Collection: Sandman Beer Drinking , Cigarette Smoking , Cane Swinging , ECW Original

Before “Stone Cold” Steve Austin cracked open his first “Steveweiser,” ECW's The Sandman was sports-entertainment's original beer-swilling Hardcore Icon. As Metallica blared through the arena, the blue-collar brawler from Philadelphia's mean streets would make his way to the ring among the ECW faithful. Sharing some brewskis with the crowd, Sandman sprayed his beverage of choice all over the cheering Extreme fans and repeatedly smashed the can against his forehead, choosing to bleed on his own before the bell had even rung.

The Sandman's matches were often far more brief than his spectacular entrances. Although his bouts were sometimes secondary, ECW owner Paul Heyman famously referred to him as “the embodiment of Extreme Championship Wrestling.”

Mr. Sandman, as he was first known, arrived in Eastern Championship Wrestling in 1992 and won the first of his record five ECW World Titles by defeating the legendary Don Muraco in November 1992. The following year, he dropped the “Mr.” from his name and began carrying around a Singapore cane, which became symbolic of The Sandman's persona for the rest of his career. As part of the organization's rebirth as Extreme Championship Wrestling, The Sandman engaged in a bitter rivalry with Tommy Dreamer that resulted in the cane-swinging competitor being blinded in the eye by a lit cigarette.