ECW Legend The Sandman reveals why WWE fired him in 2007
ECW Legend The Sandman has revealed why he was released by Vince McMahon's WWE in 2007.
The Sandman made his name in Extreme Championship Wrestling during the 1990s. He is a 5-time ECW World Heavyweight Champion and earned the admiration of the hardcore crowd by drinking, smoking, and caning people with a Kendo Stick. He would also make his entrance through a sea of rabid fans to Metallica's 'Enter Sandman.'
For the majority of his career, he was the antithesis of everything you'd expect of a WWE Superstar. This made it all the more shocking when WWE signed him to their rebooted ECW in 2006, and stranger still when they moved him to RAW in 2007. He was released by the company that same year.
He gave details of this firing during a recent interview clip uploaded to the WSI - Wrestling Shoot Interviews YouTube Channel. Sandman noted that a dangerous bump he nearly took in a match with Santino, as well as an incident during a company flight to Africa, led to his dismissal:
"It started on the plane. Ricky Steamboat, he was in charge, it was like his first tour, right? I don't find this out, so, like. The plane stops and we're getting off and we gotta go down stairs and walk on the tarmac," said Sandman. (0:40 1:08)
Sandman then went into detail on the incident, which involved a cigarette that he was holding:
"And he (Steamboat) gets up and he starts yelling at me 'don't you are light that cigarette in this plane. And like, dude, one, you're not my dad, and two, I don't even have a lighter in my hand," he added (1:32 - 1:43)
The Sandman was calmed by John Cena after the flight incident
While Sandman had his verbal fracas with Ricky Steamboat, the 16-time WWE Champion John Cena was also present.
This prompted the interviewer to ask if it was Cena who 'snitched' on the former Hardcore Hak. Sandman revealed that Cena did not, in fact, snitch on him, and actually helped calm the ECW Legend down:
"John was the one who calmed me down. He's like 'Hak, don't worry about it, don't worry about it," Sandman added. (2:27 - 2:31)
Sandman wrestled in his last match for the WWE against Santino Marella, and he was released on September 12th 2007.
What did you think of The Sandman's comments? Did you enjoy his WWE run? You can share your thoughts in the comment section down below.