Sandman retires?

[Mexican Geek]

so, (apparently) the time finally came. the Sandman is finally hanging the boots, hopefully for good.

Lately, the sandman just made a joke of himself. i think nothing is left from the Old Sandman who was cheered on the arenas and also I think this is a good call. i wonder if Tommy Dreamer will be his last opponent, as in the note on MySpace, it's stated that he will do a couple more dates and he has a long talk with Dreamer about retirement.

Sad day for the old hardcore fans of ECW, but it was bound to happen sooner rather than later. At least this is not a tragic note, if you know what I mean.

 

[Slyfox696]

How can a guy whose sole claim to fame was working in a small time bingo hall full of drugged out wrestlers while drinking beer and smoking on the job do anything to make a joke of themselves?

Simple fact. Sandman sucks. He always sucked. He has no wrestling ability. He was hype and a gimmick which appealed to testosterone driven fans who thought they were cool because they cheered small-time indy workers.

So he retired. Big deal. One less piss bucket wrestler in the world.

 

[BooCocky]

In all honesty why is it a sad day? the Sandman has done nothing memorable in professional wrestling. The man was nothing without a cane and a beer can, and a flashy entrance. He's never put on a good match, no one really cares about him except for the thousands of fans who watched ECW. Every match of his was the same, I get my butt kicked, hit em with a couple weapons and do the worst russian leg sweep i've ever seen. Tommy Dreamer should take notice and become the next one to hang up the old boots.

 

[Tim]

This is a sad day how? Sandman can't wrestle. Numerous people have mentioned it, even Mick foley mentioned it in the Hardcore Diaries. He hasn't been in a memorable moment, and he was not entertaining. He was just a guy who could drink a lot of beer and whack people with a cane. I could do that, and i'm 14. He has done nothing for the business and the only reason he was employed by the WWE i because he was part of the original ECW. He has offered nothing to anyone.

 

[Shua]

I think the only memorable thing about him, besides his entrance, is the Raven/Sandman storyline that ECW did, which involved Sandman's song.

Other than that, he's like a poor man's Steve Austin, and that's saying alot, given that Austin's gimmick was, more-or-less, "borrowed" from Sandman.

 

[Dead Kennedy]

Sandman was cool, if only for his entrance and random canings. Not a great wrestler, weird mic skills and little else. He was little but a jobber in the new ECW and it was not surprising in the least to see him get released. I hope he decides to spend the rest of his life doing whatever he wants, as long as it's within the law >.>

Bye bye Sandman.

 

[TheRealLionheart089]

I dont see how so many people liked Sandman to begin with. All he did was use his cane, drink beer, and do only a couple of moves (sloppy hurricanrana, TERRIBLE version of a Senton Bomb, sloppy ass russian leg sweep, and I think a DDT once or twice.)


I also find it weird that the "ECW Faithful" basically worship the Sandman,
yet boo John Cena "coz he only knowz 5 movez, and does da same shit in every match"

 

[justinsayne]

By no means am I saying Sandman was a good wrestler or had many memorable matches (if any), but they guy did have a cult fan following, so he must've something right, at least enough to get some people to not only like him but practically worship the ground they guy walked on, I have no idea what but the guy did have something that made SOME people like him, that being said, I honestly didn't even know the guy was still wrestling, I thought the dude retired years ago

 

[Hyorinmaru]

I loved the Original ECW so it's a little bit disapointing knowing everyone is going to forget another piece of ECW history, but in all honesty Sandman should have stopped long ago. He's been in the news getting arrested recently. Like AE said at least the man's not dead, but i can't see anyone caring that he's not going to wrestle anymore.

 

[Shocky]

It all comes down to niche programming, and the original ECW was a niche that fell right in my lap at the time, especially when it came to professional wrestling. I caught ECW for the first time in 1995, when I had all but forgotten the WWF and WCW, which both were atrocious. I've said it once, and I'll say it a thousand times more, 1995 was the worst year for professional wrestling, and nothing comes remotely close.

The Sandman was a staple of that tiny federation. Sure, he was terrible in the ring, and it's not even an argument against that. But he was fun. It was fun to watch a guy drink beer, bust himself open before the match, and smoke a cigarette. The Stairway to Heaven match with Sabu is one of the worst matches ever, but it's memorable. The guy had his chance with wCW and WWF, but it just didn't work. It'll be a quite retirement, but a much deserved one.

 

[CCS]

I never realy liked sandman. To me he was just always like a hobo version of Steve Austin. I actualy despised him when he was on RAW. He's just a guy with a singapore cane and a can of beer. He honestly looks like he should be in a mental institution. It's pretty bad when a supposed "Legend" goes to a car stereo store in Princeton WV , to sell autographs. (BTW , No one even showed up. So he just sat there for a few hours getting drunk) I will not miss the sandman.

 

[Father:_Polley]

Sandman looked like he was a heroin addict as opposed to a wrestler. All he was was a guy who had a singapore cane, and a can of beer which he hit himself with. Entertaining in ECW with its lack of rules and love of non-conformism, but outside in the real federations, well Sandman just looked out of his league with his inability to perform even the simplest of moves.

The ones he could do got a pop, but beyond his entrance and being crucified...what did he really do for wrestling?

Listens and hears crickets as no-one can think of anything

 

[RVDgurl]

Oh what a sad day it is... I do love the Sandman and I will miss him tremendously. Yes people, I realize the Sandman was not a great wrestler; in fact, I have on numerous occasions counted the actual wrestling moves he used in a given match- usually not totalling more than 3. But let's be real kids, who watches the Sandman for great technical wrestling? He does deserve alot of creative credit as he was involved in 2 of the greatest wrestling angles ever with Dreamer and Raven respectively.

It comes down to this: The Sandman was entertaining as hell. From his 5 minute ring entrance to getting naked in the ring, this guy never failed to bring a smile to my face.
Thank you for the memories, Hakky- you cane swingin', beer swillin', loud mouth son of a bitch.