What do you do with someone like Damien Sandow?

[CyberPunk]

The dust has settled down after the stormy Wrestlemania. After a really eventful two weeks after Wrestlemania, we're now looking forward to this summer's storylines. I enjoy this period of WWE because this is the time we see fresher talents given more time on TV. Having said that, WWE is already preparing for Shield's and Cesaro's push going forward in this summer. Plus there's Wyatts. Summer looks promising and fun to me.

Having said that, there are lot of people who do not have much going on. One of them is Damien Sandow. Since losing his Money in the Bank cash-in (in process, becoming the first ever to lose a cash-in match), he's become more and more irrelevant. I for one think he's very talented and can actually be an excellent upper midcard heel. Whether is main event worthy or not is completely different.

If I look at his WWE main roster career, he really hasn't accomplished anything apart from winning Money in the Bank for WHC. I really wanted him to win the tag titles with Cody Rhodes, but that did not happen. His feud with Cody Rhodes was really dominated by Rhodes. And since that failed cash-in, he has done nothing but lose. I don't remember a single win after that.

I don't know what's up with him. His TV time has been decreasing every week. He even lost a match to Sin Cara (who himself has nothing going on) within 1 minute. His losing streak is one of the worst, plus there is no program for him. I don't know if he's pissed someone backstage, but he's no semblance of momentum at this time. I did some reasearch and found that he has lost his last 15 matches on the trot (including multi men matches).

My question is, what do you do with him at this point? He's already lost his IC qualification match against RVD, so he's not going near any title at this point. His arrogant mannerisms have gone away recently and his attire has been becoming more generic lately. He barely gets mic time (till this Monday when he cut a promo and was knocked out by the Big Show).

He's not very old (only 32) and has quite a few years ahead of him. For me, I'd like him to be involved with IC title scene, even put the title on him. He's one of those rare heels who can actually put some spotlight back on IC title. Or get him involved in some kind of program, any program, where he can actually win some matches. Some TV time can help him.

What do you guys think? What can be done with Sandow at this point? Or do you think that WWE has given up on him and he would be nothing more than enhancement talents?

Please don't spam.

 

[Softcore Holly]

It'll take a lot to get him out of the hole he's in, I think only 3MB has a worse losing record then he does. (or at least it sure as hell feels that way)

Shame because he is one of the better mic guys on the roster, although in-ring wise he doesn't really standout. Even his finisher is generic and boring, doesn't help that the full nelson slam is better for bigger guys than Sandow. He can put on a good match when he's not in a obvious squash match, problem is that's like 97% of his matches for the past year or so.

First I would get him a new finisher. Move the "your welcome" to something that'll get him a near fall for mid-match but find something that doesn't feel so generic.
Next he obviously has to stop losing, have him cheat his ways into some wins with dirty behind the ref's back tactics. That'll get him heat while letting him brag about him "outsmarting" his opponents.

If you really want to push him, have him be the guy that cheats the US title off Ambrose..(IC title will hopefully be busy elsewhere) This immediately gets him a ton of heat since the Shield is really over right now and gets him a title for him to brag about, which gets him even more heat and of course people actually starts paying attention to the US title since they'll be eager to see him lose it.

More realistically he's more likely to join Swagger as the new Real Americans, that may or may not work in his favor. The RA lost a rather large amount of their matches when Cesaro was around, and Sandow is certainly no Cesaro. So he might get a new partner/manager but still the same match results. Oh the other hand Cesaro wasn't doing all that hot before joining Colter and the RA, and after his RA stint his future's looking a lot brighter. so who knows, maybe that can happen for Sandow too.

 

[AegonTargaryen]

Damien Sandow reminds me in a lot of ways of HHH. They're both tall , though Sandow isn't exactly buffed-up. I can conceive him as being a star at the level of HHH, which means he'll never be as big a star as The Rock. The only difference being Sandow has a different gimmick, different set of catchphrases and he doesn't have the political support that comes with being Stephanie Mcmahon's wooer/husband. But I do think he has the same cockiness, arrogance, and a moderately similar body type as HHH. In an era of 2 world titles, it'd have been truly fresh and novel to see him be the World Heavyweight Champion and display heelish arrogance week after week, not entirely dissimilar to how HHH was in 2000, and from 2000-2005. If anything, it'd have made Smackdown far more watchable and entertaining than it was in the era of Alberto Del Rio and Dolph Ziggler.

