On a recent edition of the “Insight” podcast, former WWE Superstar Aron Stevens (Damien Sandow) discussed teaming with Cody Rhodes during his time in WWE, ending up in a bad place following his WWE exit, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On Team Rhodes Scholars: “Cody and I, we were I would say like in terms of the totality of wrestling, we were a very underrated tag team. If you look at what we did, the matches we’ve had with various people. We tagged for a minute. We traveled together and stuff, [did you win the titles?] I don’t think we did. Miz and I did…But no, Cody has always had a drive and a determination about him. I’m just very, very glad that he’s determined and again, taking the risks that he has, and staying true to who he is. I think that’s just wonderful. Because like when you see someone stay true to who they are, whatever that truth is because only they can define it, but they kind of reach the apex of what they would like to be and that’s awesome.”
On being in a bad place after leaving WWE: “When I left the WWE, I was really not in a good place. I had let myself down and … you know at the very least let myself down. I couldn’t look in the mirror for like 18 months. Bottomline. I was, like, I shaved with the lights [down] because it was just like this weird thing I was going through. But then, eventually, like with anything, it came to a point where I said, ‘Alright, I’m the same guy who wrestled the invisible freaking man [John Cena] and made it work. What is what is wrong with me?’”
On dealing with being at your worst: “Whoever we are at our best, I think we need to kind of hold on to that when we’re at our worst because that just reminds us of what we’re capable of.”
In his latest YouTube video, former WWE Superstar Maven rated wrestling finishers according to the magnitude of pain they inflict on the opponent, including Chris Jericho’s “Walls Of Jericho” submission maneuver.
You can check out some highlights from the video below:
On Chris Jericho applying the Walls of Jericho on him: “I was first put in this move during a championship match after my Royal Rumble episode with Undertaker. I never knew exactly how this move was going to feel. This was one of the moves that during my training and during developmental I just never went into. So when Chris put this move on me that night, it was the first time I had ever been in it. I remember, during the match, you actually see my face almost give up on life in general. I was not selling that was really how I felt. It was the only time in my life I’d seen the bottom of my shoes from that angle while they were on my feet.”
On how much the move legitimately hurts: “How did it feel? Well, I gotta be honest. Whenever I say something makes me want to give up on life in general, it goes in the ‘It hurts a lot’ category. It wasn’t one of those moves that made me hate the job, but definitely not something I was looking forward to ever taking again.”
