page_title: Damien Sandow
section_title: Impersonations and popularity rise (2014–2015)
hierarchical_section_title: Damien Sandow / Professional wrestling career / Return to WWE / Impersonations and popularity rise (2014–2015)
caption_attribution_description: English: The Miz and his stunt double, Damien Sandow (as Damien Mizdow), at a WWE SmackDown television taping on September 16, 2014.
context_page_description: Aron Steven Haddad is an American professional wrestler and actor best known for wrestling with WWE under the ring name Damien Sandow. He currently wrestles for National Wrestling Alliance as Aron Stevens. He also wrestles for the independent circuit under the name Aron Stevens. He is also known for his time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and the independent circuit under the ring name Aron Rex, where he was the first-ever Impact Grand Champion in 2016. Starting in January 2017 he took a break from wrestling, instead focusing more on acting. In 2019 he would return to the ring, later debuting for the NWA in September of that year.
  Haddad started wrestling in 2001, and began appearing for WWE in 2002 as Aaron Stevens on Heat. From 2003 to 2006, Haddad wrestled in WWE's developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling. In 2006, Haddad reappeared on the WWE main roster as Idol Stevens, teaming with KC James and allying with Michelle McCool. In 2007, Haddad was released from WWE, first embarking on a return to OVW, no longer WWE's official developmental territory, in 2008 and then from 2009 to 2010, wrestling in Puerto Rico for World Wrestling Council.
context_section_description: On the April 28 Raw, Sandow dressed as Magneto to confront guest star Hugh Jackman (who plays Wolverine in the X-Men film series) and Dolph Ziggler, which resulted in Sandow being attacked by both Jackman and Ziggler. On the May 12 Raw and its pre-show, Sandow started delivering worked shoot comments displaying his apparent dissatisfaction at his position in WWE, resulting in his microphone being turned off. Sandow later made comments with allusions to being handcuffed.
  Sandow then transitioned into a comedic impersonator, and from May 20 he started to dress as a different character every week, sometimes wrestling as them. These characters included Sherlock Holmes, Bruce Springsteen, Abraham Lincoln, Paul Revere, a rapper called D-Sizzle and an interpretive dancer. He also mimicked other wrestlers, such as Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, and Vince McMahon. Haddad reflected after his release that when he was "dressing up as someone new every week", "other guys said I should be doing something else", but back then he was willing to "go with it" to capture "attention", though he said, "I didn't know where or how it was going to end up".
  From August, Sandow formed an alliance with The Miz, whose persona was that of an arrogant movie star. Sandow was 'hired' by Miz to be his "stunt double", which initially entailed him taking bumps for Miz and later expanded to him mimicking every move Miz made during his matches, as well as Miz's mannerisms when not wrestling. During this period, Sandow's ring name was tweaked to Damien Mizdow to reflect his new role. Haddad later detailed how he was initially not aware whether being the stunt double was a "one-time thing" like his previous impersonations or a long-term storyline, and that WWE only decided to make it a long-term storyline "about two or three weeks" into the Mizdow act. Haddad also said that mimicking Miz's actions in the ring was a "completely on the whim" improvisation, with him and the Miz never rehearsing any of their actions.
  At Night of Champions in September, Mizdow's interference helped Miz win the Intercontinental Championship from Dolph Ziggler. Miz lost his title back to Ziggler the following night in a rematch on Raw. Mizdow's antics soon endeared him to WWE fans and he became popular with live audiences, who would often boo Miz during matches and chant "We want Mizdow!".
  At Survivor Series, Mizdow and Miz won the WWE Tag Team Championship after defeating defending champions Gold and Stardust, The Usos and Los Matadores in Fatal 4-Way tag team match. This was Mizdow's first championship in WWE. By this time, Mizdow had become one of the most popular wrestlers in WWE.
  On the December 29 episode of Raw, they lost the titles to The Usos. On the same night, they were defeated by the debuting Ascension. Miz and Mizdow then began to show dissension, with Miz becoming angry at Mizdow's positive crowd reactions and accusing Mizdow of trying to 'upstage' him. On the February 2 episode of Raw, The Miz relegated Mizdow from being a stunt double to a personal assistant.
  Mizdow turned face for the first time in his WWE career, when he finally split away from The Miz at WrestleMania 31 in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, but the "red hot babyface in waiting" (as described by Forbes) was the last wrestler eliminated, courtesy of Big Show. Haddad described WrestleMania 31 being one of his "favorite memories in the WWE", due to "feeling the surge of 83,000 people chanting" for him when he split from Miz, a "genuine, 100-percent real emotional response on a grand stage" that would eclipse any "award" or "accolade". Post-WrestleMania, Mizdow (now accompanied by The Miz's The Marine 4: Moving Target co-star Summer Rae) then feuded with The Miz over the next several weeks, trading victories on Raw before challenging Miz to a match for the rights to the Miz brand on the April 20 episode. The Miz won the match after Summer Rae betrayed Mizdow by raking him in the eyes, allowing Miz to hit the Skull-Crushing Finale and pick up the win. As a result of the loss, Mizdow returned to his
caption: The renamed Damien Mizdow (right) as the stunt double for The Miz
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