While Aron Stevens says he would have declined a return to WWE back in 2024, he’s more open to it now while giving praise to the NWA for helping get rid of the “bitter taste” he had from the pro wrestling industry.
Speaking on the Xenia Did That podcast, the former Damien Sandow in WWE was asked whether his WWE return was a closed chapter or something he would consider in the future.
He said there was no desire to with his current schedule and touched on his NWA run helping him reconcile with the bitter taste he had for the industry following his WWE release. He also talked about the change in TNA management which influenced his decision to leave that company.
“I don’t have a desire to (return to WWE). There’s just so many other things that I have on the horizon right now that I finally reconciled and that’s another thing: NWA has been great with me. When I left WWE, I had a very bitter taste for the wrestling industry and in TNA, that was good. That was a lot of fun in TNA and then they switched management and then management got a little you know, I just wasn’t really digging the way the company was going. So, I just left and was out in L.A. doing my thing.”
“And Billy (Corgan) calls, tells me about NWA. Well, I don’t know. He goes, ‘Oh, you got a plane ticket. Come on.’ And then I went to Georgia. Been with him ever since. And it’s truly helped me reconcile some internal stuff, you know what I mean? It’s been good. I don’t despise the industry anymore, you know what I mean? I have a different perspective now.”
Stevens added that his response would have been a definite no if WWE called him back 18 months ago, but now he would be open to considering it.
“If WWE called, it’s not something I really think about. If they called, alright, I would of course listen. I mean, I may say yes, I may say no. There are so many factors that go into that, but I would’ve said no a year and a half ago. I totally would have ve said no. Now it’s like, you never know. You never know, but I’m certainly not like, having any aspirations. I’m far too concerned with trying to do the best I can where I’m at.”
Stevens had two stints with WWE, the first from 2003 to 2007, and then from 2010 to 2016. He had a brief run with the NWA between the WWE runs and eventually made another comeback in 2019 there where he remains an active competitor.
Last week on Impact, Ethan Carter III defeated “The Miracle” Mike Bennett in the finals of the Bound for Glory playoffs. By winning, EC3 became the number one contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and will get his title shot at Bound for Glory.
Tonight on Impact:
Tonight’s Impact is live (actually it’s on a slight tape delay) from the Impact Zone. In the main event, TNA World Heavyweight and X Division Champion Bobby Lashley will face King of the Mountain Champion James Storm in a titles vs. title match.
Additionally, tonight’s show will feature the debut of the former Damien Sandow as he was announced earlier in the day as TNA’s newest signing.
Show Recap:
– Impact kicks off with EC3 making his way to the ring. He reminds us that he is bound for glory. Bobby Lashley interrupts EC3. They argued back and forth, trading insults until King of the Mountain Champion James Storm came out.
James Storm reminded everyone that tonight is not Bound for Glory and promises to beat Lashley. Storm and Lashley end up brawling to the back.
The Miracle and Moose jumped EC3 and double-teamed him until Eddie Edwards ran out for the save. Edwards said that they had a match later tonight but challenged them to have that match now. All four brawled around ringside.
“The Miracle” Mike Bennett & Moose defeated Ethan Carter III & Eddie Edwards
Finish of the match came when Moose hit his finisher on Edwards but Miracle tagged himself in and took stole the pin for the win. Moose didn’t seem too happy with Miracle after the match.
– Throughout the show they aired videos focusing on Storm’s quest to win all the titles in the main event.
– A graphic appeared on the screen in black and white, which read “He’s doing things HIS way now.”
– Aron Rex, formally known as Damien Sandow in the WWE, made his TNA debut. As he made his way to the ring, Josh Matthews mentioned the names Cody Rhodes, Ryan Reeves, and Stu Bennett.
This was a good promo. He made references to his former employer but never mentioned anyone by name. He said that TNA is about talent. The crowd chanted, “You’re a genius.” He said he came to TNA to make an impact. His name is Aron Rex and TNA is his new home.
– Maria and Gail had a confrontation. Maria informed Gail that her match is now no disqualification. Marti Bell jumped Gail from behind.
– Edwards challenged Miracle to a match next week, but Edwards is going to face Moose instead.
Gail Kim defeated Marti Bell in a no disqualification match
Gail continues on her quest for a shot at the Knockouts title. Maria shoved Gail off the top rope and forced Allie to get in the ring. Gail rammed Allie into Marti and used a small package to pick up the win.
After the match, the heels were beating down Gail until Jade ran out for the save. Maria announced that next week Gail will go one-on-one with Jade.
– Next we go to Broken Matt Hardy in the passenger seat of his car. He thanks the driver for being there for him and taking care of his son. Broken Matt opens the door for the driver to reveal… the drone Vanguard 1. Matt approaches Jeff Hardy and tells him to prepare for his next match in his quest to win the tag titles.
