as your kid.

I'm like, dude, I have a Macaulay Culkin
sitting right out in my van. He goes,

great, we'll use Tyler.

That's just one of Paul's lies. I have
no connection to Macaulay Culkin at all.

That's a lie?

Yeah.

Everybody thinks it's real. Of course
they do. He could sell you snowballs in

winter, trust me.

Yeah, I was about six years old.

My mom, dad.

Came up to me, how would you like to be
part of the show?

I'm like, I guess. What am I going to
do? I just remember he takes my wife,

then he takes my kid, and we're off to
the races.

The Sandman's wife, Lori, has long been
an ECW fixture as part of her husband's

storylines, and now takes center stage
in his latest feud with Raven.

You took my child.

Tonight, I'm going to take you, Raven,
to the extreme.

But bringing his son Tyler into the mix
is something the wrestling world hasn't

seen and wouldn't expect.

Oh, dear Lord.

I don't even know how it all began.

Inside this woman's body began the
constant evolution.

Of the Sandman's successor.

Sandman in my feud, I would say, is one
of the greatest feuds in history to

business, but I'm partial because I was
in the feud. But I really think that.

Everybody knows somebody who has a
marriage that ended in divorce where the

child is used as a prop to gain
concessions.

All the abuse, the suffering, the
emotional alienation that I took as a

now being inflicted upon your son,
Sandman.

And it's the most low -down, dirty, and
cruel thing you can do.

So I'm like, oh, this is great.

The big crux of it was that Raven and
Sandman had been feuding, and they

to take it to the next level. So Raven,
quote -unquote, stole Sandman's wife.

I've already pimped her out of the whole
locker room before!

But then he stole Sandman's son, Tyler,
which was really controversial because

we had a kid who was like five years old
in the ring.

Back singing now.

Here we are. He's got a little flannel
shirt on in.

And they just coached him in the back a
little bit, just what to say and, you

know. Don't you dare fucking smile out
there.

Nothing. I don't want any reaction from
you on anything.

This is where your face is.

What do you think about that, kid?

That's your face, and that's the way you
stay.

Look at him. There's the face right
there.

That's the face that I always told him
to have on.

I can close my eyes and see him dressed
like Raven.

It was crazy.

I was young and naive.

You know, me and my mom were coming down
the aisle. Raven's a bloody mess. He's

got barbed wire in his hair or something
like that. We just get in front.

Raven says, Tyler, tell them. Tyler,
tell them. Daddy, you're drunk.

Now I want your cravings.

I hit the line and you could hear like a
somberness like almost over the crowd.

Like, ooh, like that hurt.

It wasn't like a cheer. It wasn't like a
boo.

Like, it was like, oh, shit. Like, damn.

I worship Raven.

And the whole place was like, oh, my.

Quiet. And you don't hear that in the
arena.

If people ate it up, they were just
like, holy shit, you just hurt the

Like, Raven became the heel's heel.

You know, now you came in and you stole
his family.

That shit put ass in his feet.

Don't do this to me!

Tyler is an amazing actor.

Hey, you little bastard, why don't you
shut up? The Sandman's not even your

dad!

He never missed a cue. He never missed a
spot.

Shut up. Shut up, kid.

We'd be going and doing promos after the
show, and I'd be drunk, and I'd screw

up a promo, or I'd forget to give him
the line, and he would still hit the

anyway, exactly in the right spot. I
mean, he was amazing.

Hey, kid, you know the divorce was your
daddy's fault, don't you?

I know.

I think I know now more, like, looking
back on it, like, hey, those guys were

pretty fucking crazy, you know? But at
the time, I was just being a kid.

I don't even know if I was prepared for
it, and I'm like, oh, my God, this is

really happening.

And I'm thinking, this is going to turn
my life upside down, you know, because

everything had to be separate.

Travel separate, show up separate, leave
separate.

It was crazy.

We'd be leaving the arena, separate
cars, and you have a meeting spot.

