.png) Fulton,c. 1987 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | James Franklin Hines (1960-10-04)October 4, 1960 (age 65) Chillicothe, Ohio, U.S. |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Bobby Fulton Jimmy Hines Sheik of Araby |
| Billed height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm) |
| Billed weight | 220 lb (100 kg) |
| Billed from | Los Angeles, California |
| Debut | June 17, 1977 |
| Retired | July 16, 2020 |
James Hines (born October 4, 1960) is an American retiredprofessional wrestler, better known by hisring nameBobby Fulton. He was one-half of thetag teamthe Fantastics withTommy Rogers.
James Hines started wrestling as a 16-year-old, under the name Bobby Fulton. His first match was on June 17, 1977, in Clarksburg, West Virginia, in which he defeated Mad Dog Michaels by disqualification. In the main event of that same card, he lost a battle royal.
He spent his early career in Ohio, training and wrestling with the likes ofLord Zoltan,Fred Curry,Bull Curry andDr. Jerry Graham. He worked for theWWWF on the Allentown and Hamburg television tapings where he facedSteve Travis and Fred Curry. He worked forNick Gulas'sNashville territory, where he paired up withEric Embry as the "brother" tag team of Bobby and Don Fulton.
He then moved on toStu Hart'sCalgary territory working with the likes ofBret Hart,The Dynamite Kid,The Cuban Assassin,Bobby Bass,Ross Hart,Bruce Hart,Giant Haystacks andDavey Boy Smith. Then it was on to the short-lived Knoxville territory forming a tag team withTerry Taylor called "The Fantastic Ones". After the territory closed, Hines and Taylor split up.
He then moved on to theJerry Jarrett'sContinental Wrestling Association territory where he worked preliminary matches. He then went toSouthwest Championship Wrestling in San Antonio, Texas forJoe Blanchard, battlingAdrian Street and Eric Embry in a series of scaffold matches. His new tag team partner Tommy Rogers started forBill Watts'Mid-South Wrestling. There the Fantastics (Fulton and Rogers) formed and feuded with the Midnight Express.
In 1984, the team continued their feud with TheMidnight Express inWorld Class Championship Wrestling that later extended intoJim Crockett Promotions.
In 1986, they had a feud withThe Sheepherders (who would become the "Bushwhackers"),Butch Miller andLuke Williams in theUniversal Wrestling Federation.
In 1987, back in WCCW, they feuded with theRock 'n' Roll RPMs (Mike Davis andTommy Lane). They won the feud by winning a scaffold match at the "Parade of Champions" on May 3, 1987. The Fantastics also made an appearance at theWorld Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico.
They next went to theNWA's Jim Crockett Promotions to continue their feud with The Midnight Express and to win the NWA United States Tag Team Titles on two occasions. They also defeatedThe Sheepherders to win the vacantNWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship.[1] In 1989, they left and have been wrestling, sometimes together, sometimes not, in the independent circuit around theUnited States, and inAll Japan Pro Wrestling.
In 1990, he started his own territory in Ohio called James Hines presents Big Time Wrestling (which was a precursor toSmoky Mountain Wrestling). The federation was based primarily inCircleville, Ohio. Hines brought in talent likeHacksaw Jim Duggan,Ronnie Garvin,Abdullah the Butcher,Cactus Jack,Wahoo McDaniel,Jake Roberts, Beau James and many more to participate in regular cards held in Circleville at the Pickaway County Fairgrounds Coliseum. Hines was the Big Time Wrestling champion several times, and also often teamed with his brother,Jackie Fulton, as the Fantastics, on these cards. These cards inspired wrestlers likeShark Boy and many others to become pro wrestlers. Fulton andIvan Koloff ran a wrestling school in North Carolina in the early 1990s. The Fantastics (Bobby and Jackie Fulton) then made regular appearances inAll Japan and in Smoky Mountain Wrestling.
The Fantastics made a brief appearance in theWWF in June 1997 when Fulton wrestled Rogers in what was billed as a Light Heavyweight Match. According to Fulton, they were brought in at the request ofJim Cornette to convinceVince McMahon to start a light heavyweight division, which eventually started.
After 2000, Fulton started wrestling under a mask at various shows as the Sheik of Araby as a tribute to one of his idols the Original Sheik. Often he would taunt the crowd by threatening to raise gas prices. He worked with a lot of young new talent under this persona and helped them as they were breaking in.
In October 2015, Fulton announced he will undergo a retirement tour called the "Fantastic Finale", which ended in 2017.
On June 10, 2017, Fulton teamed up with "Big Time" Josh Lewis to win theNWA Mid-America Tag Team Championships from The East and West Express in NWA Supreme. The East and West Express regained the championship on June 23, 2017.
In March 2016, Hines started promoting events again under the banner World Classic Professional Big Time Wrestling, in which he had an ongoing rivalry with ECW originalShane Douglas. Some of the stars who have appeared in WCPBTW includeSting,Tito Santana,Ricky Morton,Ronnie Garvin,Cowboy Bob Orton,Tony Atlas,Kevin Sullivan,J. J. Dillon,Jimmy Valiant,The Sandman,Sabu,The Barbarian,Buff Bagwell,Bobby Eaton,The Honky Tonk Man,Bushwhacker Luke,Bill Dundee,Tracy Smothers, andTommy Rich.
Fulton wrestled his final match on December 14, 2019 at the independent show "Bobby Eaton: A Night of Appreciation," in an 8-man tag team match where he teamed with Brad Thomas, Ryan Dookie, and Shane Williams to defeat the team of Beau James,Bill Dundee,George South, and Stan Lee.
On July 16, 2020, he announced his retirement but still wrestles from time to time for World Classic Professional Big Time Wrestling.[2]
Hines became aborn-again Christian and also has been preaching the Christian gospel since October 2003. Hines has been married 4 times. He has two sons, his youngest son, Jarron, followed in his father’s footsteps, beginning a wrestling career in 2023, he’s wrestled for the National Wrestling Alliance and World Classic Professional Big Time Wrestling, as well as some independent organizations. Jarron was trained by Lodi, Sam Houston, Mark Wolf and his father. Bobby was diagnosed with throat cancer in December 2019, and began chemotherapy the next month.[3] On June 6, 2020, he announced via Twitter that he was cancer-free.
,Internet Wrestling Database