– Broken Matt comes out to the ring. Now that Decay is a threat to them, Matt has left Reby and Maxel at the Hardy compound with Vanguard 1 to look after them. Jeff comes out and he argues with Matt. The Tribunal and Al Snow came out and traded insults with the Hardys, which leads to our next match.
Broken Matt Hardy & Jeff Hardy defeated The Tribunal (Basile Baraka & Baron Dax) w/ Al Snow
Story of the match is that Jeff has to take on The Tribunal alone. The heels worked over Jeff in the ring. Outside, Matt had a stare down with a fan and used his mind to make the fan tear up his Jeff sign.
Jeff scored the win after hitting the Twist of Fate. After the match, Jeff went nuts and hit the Twist of Fate on The Tribunal and Al Snow. Jeff set up two tables and hit a splash on Snow who was on the first table.
Jeff went crazy and executed a Swanton Bomb on the second table, which had nobody on it. Both Matt and Jeff started to laugh hysterically. Jeff started saying “I am Brother Nero.” Matt yelled, “You are broken.”
– Lashley confronted Dixie Carter and Billy Corgan. Lashley promised to leave tonight with all the titles.
– Decay discussed the destruction of Bram. Rosemary said that Bram is on a stairway to hell.
– Drew Galloway came out to the ring. Galloway brought up all the times EC3 accidently interfered in his matches. Galloway claimed that EC3 is jealous of him and is trying to sabotage his career. He challenged EC3 to a match where the winner will challenge for the TNA World Championship at Bound for Glory.
TNA World Heavyweight & X Division Champion “The Destroyer” Bobby Lashley defeated King of the Mountain Champion “Cowboy” James Storm
This was a good main event. Lashley jumped Storm as Jeremy Borash was doing the ring intros. Storm hit the Last Call superkick but the referee was busy getting Borash out of the ring.
As Storm rolled-up Lashley, Lashley tried to hold on to the turnbuckle and tore it out of the corner. Lashley kicked out and sent Storm into the exposed turnbuckle. Lashley was in control but Storm suddenly hit two Last Call superkicks for a very close near fall.
Storm hit the lung blower, but Lashley bounced off the ropes and hit the spear on Storm for the win. Lashley is still the TNA World Heavyweight and X Division Champion, and he now holds every singles title in TNA after winning the King of the Mountain Championship.
As Lashley celebrated, Aron Rex came out on the ramp. Lashley and Rex had a stare down to end the show.
Next time on Impact:
Next week on Impact, The Hardys, BroMans, The Tribunal, and The Helms Dynasty will battle it out in a number one contenders ladder match. Also, Gail Kim continues on her quest for a shot at the Knockouts title when she faces off with Jade. Last but not least, Eddie Edwards will take on Moose.
“TNA just seemed like the perfect spot for me,” Sandow said. “They are a growing company with a proven track record. I really believe that they have their finger on the pulse of what the audience wants, and they will gear their product towards that.”
Sandow went on to say that he hadn’t planned on signing with a company so soon, but he was impressed by his discussions with TNA management.
Sandow was released by the WWE earlier this year in a round of roster cuts, but has now found a new home in TNA. After being released, Sandow had made various appearances for independent promotions in the United States, as well as a couple stops overseas.
TNA begins a marathon round of tapings at the Impact Zone in Orlando, FL tonight and Dave Meltzer noted in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Sandow is expected to make his debut at the tapings.
TNA is teasing that they will unveil a major addition to their roster tomorrow, and all signs point to it being the former Damien Sandow.
A video that TNA debuted exclusively on RollingStone.com advertises tomorrow’s episode of Impact and concludes with Sandow’s WWE theme. The article accompanying the video claims that the company has signed one of wrestling’s biggest free agents.
Both Sandow (real name Aaron Haddad) and TNA’s official Twitter accounts tweeted links to the article.
Thursday’s episode of Impact will air on a slight tape delay as it is the first in a marathon round of tapings at the Impact Zone in Orlando, FL.
Sandow was released by WWE earlier this year in a round of roster cuts. He last wrestled in a WWE ring against Titus O’Neil on May 3rd, and he has since competed for various independent promotions in the United States and has made a few appearances overseas under the name Aron Stevens.
Heath Slater w/ Curtis Axel and Adam Rose def. Zack Ryder via pinfall
I had feared that this week’s Main Event would be a write-off, given the light crew that the WWE took to the Smackdown tapings. This opening contest did absolutely nothing to dispel that fear, notwithstanding a fine effort from Ryder.
Jerry Lawler shocks me with his powers of recall by reminding us that Zack once “made a reputation out of social media”, referring to his spell as the self-proclaimed “Internet champion”. Rich Brennan, on the other hand, is the “Waffle House champion” apparently.
Ryder benefits from the goodwill of a fresh crowd at the beginning of the match, managing to get himself a pretty loud “Woo! Woo! Woo!” chant going. Then, the stalling begins, as these guys figure out a way to fill the 15 minutes they’ve been allotted; Slater twice rolling out of the ring to go on celebratory Bo Train (sans Bo) victory laps in the opening minutes.
