Tag: the sandman

Daily Update: Jacob Fatu, WWE Chile, The Sandman

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Daily Update

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Among the topics covered:

  • A look at the WWE releases, reasons, prospects for the future, who should AEW or TNA be interested in
  • Nick Khan speaks to WWE employees about Paul Levesque, WrestleMania, social media, Saudi Arabia and AI
  • WWE Backlash and AEW Double or Nothing updates, including interest levels for both shows
  • Stardom All-Star Grand Queendom show looked at
  • How the latest Nielsen ratings change affects pro wrestling and where it affects it the most
  • Dragon Gate has its annual big Nagoya show this week
  • A look at the career of Gran Markus Jr.
  • The most detailed look at the television ratings for pro wrestling and MMA programming this past week
  • The 70th anniversary of pro wrestling at Arena Mexico
  • Who is coming for Fantastica Mania Mexico
  • Big match planned for AAA television
  • Champion Carnival update
  • NOAH major show update
  • New Japan has Dontaku with Andrade and Will Ospreay this week
  • Wrestling Red Zone coverage
  • A look back at the original Tiger Mask and his influence on pro wrestling and MMA
  • Who are the most famous wrestler in the ten largest cities in the world, and top 50 cities in the world
  • Biggest moments in NCAA wrestling tournament history over the past 60 years
  • Former pro wrestling booker heading up a unique promotion
  • Updates on Real American Freestyle
  • More UFC stars coming to RAF
  • Advance ticket sales for all the major pro wrestling events over the next two months and the story that it tells
  • Two relatives of major pro wrestling stars signing with NFL teams
  • Remembeing David Allan Coe, the country singer of Great American Bash fame
  • Jimmy Valiant retires
  • Former WWE star says she’s making a comeback
  • Carlos Silva on why TNA won’t let its talent work with AEW talent and examining what he said
  • AEW May television schedule changes
  • WWE television schedule changes
  • Ronda Rousey wants to be a promoter
  • Puck breaks a notable story on Ari Emanuel and Vince McMahon
  • More on when the next lawsuit against WWE goes to court
  • More notes on TNA expanding domestic exposure
  • More on new WWE signings
  • NXT house show notes

This Week’s Back Issue

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Thursday Update

Jacob Fatu WWE Raw
Jacob Fatu confronts Roman Reigns on WWE Raw. (Image credit: WWE)

WWE

  • During an appearance on No-Contest Wrestling, Jacob Fatu cut a promo on fans who think he won’t defeat Roman Reigns at Backlash:
    • Let’s keep it 100. He just won it. This is the next PLE. So I can understand why people think, ‘Oh, well, he’s not going to lose. It’s just a match. He’s going to fall in line.’ Nah, that’s ass. All right. That’s ass
    • What y’all think? Y’all know the booking? What y’all think? ‘Oh, Roman Reigns, first title defense against Jacob. There’s no way Roman’s losing it.’ Man, that’s ass.
    • Because check this out, of course y’all going to be watching. Y’all going to be tapped in. So everybody else complaining online about this and that. Hey, hey, hey, I bet you will definitely buy that ESPN app. And I bet you going to be sitting there watching and enjoying the show and not saying a word during the match. So for everybody tapping in like that, come on. Man, come on with it.
  • Fatu added:
    • I can understand why people think I’m not going to win. First PLE, first title defense out of WrestleMania, there’s no way, right? Well, check this out – there was no way Jacob was supposed to be here. There was no way Jacob was supposed to be main event, PLE, Roman Reigns, right out of WrestleMania. But we’re here. And keep it 100. Like I said before, they ain’t never ran into nobody like me.
  • No-Contest Wrestling asked Fatu to name five wrestlers from WWE history that he would like to have main evented WrestleMania against:
    • Bron Breakker
    • Randy Savage
    • Jeff Hardy
    • Mr. Perfect
    • Brock Lesnar
  • Sami Zayn and Stephanie Vaquer called for WWE to change September’s house show in Chile into a PLE after tickets sold out quickly after going on sale.
  • Johnny Gargano announced that he and Candice LeRae’s dog Pawdme passed away after months of battling seizures:
    • I always made the joke that Pawdme’ was my first child. She prepared me for Quill. The real joke is that she’s actually way more high maintenance than her brother. She was SO good to him too. A true big sister. I’lll miss her sleeping between my legs. I’ll miss her zooming around the house with her rope. I’ll miss her sun bathing by the window of my gym.. I’m just really going to miss her. I just hope she knows we tried to give her the best life possible in the short time we had, and she will always hold an irreplaceable spot in our hearts. We love you forever, Tato. Thank you for choosing us to spend your life with.
  • The Miz promoted Backlash with appearances on ESPN’s Get Up, First Take, and The Rich Eisen Show.
  • Danhausen stormed into SportsCenter to help count down the top plays from the day.
  • Kevin Owens turns 42 years old today.
  • WWE Vault put together a video featuring rarely seen Championship Wrestling from Florida footage.

