Brian Damage
A gimmick is something that is intended to hook the attention of fans to a wrestler. They may be outrageous or steeped more in reality. Whatever the case may be, some have succeeded and many others have failed. The Gimmick Table takes a look at the origins of some of your favorite and not-so-favorite gimmicks of professional wrestlers.
Today we browse the gimmick of Damien Sandow
In 2010, while in WWE’s developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling, Aron Haddad was given a new name and persona. The arrogant ladies man gimmick known as Aaron ‘The Idol’ Stevens was dropped in favor of an angry, militant wrestler named Damien Sandow. The name was a sort of homage to a wrestler and promoter from the 1920’s named Billy Sandow.
It was Haddad who tweaked his militant gimmick to something he was more comfortable with…an arrogant, know it all. Haddad said he based the character on an old college professor who acted like a cocky intellectual, but deep down was really stupid. Dusty Rhodes assisted with his look suggesting he grow out a beard like Sigmund Freud and wear a classic robe to the ring much like Lou Thesz. Haddad said it was easy to use all the fancy verbiage that Sandow used citing his father who had a vast vocabulary of the English language.
Haddad said he purposely held the microphone while delivering promos like he was holding a glass of wine. Mike Rotunda helped him coin the phrase “The Intellectual savior of the unwashed masses.” The character became an instant hit as a heel on WWE’s main roster. Damien Sandow remained with that version of the gimmick until 2014.
You can read other Gimmick Table entries here