You pull up to the gas station and kind
of look like anybody with an ECW shirt

on, like, all right, get out, switch
cars, get back in the car, you know,

like that.

You know, the marks, they're always out,
always looking for you. They know

exactly who you are, where you go, and
it's hard trying to keep that whole

storyline separate.

For as long as we did.

Me, my dad, my mom, Tyler, we did this
all together.

They might have been in the spotlight,
but we did this all together.

We're traveling to shows constantly
every week. You know, that was life.

Shit, there were times we'd be driving
around New York, and they would find

this, like, playground.

It's, like, 2 o 'clock in the morning.

We were in, like, bumfuck New York, and
it was pouring rain, and Raven was

saying, this is, like, the best weather
to, like, we gotta shoot this promo.

I am their salvation.

And at the very end, they cut to me, and
I just said, Quote to Raven, never

more.

Quote to Raven, never more.

I had one line, cut it, and I guess I
got to go back to sleep.

You see, I control the children.

I just think they got away with doing so
much that other companies didn't, and

they just really pushed.

They pushed every limit that they could.

This is just heartbreaking.

I couldn't do it mentally anymore, and I
didn't want my kids to be a part of it

anymore. Too much.

The Sandman and Raven storyline proves
to be a massive success for the company,

but their attempt to take it to the next
level could end up bringing ECW down.

The best way to describe Raven is he's a
martyr for society's dysfunction, and

he wants everyone to feel his pain.

So I came up with the idea of putting
Sandman up on a cross so he could feel

pain. So I'm like, I can't build a
cross. He goes, I'll build it, idiot

Dude, people don't realize that I used
to build shit, dude. That's what I was.

I was a roofer.

I was a concrete dude. I was a
carpenter.

So he built his own cross, and we had a
thorny crown. We had a barbed wire crown

to meet a thorny crown.

Oh, we made sure we got all the little
touches on it.

So we throw Sam right out to the floor,
me, Stevie, Naminie, and Nova, and we

start tying him to the cross.

We start hoisting it up.

And all of a sudden, the place goes, oh,
shit.

Putting my dad on a cross that's a holy
figure with barbed wire

wrapped around his head as if he's, you
know, this embodiment of Jesus Christ.

I wasn't raised very religious, clearly,
but somebody seeing that, I mean, I was

like, what the fuck is going to happen
now?

As the Sandman and Raven steal the ECW
spotlight, both are looking to shock the

audience, but neither man is prepared
for the backstage fallout.

I'm on the cross, and Stevie's like,
this is fucked up. I'm like, shut the

up. This is great, Stevie.

And then we get to the fucking back, and
I'm like, damn, that was fucking great,

guys. And Paulie's like, there's so much
heat on this. I'm like, why?

And then everything was great, except
fucking Kurt Angle happened to be in the

fucking building that night. You know,
he's just Olympian. This is his first

time being around pro wrestling and shit
like that. You have to understand, I'm

a Christian kid from Pittsburgh.

When I saw it, I was like, oh, my God,
it's a crucifixion. I was really upset,

and I went to Paul Heyman, and I said,
hey, you can't air this show with me on

it. If you do, you're going to hear it
from my attorney.

And Paul said, well, I didn't even know
what was going to happen. He's the

promoter. It's the main event.

He's full of shit.

That was my last straw.

Paul wants to get this Olympic fucking
champion to come work for fucking ECW.

You know what I mean? So Paul's kissing
his ass.

So they get fucking Raven to go out in
the park. I said, that's fucking

bullshit. I disagree.

Fuck all you dudes. And I just walked
away. And so for the people who I deeply

offended. I apologize.

Despite the controversy surrounding the
crucifixion angle, the scandal doesn't

slow the Sandman's momentum.

Dude, are you kidding me? Me and my man
Scorp, we have the tag team titles, I

have the heavyweight title, and he's got
the TV title. When you and your boy got

all the titles in the company, then you
know you're doing something right.