Other Wrestling

  • Actor Nick Offerman was the guest on a new episode of Talk is Jericho.
  • To prepare for his role on Apple TV’s “Margo’s Got Money Troubles,” Offerman – who didn’t know much about wrestling going in – read Bret Hart and Mick Foley’s autobiographies:
    • I was relatively ignorant. I knew the pop culture, the big stars of my youth, Hulk Hogan and Macho Man. My friend wrote a song about the Von Erichs. I knew bits and pieces, but I had no idea of the rich lore and just the culture, until I started researching for this job.
    • I read Bret Hart’s memoir and Mick Foley’s memoir, basically getting really into looking at all the different looks and gimmicks and characters that wrestlers have had over the years. It was a wonderful permission that Jinx’s [Offerman’s character] heyday was like 30 years ago, because that allowed us to be a lot more campy.
    • I have to say, it’s like getting cast as a linebacker or something. If you’re going to be out there actually representing and playing the sport, you got to respect it and treat it with absolute reverence, because I own a mirror, so I’ve never had a big enough ego to think that I can just ride it out on my personality alone.
  • On Insight with Chris Van Vliet, The Sandman was asked to encapsulate the career he’s had in the ring:
    • Too many drugs, honestly, too many drugs. A lot of smiles. I get a lot of fan mail and stuff at home. Just some of the things that people write to me and they tell me how I got them through a hard time in their life, or when their dad passed away, or something like that. Those are the times when it’s really, really worth it. I mean, it’s great when you’re living your life dream. When I was five years old, all I ever wanted to be was a pro wrestler. That’s it. Not a cop, fireman, doctor. All I ever wanted to be was a pro wrestler, so I got to live my life and make decent money out of it and make people really happy. You know, when you get some people come up to you and they’re like, ‘Oh my God, you’re the greatest thing ever.’ That just gives you goose bumps. That’s cool sh*t.
  • Inside the NBA did a segment last night remembering Ted Turner.
  • AEW wished Will Ospreay (33) and Angelico (39) happy birthday.

The Sandman wrestles his final match at GCW Joey Janela’s Spring Break X

Posted on by Ian Carey

The Sandman’s in-ring career is over.

It came to an end at GCW Joey Janela’s Spring Break X, where he lost to The Invisible Man.

Bill Alphonso served as manager for Sandman’s invisible opponent. The match also featured run-ins and interference from Missy Hyatt, Richard Holliday, JCW’s Zombie stable The Outbreak, Vampiro, Violent J, 2 Tuff Tony, Kendra Lust, Early Morning Guy Steele, and even The Invisible Man’s brother, The Invisible Stan.

Mick Foley was the final name to come out during the match. He helped Sandman fight off both invisible opponents for a bit until Foley and Sandman were hit with low blows, and The Invisible Man rolled up Sandman for the three count.

Foley and Sandman remained in the ring after the match, and Foley said that while the two of them may not like each other, they’ve meant a lot to each other’s careers and it was important for Foley to be there for Sandman’s final match.

GCW Joey Janela’s Spring Break X is available on TrillerTV as part of The Collective package. Social media clips from the bout are below:

The Sandman names ECW alum as his favorite opponent

Posted on by Vincent Verhei

The Sandman’s retirement match has been booked for Joey Janela’s Spring Break, the same event where Sabu wrestled his retirement match last year shortly before passing away. Now the ECW icon is discussing the legacy of his most famous rival. 

Sandman discussed Sabu and his retirement match in an interview with Jamal Niaz at Monopoly Events. “Sabu was easily my favorite opponent,” he said. “He was so easy to work with because honestly I didn’t really have to do much in the matches. He would just be flying all over the place putting me through tables and stuff. It was just easy to work with him. It was like, in our business, we call a ‘night off; when you can go out there and work 25 minutes and just have fun. That’s the part of the business that’s great.”

Sandman also talked about the influence Sabu had on American wrestling. “You could see it in Japan and stuff like that, but he brought that style, just all the flipping and stuff like that,” he said. “It wasn’t being done in professional wrestling back in those days. You didn’t see that on Saturday afternoons at WWF shows or something like that. So, he brought something totally different like a wild boy. They just never saw it before. He was great at it.”

A very special opponent has been booked for Sandman’s last match: The Invisible Man. 

“He’s going to beat the sh*t out of me,” Sandman said. “And I am not in good shape. Actually, as soon as I get home, I got about 50 days to get ready because, literally, I lay around and do nothing all day. You know, I’ll mow the lawn. That’s about the biggest I’ll do. But yeah, I’m going to actually try and get in a little bit of shape for that match.”

So will this truly be the last we see of the Sandman? “No, because … how many retirement matches did Terry Funk have?” he asked. “I was at his one in Amarillo. I was at one in Japan with him. You know, I can have 50 of these. This is a new start for me. I’ll wrestle till I’m 78.”

Sandman vs. The Invisible Man will take place at Joey Janela’s Spring Break X at Horseshoe Las Vegas on Friday, April 17. Tickets are available here. 

The Sandman’s final match announced for Joey Janela’s Spring Break

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

ECW legend The Sandman will wrestle his final match later this year at Joey Janela’s Spring Break.