Typical idiotic babyface booking in this one, as Ryder unnecessarily concerns himself with the dual “distraction” of “Axel Rose” on the outside, to his own detriment. He takes a big bump off the ropes to the floor before the mid-match commercial break, when Rose’s mere presence gives him the yips and allows Slater to push him off.
Slater’s heat shows why anyone wondering why this guy hasn’t been elevated above the role of comedy jobber needs their head examined. He has always been awful on offence and has unquestionably regressed in that regard in the last couple of years. Two godawfully long headlock segments here prove my point.
More hard work from Ryder during his comeback sees him hit a slingshot splash from the apron. A Rich Brennan flub follows, as the announcer erroneously reckons that Axel was responsible for pulling Slater out of the way of the Broski Boot. He wasn’t.
Tope con hilo from Ryder takes out the other two geeks on the outside. But, upon re-entry, he gets a kick in the gut and an Impaler DDT to punish his stupidity. I’d love to know when Slater last won a televised match with that move. Answers on a postcard, please.
– Recap of the Reigns/Ambrose/Lesnar interactions from RAW. I couldn’t possibly care less about any of this, as the storyline rationale for the match makes absolutely no sense. That backstage face-to-face between HHH and Lesnar from RAW two weeks ago tells you all you need to know about why that is the case. I can 100% guarantee that no other heel in the company would have been written to no-sell the threat of Brock (the man who broke his arm in kayfabe) in that manner. All we need now is for the egomaniac to don the bicycle shorts and pin Reigns at ‘Mania. Because, you know, the money is in the chase with Roman. Like it was with Goldberg.
Natalya def. Alicia Fox via submission
Alicia Fox worked heel here, continuing the Big Show-esque face/heel oscillations of Team Bella. She also appears to have reverted to her “crazy” gimmick, which was hinted at on RAW when she screamed the house down after her loss to Charlotte.
This contest ran a little bit longer than the second match usually does, at five minutes. It was notable only for the return of the catchphrase that defined an era, as Lawler responds to Brennan’s reference to Nattie’s cat-fancying with the revelation that Foxy, like him “prefers puppies!”. “Oh no…” says a despairing Brennan.
The finish saw Nattie roll-through off a sunset flip attempt to secure the Sharpshooter for the submission victory. Fox refused to accept a handshake in the aftermath, opting to storm off instead. Nattie did the universally-accepted gesture for “she’s crazy”, to which Fox shouted back “You’re crazy!”. Good comeback.
– Video aired of Bryan’s incredible retirement speech from Monday night, spliced with sections of the wonderful retrospective video that preceded it. I highly doubt that the man will read this, but I’d nonetheless like to express my “gratitude” to the wrestler who made me fall in love with the product all over again four years ago. I returned in early 2012 for The Rock, but stayed for Bryan’s heel character, watching as the “Yes!” chant built momentum leading into the unfortunate (but ultimately career-making) events of Wrestlemania 28. He has rightly removed himself from the fray all too soon, to safeguard his health. But we will always have that wonderful moment when he reached the top of tree two years ago. The very best to him in whatever endeavours he chooses to pursue going forward.
Mark Henry and Darren Young def. Fandango and Damien Sandow via pinfall
An unusually brief featured contest, clocking in at only five minutes and most notable for the return to WWE television of one Damien Sandow – complete with robe and “Hallelujah!” theme.
Despite an apparent return to the Intellectual Saviour gimmick (complete with shouting “You’re Welcome!” after an early headlock takeover), Sandow is clearly positioned as a babyface. Which is weird. The goal here appears to be the rekindling of the dynamic Sandow had with The Miz, as he trades “boo/yay” poses with Fandango before the match begins.
This tension continues throughout the match, with Fandango blind-tagging himself in, before teasing the fans with faked attempts to bring his partner back into the action. This has the desired effect, prompting the now long-forgotten “We Want Sandow!” chants to ring out around the arena.
Sandow eventually loses his patience and tags himself in, hitting a side russian leg sweep on Young. But, before he can follow up with the ol’ Elbow of Disdain, Fandango again enacts an unwanted tag to cut him off.
The two then bicker near the ropes, which allows Young to push Fandango into Sandow and crawl to hot-tag Mark Henry. The finish arrives quickly from there, with Henry catching Fandango off a second-rope cross body attempt. World’s Strongest Slam gets the pin.
Final Thoughts
The company may have worked wonders with a depleted roster on Smackdown, but the knock-on effect on its sister show was not pretty. Nobody needs to see a 15 minute match between Heath Slater and Zack Ryder, regardless of how hard the latter tried to make it watchable. However, it was interesting to see Sandow make a rare televised appearance. Revisiting the heel/face tag-team dynamic that he had with The Miz may have potential, but I’m not sure Fandango is the correct foil. Meanwhile, Lawler’s heel metamorphosis continues, as he resurrects his Divas obsession and that long-lost buzzword, “puppies!”.
