Summary

The Sandman looked back on his WCW run and said there was a point where he genuinely thought the company might pay him to stay home for nearly the entire deal.

While speaking with Chris Van Vliet, The Sandman said he signed in September 1998, collected a $10,000 signing bonus, and then was left unused until the beginning of March. He said that long stretch on the sidelines made him wonder whether the contract would play out with very little actual work.

He also said WCW briefly paired him with Raven in material that never felt like it was heading anywhere.

Quote from The Sandman

"Oh, dude, I almost got to sit home for the whole contract. So they signed me, and they gave me a $10,000 signing bonus on September 9 or something like that. They didn't use me until the beginning of March, but that company was going down - it was going to be closed soon, less than two years later. So I thought maybe I was going to sit home for the whole contract."

The Sandman later went on to say:

"They had me do some stupid stuff with Raven, but that wasn't going anywhere. I did some vignettes with him as his brother.

But then Nash gets the book. Nash gets the book Saturday afternoon, later on Saturday afternoon. J.J. Dillon calls me and says, 'Nash just got the book. He wants you in Minnesota Monday night.'

I'm like, okay. I was like, damn. Half of me is like, okay. The other half is like, wow, I really could have sat on this whole contract."

What Kevin Nash's booking change meant for The Sandman

The Sandman described Kevin Nash taking over the book as the moment his WCW status finally changed, because it led directly to J.J. Dillon calling him in for television. His account also underlines how little momentum the run had before that point, especially with the Raven material he said was not going anywhere.

For fans looking back on that era, the story fits the broader instability around late-stage WCW creative. The Sandman was a recognizable former ECW name, but even with that reputation, he still spent months waiting for a direction that never fully clicked.

Sources

The Sandman while speaking with Chris Van Vliet