10 Secret Genius Details Behind Wrestler Entrances
3. The Sandman Accentuates The Positives
The thing about the Sandman is that he wasn't particularly good.
Or, more accurately, he was often so blitzed that he forgot how to do the things he was competent at. A far better brawler than his legacy suggests, his super-over one-dimensional work was totally committed. What's strange - well, not really, since Paul Heyman is a constitutional liar - is that the ECW booker betrayed his old "accentuate the positives, hide the negatives" maxim as often as he upheld it. Sandman was promoted in too many long, drab matches, but it never mattered. Even when his rabid base lost interest in the worst of his matches, he won them back every night thereafter.
The Sandman boasted the best and the longest ring entrance of his day, and it worked so emphatically because it was so drawn-out. Entering to the iconic Enter Sandman, he smoked, drank beer, and with wonderful dumb jock energy he smashed his own head in before he got to the ring in a ritual that took several minutes.
Those fans wanted to bask in his aura more than they wanted to see him work, and the Sandman left his brain intact just enough to grasp that.