Despite the accolades and championships,
life on the road and ECW's hard

-hitting style... are taking a toll on
the Sandman's body.

Oh, my God!

A lot of injuries from that hard
-hitting style?

What, are you kidding me? I've broken,
like, 27 bones.

Yeah. Broken my neck, this clavicle
three times. I need a new hip. I need

shoulder surgeries. Dude, superplex off
the top rope is a 30 -mile -an -hour car

crash. Imagine doing 10 of them every
day of your life.

Forget it!

I got operated on. This leg is operated
on that morning. They shaved my meniscus

and flew back to Philly. I came into the
ring with, I had crutches. You know

what I'm saying? You love what you're
doing so much that you just don't care.

I actually was home one night and I got
a call from Todd and he said, Huck's got

a concussion and he can't remember.

And I was like, ah, that's a good one.
You guys just go have fun and stop

to goat me.

And he's like, I'm not kidding. He got
hit in the head and he doesn't remember

anything. He's like, I'm dead serious.

So I had gone down.

And sure enough, there he was.

Who won the match?

What did it look like? I said, I don't
know. I wasn't there. Who won the match?

It was relentless.

And then that was early on. And there
are countless times after that.

I was like, you can't keep doing this.
You're not going to be able to do things

with the kids.

You know, they just want to keep on
going. That's all they know.

You get hurt, you get hurt so bad.

Fuck it the fuck up.

He would never take a pill. And then it
just got to the point where you get in a

pain and, well, okay, couple.

It leads to a couple more, and your body
gets used to it, and a couple more.

And then you're drinking, and then
you've got to go to bed, so you're

Xanax. And then you've got to be up, so
you're doing cocaine.

It's a vicious cycle.

And once you get on it, it's very hard
to get off.

You know, I knew what was going on. I
knew what he kept in his fanny pack.

am I going to say? I'm a kid.

I don't know. I'm 12, 13 years old. I
don't know.

Xanaxes or, you know, a perk or
whatever.

At the time, like, pain meds. That's all
I know. And, you know, I've got to

trust them. Yeah, to help my back, help
my neck, you know.

All right, you got to do what you got to
do. You work 300 nights a year getting

body slammed, and you tell me what you
would do.

You know, as time went on, of course
they have the barbed wire, the chairs,

light bulbs, the tacks.

So a couple perks,

some somas.

And it took progress.

I used to joke back then, if you pass a
piss test, you can't work for us.

We all got high. We all partied. That's
what we did.

I remember my first bag of pills I
found.

I knew exactly what it was. I remember
my first bag of Coke that I found. First

line of Coke I found.

The older and older I got, he was taking
drugs and, you know, just going down

the wrong path.

We used to go on one month every Friday.

We'd have three doctors that we would go
see in Philadelphia.

All three doctors will give us 90
OxyContin 80s. So you're getting

270 OxyContin 80s. You're getting 300
Percocets. You're

getting 300 Somans.

And everybody would come out, we would
call it, oh, we would get our booty.

There was a lot of drugs that went
around the dressing room. I remember one

I had a friend that had brought me some
mushrooms, and I was looking forward to

trying them after my match.

Came for them later, and my bag was
empty.

And I was like, man, who ate my
mushrooms?

And Sandman was like, oh, were those
yours?

And he ate the whole bag.

He should be dead.

Sandman should be dead.

Raven, Sandman, and I was driving in a
car. We're going 200 miles.

Raven had got hurt like the week before.

He had a ruptured disc sticking out, so
they gave him this highly addictive

narcotic. So we have to stop at a gas
station so I can go to the bathroom and

I can shoot up because I got to get my
dose in. I had never shot anything

before, but I'd seen TV shows and shit
like that.

I'm like, dude, what are you doing? He's
like, I'm shooting an 80.

He goes, it's really good. I'm like,
well, damn, I want to try.

I'm in.

You know, because I'm a druggie.

