The Sandman

Of the various icons of Extreme Championship Wrestling — Rob Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer, the Dudley Boyz, and even Paul Heyman himself — one of the most fun ...

In 2010, Sandman would return to the Impact Zone, first as part of the ECW reunion show Hardcore Justice before forming the ECW alumni faction EV 2.0, The year 2002 brought the birth of a new promotion, TNA — later known as Impact Wrestling — with Sandman showing up in the promotion the following year. After taking part in both iterations of the One Night Stand pay-per-views, Sandman became part of WWE’s revived ECW brand with its 2006 premiere, eventually forming a stable of ECW Originals to feud with the younger wrestlers, who were aligned as the New Breed faction. [Raven](https://www.thesportster.com/raven-wrestler-trivia-career-wwe-ecw-wcw-tna/), the grungy cult leader who went down as one of the promotion’s best heels. There, Sandman won the ECW Championship for the fifth and final time when he defeated Justin Credible and the previous champion Steve Corino, with Rhino [then beating Sandman](https://www.wwe.com/videos/sandman-vs-rhyno-guilty-as-charged-2001-ecw-championship-match) for the belt in a previously unscheduled match to close out the show. Upon debuting, he got into a rivalry with fellow ECW alum Bam Bam Bigelow, losing to the big man on an early February episode of Nitro. As fans know, the Sandman’s signature weapon was the kendo stick, referred to as a Singapore Cane in ECW, but fans might not be aware that the moniker was an extremely topical reference at the time. On top of the personal element, Sandman and Raven would also fight over the ECW Championship, trading it on a number of occasions. It wouldn’t be until 1994 that Sandman would really start to resemble the one that fans know and love, with ECW founder Tod Gordon reportedly encouraging Sandman to bring more of himself into the character. A beer-drinking lowlife armed with a Singapore Cane who chain smoked to the ring, the Sandman was ridiculously over with fans, regardless of the fact that he was never considered the promotion’s best in-ring performer. Soon enough, Peaches would become part of Sandman’s angles, turning on her husband to side with his tag team partner turned rival, Tommy Cairo while Sandman got a new manager in Let’s take a look at what fans should know about the Sandman, from his early days to his stints in WCW, WWE, and Impact.

ECW legend The Sandman spent some time in WCW as Hardcore Hak, and he's now revealed booking plans to originally have him join a famous faction.

The Sandman's WCW run was almost very different. After a storied time in ECW, The Sandman signed with WCW in September 1998, eventually debuting as Hak.

Appearing recently in a virtual Captain's Corner signing, The Sandman shared an anecdote about his earlier years with WCW and what had been planned for him ...