Aron Steven Haddad (born April 3, 1982) is an American professional wrestler working as a manager in the National Wrestling Alliance under the name Aron Stevens.
He is best known for wrestling with WWE under the ring name Damien Sandow. He is also known for his time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and the independent circuit under the ring name Aron Rex, where he was the first-ever Impact Grand Champion in 2016.
Haddad started wrestling in 2001, and began appearing for WWE in 2002 as Aaron Stevens on Heat. From 2003 to 2006, Haddad wrestled in WWE's developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). In 2006, Haddad reappeared on the WWE main roster as Idol Stevens, teaming with KC James and allying with Michelle McCool. In 2007, Haddad was released from WWE, first embarking on a return to OVW, no longer WWE's official developmental territory, in 2008 and then from 2009 to 2010, wrestling in Puerto Rico for World Wrestling Council (WWC).
Signing again with WWE in 2010, he was assigned to a developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling, where he adopted the Damien Sandow moniker. In April 2012, Sandow returned to WWE's main roster as an arrogant intellectual. In July 2013, Sandow won the Money in the Bank match for a World Heavyweight Championship opportunity, and became the first to lose the cashed-in title match. In 2014, Sandow became a comedic impersonator, leading up to an alliance with The Miz, serving as his stunt double Damien Mizdow. The duo won the WWE Tag Team Championship before the team split in 2015. He briefly teamed with Curtis Axel, shortly before returning to singles action, and was released in May 2016. He acted in the 2023 independent film The Oath.
Professional wrestling career
Early Career (2001–2003) Haddad started training under Killer Kowalski at the age of 16. Three years later, Haddad made his debut as Aaron Stevens on June 23, 2001, with a loss to Chris Harvard in Chaotic Wrestling. In October 2001, Stevens and Edward G. Xtasy (as part of One Night Stand) defeated Little Guido Maritato and Luis Ortiz for the Chaotic Wrestling Tag Team Championship, losing the title two months later to John Walters and Vince Vicallo.
From November 2002 to May 2003, Stevens also wrestled for World Wrestling Alliance (WWA), where he beat Danny Davis for the WWA Heavyweight Championship but lost it a day later to Jonah Adelman. During this period, he also received two singles title shots for the Chaotic Wrestling Heavyweight Championship and one for the Chaotic Wrestling New England Championship, but lost them all.
World Wrestling Entertainment (2003-2007)
Early career (2003) Stevens signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) after receiving numerous try-out matches on Heat against opponents such as Steven Richards and Maven. Sandow had his WWE's pay-per-view debut match in 2003 at Vengeance as the Easter Bunny in a match with the APA. He also participated in an angle where he had his fingers "broken" by Raven on Heat.
Ohio Valley Wrestling (2003–2006) Stevens, now with the tweaked name Aaron "The Idol" Stevens, was assigned to WWE's developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). At a house show in 2004, Stevens and Nova beat Chris Cage and Tank Toland to win the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship.
On January 4, 2006, Stevens won the OVW Television Championship after replacing Ken Doane in a three-way match with Brent Albright and then-champion CM Punk. Doane was injured halfway through the match and Stevens came out to replace him. At the March 8 television taping, Paul Burchill cost Stevens the Television Championship against Seth Skyfire.
Idol Stevens (2006–2007) On August 4, 2006, Stevens made his SmackDown! debut as Idol Stevens when he was introduced (along with KC James) by Michelle McCool as one of her favorite "teacher's pets". The two went on to defeat Funaki and Scotty 2 Hotty with the help of McCool. The following week, Stevens and James defeated WWE Tag Team Champions Paul London and Brian Kendrick in a non-title match. On the August 18 show, Stevens and James ambushed the Tag Team Champions.
The two teams began feuding, with London and Kendrick bringing in Ashley Massaro to counteract McCool. The feud briefly encompassed the team of Jamie Noble and Kid Kash, who also wanted a Tag Team title shot. Stevens and James got their WWE Tag Team Championship shot at No Mercy on October 8, but failed to win the titles. Soon after, both Stevens and James were taken off television and sent back to Ohio Valley Wrestling.
