The Sandman in Florida TV Taping
I've got an interesting piece of news on Sandman, which comes straight out of yesterday's ECW Pensacola, Florida House Show. The main event of the show was Steve Corino, Jack Victory, Scott Anton & Rhino vs. Raven, Sandman, Tommy Dreamer & Tajiri. Anyway, there wasn't a finish of the match simply because the venue and all the wrestlers involved were going absolutely berserk by the time the bell rung. You can credit Sandman for the crowd's rowdiness, as he actually came out [once his music hit] dead-drunk! During the whole entrance spiel, Sandman fell down the isle in a drunken stupor, causing Raven to laugh out of character making the crowd go nuts, and from there it got even crazier! Sandman takes the microphone and promises the crowd he'd flash them. Here's an eyewitness account from a fan... "...Sandman went through on his promise and not only mooned the crowd but flashed them as well! I still can't get over that he did it. Not that I was offended, but I hope it doesn't hurt their chances of coming back in the future. We left after that in fear we would see more of the Sandman than we wanted!..." Here's the whole catch of this story... Paul Heyman, despite your probable first thought, didn't get mad at Sandman for his action [or, at least not yet. However, Bayfront Auditorium, the place that the show took place, was apparently very upset by this, and reportedly, ECW won't be coming back to their place anymore. Also.. Main Event 3 Tajiri/Raven/Dreamer/Sandman d. Corino/Anton/Rhino/Victory. --Had some of the most F**ed UP sh** happen in this match. Corino et al, came out with the others and proposed a TNN deathmatch against anyone. Tajiri out first, then joined by Raven and Dreamer. People start cheering, knowing Sandman is coming. Sandman comes out, does his usual stuff. HOWEVER.... the match is not important. About three matches ago, people had seen the Sandman drinking outside. I mean, HEAVILY drinking. When he came out for his entrance, he nearly fell several times, and had to be helped up by the fans. After he got into the ring, Dreamer made a comment that they needed to get this shit over with, so that Sandman could go to the bar and get naked. Right after this happened, Sandman pulled his pants down and exposed himself a few times, before dreamer and raven got him to put his underwear back on. After pulling up his pants, Dreamer and Raven grabbed the ends of Corino's bull rope, and Sandman skipped rope a few times. However, it was clear that Sandman couldnt wrestle, as he almost fell on the stage as well... The match went on, and ECW won. Overall, it was a good show, had its good and bad moments. It looked like the place was going to riot near the end, as fans were pulling their chairs (which were locked to each other) up and out during the sandmans entrance, and the people behind us were getting pissed about the ones in the front row standing on their chairs (and they had already been in one fight). So, it became a very hostile enviroment pretty quick. I had hoped to see a Tajiri single match... but oh well, only on TV. -now as a consiquence...The Sandman is going to be fined a large sum of money, and suspended for his actions in the ring in Pensacola over the weekend, when he removed his clothing, and was blatantly drunk. ECW and Sandman are both aware what a huge mistake it was. ECW on TNN drew a .8 rating this weekend, despite being a heavily hyped show.