So I go to shoot a whole 80. He goes,
dude, do not shoot a whole 80.

You do not want to. I'm like, I still
have five of these things a day. I could

shoot an 80.

So he shoots up the same amount, too.

And we get back in the SUV, and we start
driving.

That man starts going like, he can't
breathe right. I said, Raven, that man's

having trouble breathing.

He said, oh, he'll be all right.

About five minutes later, I said, Hey,
Daddy, his lips are turning blue.

We're like, what?

He's like, his lips are turning blue.

We're like, holy shit, he's ODing.

Now we got a problem.

He's dying.

The Sandman's reckless nature and
persistent drug use have landed him on

brink of death.

Thank God they stopped. They called the
ambulance. The ambulance came.

Adrenaline, child needle.

They take me to the hospital. I wake up
at like 4 in the morning.

I rip the shit out of my arms, grab my
shit out of the hospital, fucking went

into the hotel, fell asleep, got up and
went to the show the next day and shot

an Oxycontin -80 and loved it. I liked
it so much, I'm like, dude, I can't do

this again. I'll end up fucking really
actually being dead.

Never did it again.

I found bills in my mail that show that
he...

was resuscitated from shooting up and
flatlining, and he never told me.

I wasn't telling her. Oh, yeah, hello,
dude, fucking on the road last week. My

mother died.

Yeah, I'm not coming home with that
story fucking Sunday afternoon.

As the Sandman struggles with his
personal issues, ECW experiences a

its top stars leave for bigger, more
mainstream promotions.

Towards the end of ECW, WCW and WWF was
picking our talent. They would leave

us and go to WWF, so...

Sandman got one of those offers to go to
WCW and make five times the money he

was making in ECW. So why wouldn't he?
And all the guys up there were huge, big

monster guys.

And Sandman was a big tall kid, but not
big muscle bound.

But he wanted to get big. But remember,
he didn't work out. He didn't go to the

gym at all. So he ordered all kind of...

steroids, call it the gas.

That's the six months that I was doing
the juice, the steroids, and the growth

hormone. And the only reason why I did
it was because I was going to WCW, and

that was the land of the freaking
giants.

What was funny about when Sam and I went
to WCW was he got jacked, like for the

first time ever.

Of course, we had access to the best gas
on the planet.

Germany or whatever, the latest shit
that makes you big.

So he was on it, and it affects your
thought. It makes you mean sometimes. It

has an effect on your personality.

It turned my dad into an abusive,
harmful individual.

And my mom turned into this almost
subservient, meek woman for a little

Breaking point for me was the abuse.

So your dad was actually, like, getting
physically abusive?

Yeah.

My hair pulled.

I had a pillow put over my face.

Not just physically abused, but mental
abuse.

You're stupid.

You know, a bunch of that. And sometimes
the mental stuff was harder than the

physical.

We were at his house, and we were at the
table, and he's being a dick to his

wife. And he poured a beer on her head.

And he wouldn't have done it unless he
was...

I don't care, you know, because it made
him angry. Like, he was just...

Angry. It hurt.

As much as I loved him, I hated his
guts.

You know, because it was difficult. It
was extremely difficult to see my mom go

through what she had to go through. And,
like, you love us so much, how could

you treat somebody you love like that?

He's your parent, and you know it's not
right, but you don't know how to help.

You know, you don't know what to do.

It got harder and harder to, you know,
trust him and, you know, want to be

around him.

I put fucking Lori through hell.

Now I understand, like, her perspective,
you know what I mean? And it was all

me. If I could have had my shit
together, then maybe me and her would

together. Who knows?

All I can say is I stayed in too long,
and there's always

help to guide you to where you need to
be.

My mom took her a while, but she made a
decision.

And she decided that this is not how she
wants to live her life anymore. She's

got three kids.

Well, it was all my fault.

And I know it. She was like an angel.

I was like the devil reincarnated for a
little while.

Maybe for a long while.

In 2001, ECW closes its doors, and two
years later, its assets are sold to

McMahon's WWE, giving the Sandman one
last shot in the spotlight as the brand

relaunched. What's that smell?

Sandman's character was kind of watered
down, you know, no cigarette smoking, no

beer. Drinking on the job?

What the hell is that?

Society had changed.

And so he wasn't used as well as he
could have been. That's not the ECW that

know. That's not the ECW that the fans
know. A lot of the original ECW fans

to forget about that time.

Sandman's time in the WWE is brief and
unremarkable.

And though his wrestling career is
largely over, his troubles with

continue. I got a phone call.

Dad just got arrested.

He's going to jail.

Like, I was at work. I'm like, for what?

So me and my brother packed our shit,
drove up to New York.

How am I going to find a freaking
lawyer? I don't even know what he did.

Like, I'm in Yonkers, New York. I'd
watched him wrestle for how many years?

Walked into this courtroom looking like
he just got put through a washing

machine. He, like, physically looked
hurt. And I was just like, what

30 Long Island ACTs, that's what
happened.

All right, everybody here is thinking,
you know what, this guy's drunk.

You're right.

Got in a fight with the owner or
something. He threw a bottle at me, hit

the head. I chased him into the kitchen,
broke a bunch of shit in the kitchen,

and then the SWAT team came in, took me
away.

Basically had to go through the court
system. They finally set his bail.

I remember calling this back, and I'm
like, listen, I need you to authorize a

$10 ,000 from ATM.

And just, like, well, there's only going
to be, like, a $2 ,000 limit for each

ATM. And that's just the ATM itself.
Like, they're only allowed to take so

Here I am bouncing around until I got to
10 grand.

So I would be on the phone with them at
an ATM.

Because, you know, you see these kids
getting money out of an ATM.

They're going to rob you.

Finally, we were able to give them bail
about, like, 3, 4, something in the

morning. I remember walking into this,
like, huge prison and, like, giving them

this. money and like outcomes my dad and
i was like get the fuck in the fucking

car we're fucking going home i can't
believe i'm like of course of course

this is my life no kid should have to do
that it was your life you lived it

but you just you don't know how horrible
it is until later or how horrible you

might have made it for other people that
you that you love

Deep down, he realizes he's done a lot
of bad and that maybe this

is his redemption.

I would like for him to accept what was,
accept what he has,

and move on from here. But I think it's
going to be kind of cleansing for

all of us and hopefully himself to let

it go.

I don't know. I'm an idiot. Dude, I've
been so self -sabotaging in my life.

like there's been a lot of just personal
destruction. And now it hits me a

little bit different because I'm older.

And you think about the stupid shit that
you've done. That kind of changes

everything. You know what I mean? So
there's a different perspective in my

now. I want them to realize no matter
how bad things were at times, including

family life.

That where he came from and what he did
was a lot of hard work and, you know,

accomplishment. Was it perfect by any
stretch of the imagination?

No. He's made a lot of mistakes and
nobody wanted to tell you. But he's self

-made and it's okay to say that. He
lived his life's dream.

There always has to be an end for
everyone. There always has to be an end

what you can do, and you've done it. A
lot of people can't say that they've

that. He can still be the Sandman. He
still is the Sandman. There never will

another Sandman. I really just wish that
he would understand that what happened

happened, and he can move forward.

Sandman is an icon, poster boy for
hardcore.

People loved Sandman.

I am the hardcore icon.

I mean, who else is going to drink beer,
smoke cigarettes, swing a cane, wear

sweatpants to the ring, T -shirt, and
get over?

What about Sandman?

What's his legacy?

First person to do a lot of shit.

You know, the first person to bleed
before he got in the ring. The first

to come out of the crowd, you know what
I mean? Smoke a cigarette.

I am the king of extreme!

Smoking, drinking, yeah.

Cool.

Wonder why I'm fucking fucked up in
that.