10 Bizarre Times WWE Stars Experimented With Their Gimmick

4. Damien Sandow - Damian Mizdow

Cody Rhodes
WWE.com

What an inspired bit of business this was.

Thanks to a few good-but-not-great runs in WWE, large swathes of the fanbase seemed to think Damien Sandow was set to dominate the wrestling world when he was released in 2016. While that never materialised, this run in particular highlighted that there are innumerable ways to skin the proverbial cat in pro wrestling and Sandow probably should have been given one of them.

As film star Miz' "stunt double", "Mizdow" copied everything his new boss did until the gag became so over that the pair of them were undeniable. A Tag Team Championship was gloriously received, and as the relationship predictably crumbled, Sandow finally snapping on his smug oppressor became one of the company's hottest impending tap-ins.

They blasted it miles wide.

The split got the biggest possible stage in theory, but a WrestleMania pre-show Battle Royal relegated its importance by default. Not least when Mizdow's turn didn't even get him a win. The Big Show dumped him out immediately after his supposed moment of triumph because of course he did.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett