Raise your hands if you thought Damien Sandow would become a significant factor this year. Now, who actually believed that after last year?
It was one year ago when Damien Sandow cashed in his Money In The Bank briefcase for the now-defunct World Heavyweight Championship. He would’ve won it too, if it hadn’t been for John Cena. Cena held his title with an iron fist and overcame Sandow with an Attitude Adjustment for the victory.
Sandow hasn’t earned a title shot ever since. In fact, he hasn’t been relevant in the wrestling world after that opportunity went up in smoke.
Sandow has dabbled in meaningless feuds, more notably with Adam Rose, which did nothing for either man. He suffered a four-month losing streak from February to May.
Sandow’s lowest point came when he did an impersonation of Magneto (the X-Men villain in the comics) in front of X-Men star Hugh Jackman and Dolph Ziggler. Needless to say, the skit was DOA.
May 12 saw a more focused side of Sandow, as he expressed his displeasure with his current direction. It resulted in more impersonations, only this time as professional wrestlers. Sandow mocked Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart and Vince McMahon, in that order, in consecutive weeks. His impersonations led to a pivotal moment for the WWE Superstar.
The Miz was embroiled in a feud with Ziggler for the Intercontinental Title. They exchanged the title back and forth, which culminated in Miz enlisting Sandow’s services.
Sandow became Damien Mizdow, Miz’s glorified stunt double, and the rest was history. Damien Sandow saved his career with the Mizdow persona.
It’s amazing how a wrestler can become a copycat to near perfection. Sandow has Miz’s entrance down to a science. He even sells like Miz during Miz’s matches. Watch him sell the moves Miz does during a match. It’s quite entertaining to see.
Ironically enough, he isn’t the first wrestler to use this gimmick to get over again.
The late Chris Kanyon also suffered a rut of his own in 1999 while in WCW. He decided to impersonate Diamond Dallas Page after assaulting Page in 2000’s Great American Bash pay-per-view. Despite the different circumstances, Kanyon’s career enjoyed a brief renaissance.
Kanyon went on to be awarded the United States title in 2001, which coined a catchphrase, “Who Better than Kanyon?” He went back full circle, teaming with DDP to become the WWE Tag Team Champions. They then feuded with the Undertaker and Kane, culminating in the Brothers of Destruction winning Kanyon’s and DDP’s titles at SummerSlam.
Not bad for a guy who, before that period, was just an afterthought.
What does this have to do with Sandow? Frankly, the journey is about how it ends as opposed to how it begins.
Sandow joined forces with Miz in August after SummerSlam. There needs to be a payoff sooner rather than later. Now is the time for the WWE Creative Team to start planting the seeds in their dissension from each other.
Sandow and Miz aren’t meant to team forever. It’s possible their story can drag out until WrestleMania, but there must be a payoff. They need for it to be more than just entertaining.
A possible scenario is putting the tag titles on them or giving either man a midcard title. That alone should cause stirrings in this successful alliance. However, it needs to be handled carefully. All of that momentum can halt without a proper resolution.
Damien Sandow became relevant again with “Damien Mizdow.” Here’s hoping the WWE doesn’t drop the ball with this talented Superstar.
from Bleacher Report http://ift.tt/1q6P6Dq
via IFTTT October 30, 2014 at 09:00PM
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