It really aches to see a guy like Sandow to be diminished and receded to near-obscurity in a matter of 6 months. With only one world title remaining, and nearly a dozen other contenders/challengers to the IC title, Damien Sandow is going to have a hard time gaining that momentum again. If you mean to ask "What I'd do with him" , it's simple. Elevate him again as HHH was elevated back in 1999. Push him in the forefront on every Smackdown, every Raw because quite frankly, if Damien Sandow is the modern-day HHH and if Daniel Bryan can be said to be an extension of Owen Hart(only an overrated extension), it's grim injustice that a guy taller than, better looking than, more built, and obviously more impressive is given nothing except a MITB and loss to John Cena, whereas DB- everybody knows- is the most overrated and overpushed babyface champion of all time .

Now that there's no WHC, I'd choose the IC route and make him the IC champion and successfully have him defend the title against the likes of Rob Van Dam, Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes, among others . I don't know why but I've this conviction that Damien Sandow is too big for the IC title. He is more worthy of a title like WHC, which is only a second-tier world title with still some aura and prestige around it. Alas, 2012 is no more and unworthier stars are carrying two championships around.

 

[GameOver]

Sandow has all the things ticked for someone that should at the very least be in line for the IC/US titles, should not be languishing being beaten by everyone on the roster after a good build up to the MITB, just seemed stupid they have Cena lose his MITB shot which was good being only the second time technically someone lost there shot, then in the same year Sandow loses his title opportunity aswell come on be serious.

And what's worse since then he's lost almost every single match, they even run an angle where he's gonna get back at Cody who he blamed for the loss streak and that lasted 1 match.

Just let him get back on a few wins, understand that not everyone can win all the time but losing all the time is not good for any credibility, especially when guys like Santino are winning instead of someone who was credible and has a chance to be a success.

 

[laodaron]

Repackage, repackage, repackage.

The genius thing is a gimmick with an expiration date. Lanny Poffo, Dean Douglas, Damien Sandow. It just doesn't go over the way that creative thinks that it does.

Being arrogant and being a heel are a specially crafted art. Sandow seems to look like he gets it, it's just that the genius thing can't last forever. He needs to repackage his brand, update his moveset, and then come out more ruthless, still arrogant, but not holding the microphone like a dummy.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

I would turn him in to a loser - he loses clean for ages - but push him at the same time. Make him put people over like a pro (he is exceptional) then repackage him as a twisted genius who is determined to exact revenge on the powers that be - let him head up a faction of clueless warriors who want to punish and hurt! On the mic he is a great talker - give him room to develop the character. Bring him to life. let him seek - let him destroy.

Get him to adapt the traits of the Scarecrow from Batman, and maybe a bit of the Joker. Intertwine them! but add something new. Aaron Steven Haddad is a brilliant performer - let him adapt his name " I was given the name DAMIEN for a reason, I am the devil." I reckon he would pull it off.

The WWE does Backwards casting. They need to come up with a character they can cast like Sandow - make him a monster. He doesn't have to be unstoppable but he must be a demon, and Haddad is excellent at talking. He can do that.

 

[wrestler36]

Faction Faction Faction! Sandow is in a miserable losing streak but it's not the end of the world. When Cesaro was US champion, he rarely won the matches that I saw him in. Hell, when MVP was on Smackdown, losing was written into his storyline. Maybe Evolution can stick around a little longer after the Shield feud and Sandow can team up with guys like Ziggler and Miz and form a group of their own. It would be when hell of a jump start from losing every week to facing Evolution. They can face the Wyatt's after the John Cena feud. They'll be the cocky group that laughs at all the scare tactics the Wyatts try to pull. Heck, if the Shield are still together, they can feud with them too.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

Stick him with Dutch and build him back up.

