Former Damien Sandow (WWE) Slams Dave Meltzer's Ratings: 'What Is Wrong With You?'

Longtime wrestling journalist and historian Dave Meltzer has been rating professional wrestling matches in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter since the 1980s. NWA's Aron Stevens — formerly known as Damien Sandow in WWE — provided his thoughts on Meltzer's rating system while appearing on the "Wrestling Perspective Podcast" by Fightful.

"What Meltzer thinks the wrestling business is, it is not," Stevens said. "He is judging it based on athletic performances and whatever. I mean, to not give [Hulk] Hogan and [The] Rock five stars? Dude, what is wrong with you? Come on, you nitwit. Look, I don't know him; I've never met him. Certainly, I've never gotten a five-star match from him. However, I don't need a five-star rating because I am a star."

Meltzer explained the criteria for his much-debated match rating system earlier this summer, claiming that he takes into account numerous factors such as what a specific bout accomplishes and the crowd reaction. Reigning WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth "Freakin" Rollins recently called Meltzer's match ratings "very silly" because they're subjective. 

Many WWE Hall of Famers and legends have failed to receive a five-star or above match rating from Meltzer, including Kurt Angle, the late Eddie Guerrero, the late "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, and Paul "Triple H" Levesque. Meltzer most recently gave New Japan Pro Wrestling's G1 Climax 33 finals clash between Tetsuya Naito and Kazuchika Okada a 5.25 match rating. 

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the "Wrestling Perspective Podcast" with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.