Former WWE talent Damien Sandow, now going by his real name, Aron Stevens, has established himself as an everyday name within the NWA following his transient TNA run after originally leaving WWE in 2016. Stevens has since won each the NWA National and Tag Team Championships across his tenure, and looked back at why he joined with the promotion during an interview with “TMZ’s Inside The Ring.”
“I used to be completely out of wrestling. I used to be in Hawaii doing a TV show when Billy [Corgan] called me, and he was like: ‘Hey, I purchased the NWA. You have to come back to work!’ I used to be like, ‘No, I do not!’ after which, ‘You already got a plane ticket, just come on.’ So I went there,” he remembered, comparing the sensation of walking back into NWA as entering into the 80s version of Georgia Championship Wrestling, sparking his love for professional wrestling once more.
“I’ve worked for nearly every major promotion there’s, and the one thing I’ll say about Billy is, the thing that keeps me loyal to not only the NWA, but to him is his integrity,” Stevens added. “That, to me, goes way more, or far further, than plenty of the opposite attributes that some wrestlers may type of take into accounts when picking a promotion.”
‘However the NWA? It’s a spot that I need to be’
Aron Stevens then recounted a lesson he was taught early in his life that being smart together with his money would profit him in a while in life, and since he did exactly that, he can afford to work in smaller promotions like NWA.
“I do not really should type of go and search for work, which is why I do not do plenty of signings,” he said. “However the NWA? It’s a spot that I need to be. It’s a spot that I feel I can type of give back to.”
Stevens then claimed that in NWA, he each performs and helps the talent backstage, where he’s in a position to teach the talent things he doesn’t see being taught within the industry today.
With regards to the locker room, Stevens claims it is very positive and that in wrestling, there is a claim that you just’re an element of a family, but while he’s never felt that elsewhere, he does in NWA.
“We’re very interdependent on one another,” he explained, noting that your entire production team works along with the wrestlers as one big team. “All of us just wish to placed on one of the best show that we are able to.”
Stevens then addressed the critics, declaring that in terms of the fans who actually attend the show, they leave with smiles. “A 12 months and a half a 12 months ago, it was our anniversary show on the ECW arena, and we had never run there before,” he added, expressing that the Philadelphia audience is blunt. “When you’re not good, Philly will let you recognize it.”
Aron Stevens compared his TNA run to where he currently is with NWA
With a profession that spans 25 years and stints in WWE, TNA, NWA, and various other promotions on the independent circuit, the previous “Mizdow” has seen many various locker rooms. While there have been specific things that stood out about his runs in each major promotion, the one thing he noticed within the NWA was the locker room.
“They appreciate the talent, they usually give the creative freedom to do what it’s worthwhile to do to recover from,” Stevens continued And for those who’re getting over, it will be acknowledged.”
Stevens had taken issue with not only WWE but the professional wrestling industry on the time of his departure from WWE. He claimed that he was in an unhealthy mental state around that point, noting that while he pretended that all the pieces was superb together with his character and utilization, he felt that it was killing him inside, which hurt his personal relationships.
Stevens ultimately became someone that he hated, making his glowing remarks about NWA an enormous departure from the things he said about wrestling back in 2021.
When you use any quotes from this text, please credit “TMZ’s Inside The Ring” and supply a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.