Janela and GCW announced Saturday that the former ECW Champion will be present at Spring Break X on April 17 in Las Vegas to compete in his final-ever match. An opponent has not yet been announced.

He made a surprise appearance during Sabu’s final match against Janela last year at 2025‘s Spring Break IX.

The Sandman, 62, has stayed active in the wrestling industry over the years, at least wrestling once or twice a year. Starting his career in 1989, he has wrestled across multiple different promotions, including TNA and WWE, but is widely remembered for his stint in ECW. He has nearly 900 total career matches according to Cagematch.

He last wrestled in October 2025 as part of a tag team match for a New Jersey indie, one of just two matches he had last year.

Fight Game: WWE Backlash France preview

Posted on by Garrett Gonzales

John LaRocca and I are back with another episode of The Fight Game Podcast, kicking things off with an update on upcoming shows on Fight Game Media.

We then got to the rest of our topics which included:

  • Fallout from The Elite beating up Tony Khan on last week’s AEW Dynamite
  • Tony Khan’s media hits at the NFL Draft
  • The Elite attacking Kenny Omega on this week’s Dynamite
  • Swerve Strickland’s first AEW World title defense
  • This week’s Dark Side of the Ring episode on The Sandman
  • The terrible WWE Draft
  • WWE Backlash France preview

Click Here to Listen (sub needed)

The Sandman returning to MLW at Kings of Colosseum

Posted on by Josh Nason

The Sandman is returning to Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena as the ECW icon will return to MLW for their May 13th Kings of Colosseum event.

If he does a match, it will be the 58-year-old’s first-such bout in the former ECW Arena since his last appearance for MLW in 2019. He and Tommy Dreamer lost to Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Brian Pillman Jr. that night.

Sandman was part of MLW’s first year of action, debuting in a three-way against Steve Corino and Vampiro. He would wrestle five times from 2002 through 2003, ending his run in a War Games match alongside Terry Funk, Sabu, Steve “Dr. Death” Williams and Bill Alfonso against Corino’s Extreme Horsemen faction.

Sandman hasn’t been in the ring since a match last October for a Texas indie promotion.

As of now, two bouts have been announced for the MLW Fusion taping as MLW Champion Alex Hammerstone defends against Richard Holliday while Jacob Fatu battles Mads Krugger in a Weapons of Mass Destruction match.

Taya Valkyrie was also announced for the event last week.

ROH TV taping spoilers: Dalton Castle returns, Sandman appears

Posted on by F4W Staff

Results: PW Chronicle

Ring of Honor came to the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Sunday night for a set of television tapings.

– Cheeseburger, Eli Isom & Ryan Nova defeated Brian Johnson, Ken Dixon & Joey Keys in a Future of Honor match

– Women of Honor Champion Sumie Sakai, Madison Rayne & Jenny Rose defeated Britt Baker, Karen Q & Kelly Klein

– Cody Rhodes defeated Kenny King by DQ

King faked that Cody hit him with the IWGP United States Heavyweight title. Todd Sinclair came out to tell the referee what happened, and King shoved Sinclair for the DQ.

King kicked Cody in the groin, then ROH World Champion Jay Lethal came out to make the save for Brandi Rhodes. King hit Lethal with Cody’s title. Cody and Lethal got up and held each other’s belts before giving them back and shaking hands.

– ROH Television Champion Jeff Cobb defeated Shane Taylor

Cobb and Hangman Page had a staredown after the match. They beat up ring crew guys who came out.

– The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser & Brian Milonas) defeated Cheeseburger & Eli Isom

– SoCal Uncensored did a promo segment to set up them challenging for the ROH Tag Team titles later in the night. The Briscoes attacked them, with Christopher Daniels being given the Jay Driller on the stage.

– ROH World Champion Jay Lethal, Jonathan Gresham & Dalton Castle defeated The Kingdom (Matt Taven, Vinny Marseglia & TK O’Ryan)

Castle returned from injury as Lethal and Gresham’s mystery partner.

– Brandi Rhodes defeated Ashley Vox

– Silas Young defeated The Sandman

The stipulation for this match was that Bully Ray and Gordon each picked wrestlers to represent them. If Young won, Bully could do whatever he wanted to Gordon. If Sandman won, Gordon could do whatever he wanted to Bully.

Bully gave Gordon shots with a Singapore cane as part of the stipulation and then low blowed him.

– Dalton Castle did a promo about being back and wanting to win the ROH World Championship again. It led to The Kingdom laying out Castle and The Boys.

– Hangman Page defeated Rhett Titus

– Marty Scurll defeated Hurricane Helms in a no DQ match

This was the fourth match in their series, with Scurll and Helms each having a win over each other and one match having ended without a clear winner. They shook hands after the match and Scurll praised Helms on the mic.

– SoCal Uncensored (Scorpio Sky & Frankie Kazarian) defeated The Briscoes and The Young Bucks in a three-way match to win the ROH Tag Team titles

Daniels came out in a neck brace after the match due to The Briscoes’ attack from earlier in the show. After the tapings, a segment with SCU and The Young Bucks closed the night.