I've said before that I don't believe they've given up on him in the slightest. No one who's done in the WWE gets as much mic time as he did on Monday. But they're building him with this losing streak, which is what they like to do to test some of the younger talent to see how they react.

Put him with someone like Dutch to advocate for him how he's been mistreated in the WWE. Have him start winning again, but of course do it underhandedly. Get him in a couple programs with solid names where he comes out on top, and then later in the year have him fight Cesaro for the IC title (since it seems like that's where they're pushing Cesaro to right now). Even have him go over Cesaro to win the title in a drawn out series, since by then, you'll want to be pushing him up to the WWE title scene.

He's too good of a talent to just have put people over, and I think he's passing his 'test', so the times coming to build him back up. Sticking him with Dutch I feel is the best first step.

 

[MMK]

Damien Sandow in his current form is over, and I don't mean in the good way. I mean he's done, finished. The arrogant aristocrat gimmick has run it's course.

But a tweak to his character could make all the difference. I suggest turning him into a psychopath somewhat similar to Bob Backlund or even Hannibal Lector. A man with a genius IQ who is also a complete lunatic. He could snap on an episode of RAW after suffering yet another loss. Tweak his entrance theme just a bit. Keep the current Beethoven theme but add some spooky elements to it similar to Mankind in 1996.

Sandow has all the talents, but he has exhausted his current gimmick. He needs a change. A few tweaks and he can be back to where he was. That is unless he's done something behind the scenes that we don't know about that has resulted in him going down the Zack Ryder route. But the fact that they were once so high on him tells me there is still hope.

 

[laodaron]

Just PLEASE someone get him to stop holding the microphone like it's a chalice. I freaking cringe when I see him doing it. It doesn't make him look aristocratic, it makes him look ridiculous.

 

[The Eighties]

I like the idea of putting hi, Dolph and The Miz together as the three bitter amigos, the trick would be how to make them productive as opposed to guys that just moaned and lost. If they are booked comedy act and modern day J.O.B. Squad then they wont get anywhere, but if they are booked as a renegade trio then maybe something could come from it.

Another option would be to make him the US Champion and have him set out to use it as a platform to educate Americans from state to state, it would be a limited angle but better than his current role.

 

[Pedigree1]

Damien Sandow is a talent,im not quite sure why he is in the position he is in. He has amazing Mic skills can cut a great promo,due to his large vocabulary. He isn't the best in the ring,but he does have great ring skills.. He is what 32 or so? He has many great years ahead of him in the ring..

He needs to Join the RA ASAP. Pairing him with Zeb and Jack,it would benefit Damien in such a huge huge way. It would bring,prestige back to Damien and make him credible again.. Of course this begs the question,If damien is good in the ring and great on the mic,did he do something backstage none of us are aware of??

 

[hisfirewithin]

Here's an outside the box idea: repackage him as a "dark apprentice" of the Undertaker.

We know that Taker is probably done with in-ring performance, but that character and the occasional bump/tombstone would be worth having him come out periodically. So I say that Sandow keeps losing and jobbing through SS, and after getting his ass kicked particularly good on the RAW after, the lights and smoke hit, the bell tolls, and without a word, Taker hits the ring, tombstones Sandow, puts him in a coffin, and wheels him off. Weeks later, the bell hits, and a posessed looking Sandow comes out and delivers one of Taker's moves to someone else, then doing the kneel salute to Taker on the videoscreen. Gradually, we work into full matches and suddenly, he is squashing everyone, eventually feuding for the IC and having some real momentum behind him. Taker makes sporadic appearances to sell the "disciple" gimmick, and voila, Sandow is viable again. I could see it working into an eventual "Avenge The Streak" against Lesnar in a couple of years.

 

[Attitude_Era_Guy]

I would team him with Jack Swagger to reform the Real Americans.
_______________________________________________________________
RVD, CM Punk, and Chris Jericho.

 

[Softcore Holly]

Of course this begs the question,If damien is good in the ring and great on the mic,did he do something backstage none of us are aware of??

