Bobby Fulton

James Hines (born October 4, 1960) is a retired American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Bobby Fulton. He was one half of the tag team The Fantastics with Tommy Rogers.

For the Australian rugby league player and coach, see Bob Fulton.
Bobby Fulton
Fulton, circa 1988
Birth nameJames Franklin Hines
Born (1960-10-04) October 4, 1960
Chillicothe, Ohio, U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Bobby Fulton
Jimmy Hines
Sheik of Araby
Billed height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Billed weight220 lb (100 kg; 16 st)
Billed fromLos Angeles, California
DebutJune 17, 1977
RetiredJuly 16, 2020

Professional wrestling career

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 of Lord Zoltan, Fred Curry, Bull Curry and Dr. Jerry Graham. He worked for the WWWF on the Allentown and Hamburg television tapings where he faced Steve Travis and Fred Curry. He worked for Nick Gulas's Nashville territory, where he paired up with Eric Embry as the "brother" tag team of Bobby and Don Fulton.

He then moved on to Stu Hart's Calgary territory working with the likes of Bret Hart, The Dynamite Kid, The Cuban Assassin, Bobby Bass, Ross Hart, Bruce Hart, Giant Haystacks and Davey Boy Smith. Then it was on to the short-lived Knoxville territory forming a tag team with Terry Taylor called "The Fantastic Ones". After the territory closed, Hines and Taylor split up.

He then moved on to the Jerry Jarrett's Continental Wrestling Association territory where he worked preliminary matches. He then went to Southwest Championship Wrestling in San Antonio, Texas for Joe Blanchard, battling Adrian Street and Eric Embry in a series of scaffold matches. His new tag team partner Tommy Rogers started for Bill 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 The Midnight Express in World Class Championship Wrestling that later extended into Jim Crockett Promotions.

In 1986, they had a feud with The Sheepherders (who would become the "Bushwhackers"), Butch Miller and Luke Williams in the Universal Wrestling Federation.

In 1987, back in WCCW, they feuded with the Rock 'n' Roll RPMs (Mike Davis and Tommy 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 the World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico.

They next went to the NWA'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 defeated The Sheepherders to win the vacant NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship.[1] In 1989, they left and have been wrestling, sometimes together, sometimes not, in the independent circuit around the United States, and in All Japan Pro Wrestling.

In 1990, he started his own territory in Ohio called James Hines presents Big Time Wrestling (which was a precursor to Smoky Mountain Wrestling). The federation was based primarily in Circleville, Ohio. Hines brought in talent like Hacksaw 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 like Shark Boy and many others to become pro wrestlers. Fulton and Ivan Koloff ran a wrestling school in North Carolina in the early 1990s. The Fantastics (Bobby and Jackie Fulton) then made regular appearances in All Japan and in Smoky Mountain Wrestling.

The Fantastics made a brief appearance in the WWF 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 of Jim Cornette to convince Vince 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 the NWA 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 original Shane Douglas. Some of the stars who have appeared in WCPBTW include Sting, 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, and Tommy 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]

Personal life

Hines became a born-again Christian and also has been preaching the Christian gospel since October 2003. Hines has been married 3 times. He has two sons, Dillon (The Good Doctor/Corky Thatcher) and Jarron. He 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.

Championships and accomplishments

References
  1. "NWA Supreme - Current Champions and Title History". www.nwasupreme.com. Archived from the original on 2017-09-28. Retrieved 2017-05-06.
  2. "Bobby Fulton on Facebook". Facebook. Archived from the original on 2022-04-27.
  3. "Bobby Fulton To Begin Chemotherapy", WhatCulture.com
  4. Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  5. Duncan, Royal; Will, Gary (2006) [2000.]. "(Memphis, Nashville) Tennessee: Southern Tag Team Title [Roy Welsch & Nick Gulas, Jerry Jarrett from 1977]". Wrestling title histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Waterloo, Ontario: Archeus Communications. pp. 185–189. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  6. "Southern Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  7. "Heroes & Legends Wrestling Fan Fest".
  8. Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "(Dallas) Texas: NWA American Tag Team Title [Fritz Von Erich]". Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. ISBN 978-0-9698161-5-7.
  9. "N.W.A. American Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  10. "WAR to present hall of fame, wrestling action". 2 February 2017.
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