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A veteran of the wrestling business has recalled the time when he asked for his WWE release after those within the company put a major restriction on him. In a recent interview, The Sandman revealed that after he was told he could not drink a beer during his entrance, he asked John Laurinaitis to let him leave the company.
The 61-year-old star is a beloved ECW icon, who was instrumental in the now-defunct promotion becoming a worthy counter-programming to WWE and WCW in the mid-90s. Apart from a short stint in WCW, The Sandman stayed with ECW until it went out of business in 2001. He eventually joined WWE in 2005, but things didn't work out in his favor and he departed the company merely two years later.
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In a recent appearance on fellow ECW icon RVD's podcast, 1 One of a Kind, The Sandman revealed how he was told not to drink a beer during his entrance. He added that this even prompted him to demand his release from WWE.
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“I assume this is like right after SummerSlam, because right before SummerSlam, Johnny [Laurinaitis] calls me into his office and he goes, ‘You can’t drink the beer anymore,’ And I’m like, ‘What?’ And I’m pissed. I’m like, ‘Johnny, how about you give me my release? He’s like, ‘Hak, wait.’ And I got two raises or at least one raise out of them by asking for my release, but it was up to like $125 to $150,000, but then I find out I gotta stop drinking. Next thing I know, Austin’s in the f'ing main event for SummerSlam.” (H/T - Inside The Ropes)
The Sandman says he didn't have any friends in WWE
Furthermore, the former ECW World Champion added that he didn't have a good time in the company as he didn't have any friends in the locker room. He added that he hated working for WWE so much that he stopped enjoying wrestling.
“So, they’re taking the beer away from me so I can’t do it on my entrance. I was freaking pissed. I was hot. And I hated it there, dude. I had no friends. It was soul sucking. It honestly was soul sucking to me. I hated to get on a plane, I hated to go there. I hated to be in the locker room, I couldn’t wait to get out of the f'ing building.”
The Sandman is semi-retired from the wrestling business and only competes sporadically, with his last match being a Battle Royal earlier this month at an indie show.