I was wondering about that too, but usually we would've heard at least some sort of rumor about it so I kinda doubt it. I think they're just used to him constantly losing and since they don't have any plans for him they're just keeping status quo.

In their defense they do need heel jobbers, and it can't be 3MB all the time. They also seem more invested in their other mid-card heels: RybAxel of all teams is somehow on a winning streak, ADR is never pushed that low, Cesaro's getting his push, so is Bray, etc. Even Fandango is winning lately and they care enough to give him a new valet, although being on the winning end in a Santino feud isn't anything to brag about.

So that just leaves Sandow to be the solo version of 3MB. Since more and more people have been mentioning him being the next RA(myself included) Swagger isn't doing much better since he loses a ton of his matches as well, but at least we know why backstage would be holding a grudge against him. Which is why I'm kinda afraid for Sandow's sake if he does join up with Zeb/Swagger, pairing up 2 guys that creative obviously don't mind losing all the time doesn't sound like a recipe for success.

 

[Hem]

There are one thing about Damien Sandow which is conflicting; that being the character he portrays. The Smart old school guy is pulled off so well by him but it holds him back the most because really after a few feuds whats his material he uses going to be? It's like Del Rio. Del Rios character is "its my destiny and I'm rich" which was his plus point when he debuted but after two or three feuds it was his downfall as there was nothing new coming out.

Damien Sandow should be repackaged as said previously. Sandow needs a fresh start that works off of his former self. Sandow still is the smart guy but he gets a mean streak which slowly starts turning him into just another brute. The new Sandow can have a feud with guys like Cesaro and Sheamus and put on great performances which are more physical.

Sandow as a smart and mean guy who turns into a somewhat toned down Dean Ambrose in my opinion is the best way for him to go, the crazy genius. He can mechanically break down his opponents and he also needs a more dominating finisher.

 

[laodaron]

Guys, I like Sandow as much as the next guy, but let's make it a point to not be dishonest around here. He's OK in the ring and he's OK on the mic. That puts him above the 50% mark, higher than most, but he just isn't a main event guy.

 

[whoopin' ass]

Problem with Sandow is that for a wwe audience, he is still fairly new - putting him with Miz and Ziggler makes no sense as they have been in tv longer and both were champ where he tried and failed. He wouldn't fit. WWE messed up with him by not letting him win when he cashed in the briefcase because up to then he talked a lot and sometimes backed it up but he was a solid enough threat. If he was as smart as he said he was, he would cash it in when he was pretty much guaranteed a win which is what happened except it was against Cena which was a mistake. The loss in itself wasn't horrible although it was poor booking but the fact that it lead nowhere was. Had he gone into a long feud with Cena that elevated him, had he disappeared for a couple months then came back more vicious than before, it would have helped but instead he was stuck in the background doing the same thing he was doing before. Kind of hard to take him as a threat when we saw him doing this and it failed.

I think they need to build him properly. Maybe put him, Miz, Ziggler and Kofi in a faction saying they are the workhorses of the company and if wwe wont recognize that, they will make them by taking titles and then have them go for all the titles, not just the wwe title. That allows you to build Sandow with an IC/US title run but eliminates that quick breakup of the group where they all want to be champ. But I think you need to build him up the old fashion way and not the current wwe way where they rush someone to the wwe title and then don't know what to do with them.

 

[StingerSplash22]

Here's an outside the box idea: repackage him as a "dark apprentice" of the Undertaker.

We know that Taker is probably done with in-ring performance, but that character and the occasional bump/tombstone would be worth having him come out periodically. So I say that Sandow keeps losing and jobbing through SS, and after getting his ass kicked particularly good on the RAW after, the lights and smoke hit, the bell tolls, and without a word, Taker hits the ring, tombstones Sandow, puts him in a coffin, and wheels him off. Weeks later, the bell hits, and a posessed looking Sandow comes out and delivers one of Taker's moves to someone else, then doing the kneel salute to Taker on the videoscreen. Gradually, we work into full matches and suddenly, he is squashing everyone, eventually feuding for the IC and having some real momentum behind him. Taker makes sporadic appearances to sell the "disciple" gimmick, and voila, Sandow is viable again. I could see it working into an eventual "Avenge The Streak" against Lesnar in a couple of years.

