Damien Sandow Gets Candid About Struggles Following WWE Departure

Former WWE star Damien Sandow has discussed his exit from WWE in 2016, and how it hurt being released by the promotion.

Sandow, who goes by his real-life name Aron Stevens in his current run with NWA, was a recent guest on "Insight" with Chris Van Vliet where he detailed how the 18 months following his WWE release was a tough time for him mentally. 

"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?'"

Sandow then gave a piece of advice that he uses to motivate himself during tough times. "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," said the former WWE star.

The NWA star added that he had to make peace with the fact that wrestling was a part of his identity, following his exit from WWE. Sandow had two runs in WWE, with his first coming between 2003 and 2006, and the second starting in 2010 and lasting six years. After leaving WWE, he had a short stint in TNA/Impact Wrestling before taking a break from pro wrestling before returning to the business in 2019 with NWA.