One of the dumbest ideas I have read on this site, thanks for the laugh. I just think they need to push Sandow, that simple.

 

[whoopin' ass]

hisfirewithin, the problem with making him Taker 2.0 is a simple one - the fans won't necessarily buy into it. That is something the wwe seems to have a hard time understanding - you can't just create stars. Look when Hall and Nash left, Vince was sure the characters were more important than the men so we got a new Razor and Diesel which everyone just loved to bits. Even now, wwe couldn't wrap their minds around why the fans were into Daniel Bryan so they fought it for ever trying to push guys they wanted but now that they are behind him, they want to try and get the fans behind Cesaro the same way. You can't force these things. If they wanted to make him the new Taker, they would pretty much have to write off everything he did and start fresh which I don't think is a good idea. Plus Mark is a private person which played well into the Undertaker persona. It was a natural fit where as I don't think trying to make anyone fit that role would be.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

Damien Sandow wasn't the first to cash in and lose. That was John Cena.

Turn him face. Give him an angle that puts him up against what many fans would consider the "pointless" and "stupid" gimmicks. Rehash Edge's short-lived "War on Stupid" angle and let him have a crack at it. There are plenty of heels already established and he is already getting lost in the fold. If Sandow is to get out of the low-card, then that should suffice.

 

[Softcore Holly]

Damien Sandow wasn't the first to cash in and lose. That was John Cena.

Turn him face. Give him an angle that puts him up against what many fans would consider the "pointless" and "stupid" gimmicks. Rehash Edge's short-lived "War on Stupid" angle and let him have a crack at it. There are plenty of heels already established and he is already getting lost in the fold. If Sandow is to get out of the low-card, then that should suffice.

Actually Cena still won that match, by DQ. He was the first to fail to get a title from cashing in but he still came out about a million times better than Sandow did.

I would be interested to see how he would do in a face role, could be a good change of pace for him.

 

[Angels]

Hmm, it's interesting but Sandow has followed down the same path as ziggler, to be honest they are rather similar wrestlers, though I think Sandow is better on the mic and Ziggler is better in ring, I honestly don't see both him and ziggler making it to the top spot, one is going to have to stay in mid card land it seems. I'm just not sure who.

 

[d_henderson1810]

Maybe make Sandow an evil genius.

Have him amass some other guys who aren't doing much-Miz, Ziggler and at least one big guy, and they take out Sandow's enemies.

Now, this faction would look like they are working alone, like the Shield, but they know things about other superstar's weaknesses that they could not find out on their own. It is revealed that they answer to "The Master", but his identity is secret, and defeating the faction doesn't eliminate the threat, since "The Master" will just get together other guys to destroy their enemies.

So, play Sandow as "The Master", and all-knowing, dangerous mastermind, who can outsmart and outwit others in WWE. He is the master of mind-games, and no matter what his opponent does, he is one step ahead.

He uses his genius to find weakness, to plot and come up with elaborate scenarios to eliminate opponents, which are so subtle, they will never see it coming.

So, it would be a similar thing to what Bray Wyatt is doing to Cena at the moment, playing mind games, and getting him to second-guess himself.

Sandow could even manage and team with that guy in NXT who is a technological genius and can control social media. Maybe have a storyline where Sandow can manipulate social media, such as the fan vote on every Raw, and make it favourable to him, so it looks like he gets the popular vote for title shots and matches, when he actually doesn't.

An evil mastermind, who can manipulate minds and can control WWE social media, would work well in today's WWE, where they are trying to be more sophisicated. They could even have a storyline with him taking control of WWE Network airwaves, and interrupt programming to promote himself.

 

[kadroan]

Repackage him. Make him a serious character. I'd love to see him be an ally of Evolution, doesn't necessarily have to be a member but to have that backing by Evolution would be huge.

He could be the muscle of the group once Kane fails after he finishes his feud with Bryan