After being removed from the SmackDown! roster when Michelle McCool was hospitalized, Stevens returned to OVW. He lost to Charles Evans upon his return and no mention of his tag team venture with KC James was made. On March 14, 2007, he defeated Paul Burchill to win the OVW Heavyweight Championship. On May 9, after title defences against Cody Runnels and Mike Mondo, Burchill defeated Stevens to regain the OVW Championship. The championship was vacated and Stevens lost to Jay Bradley in a three-way match including Burchill. On June 8, Stevens defeated Burchill in a Number One OVW Heavyweight Contendership match.
He got his title match in a three-way match, again including champion Jay Bradley and Paul Burchill. The match was not only for Bradley's title, but also Stevens's car and Burchill's house. Bradley defeated both men and won all the stakes. His last match for OVW before his release was a two-ring steel cage flag match, which, along with Al Snow, Atlas DaBone, Chet The Jett and Colt Cabana, he defeated Michael W. Kruel, Ramon, Raul, The Belgium Brawler and Vladimir Kozlov.
Stevens was officially released by WWE on August 6, 2007.
National Wrestling Alliance (2008) Stevens made his return to the independent circuit at NWA 60th Anniversary Show losing to Mike DiBiase II in a match for the NWA North American Heavyweight Championship. He appeared for XCW Wrestling Mid-West and Derby City Wrestling for the next few months before re-signing with OVW. On November 7, 2008, he lost to Steve Boz at A Tribute Fit For The King, a tribute show for Jerry Lawler.
Return to OVW (2008–2009) In February 2008, OVW ceased to be WWE's developmental territory. Stevens returned to OVW on November 12, 2008, losing to OVW Heavyweight Champion Anthony Bravado in a non-title bout. The following week, the two were featured in a triple threat match with Jacob Duncan that went off the air before the match could finish. Stevens and Bravado faced off again in a match for the title on November 26, which Stevens won, becoming a two-time champion. On December 3, 2008, he teamed up with U-Gene to take part in OVW Southern Tag Team Championship number one contendership tournament, in round one they defeated Theta Lampda Psi. A week later, they lost to Anthony Bravado and The Buck. Stevens lost the title to Vaughn Lilas at the January 14, 2009 television taping. In February 2009, he lost to Mike Mondo in an OVW Television Championship match which also included Johnny Punch. His last match for OVW was on February 11, a rematch for the championship which Mondo again won.
World Wrestling Council (2009–2010) Idol returned to Puerto Rico, but in a different promotion, the World Wrestling Council, where he was the "protegido" of Jose Chaparro and a member of the "American Family". He debuted on February 28, 2009, defeating Angel. He defeated BJ for the WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Championship, before losing it to Shane Sewell. On August 15, 2009, Stevens and Shawn Spears defeated Thunder and Lightning to become the new WWC World Tag Team Champions. Stevens later feuded with Shawn Spears, which ended at Euphoria 2010. Stevens won the WWC Tag Team Champion with King Tonga Jr. by defeating Thunder and Lightning.
On October 31, Stevens and Spears lost the Tag Team Championship back to Thunder and Lightning. On February 20, 2010, Chicano named Stevens his new Tag Team Championship partner to replace Bryan. On March 13, Thunder and Lightning defeated Stevens and Chicano to win the titles. After Stevens regained the titles with King Tonga Jr., the duo lost them to Los Aerios (Carlitos and Hiram Tua) on April 24. Stevens regained the Tag Team Championship from Los Aerios on June 11, this time teaming with Abbad, and lost it to Thunder and Lightning in a three-way match involving BJ and Chicano on July 11. His last match for WWC before signing with WWE came on July 31, losing to Joe Don Smith.
Return to WWE (2010-2016)
Florida Championship Wrestling (2010–2012) On July 14, 2010, it was reported that Stevens had signed a new developmental deal with WWE, and was assigned to their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). He changed his ring name to Damien Sandow (sharing the surname of the Gold Dust Trio's Billy Sandow and the "father of modern bodybuilding" Eugen Sandow), while adopting a new militant gimmick. On December 3, Sandow won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship with Titus O'Neill by defeating Xavier Woods and Mason Ryan in a match for the vacant championship. They lost the championship to Richie Steamboat and Seth Rollins on March 25, 2011. After losing the title, Sandow turned on O'Neill and joined the group formed by Lucky Cannon, Aksana, and Maxine. Following the dissolution of the group, Sandow adopted the gimmick of a verbose intellectual. Then, he beat Rollins on September 22 to win the FCW Jack Brisco 15 Championship. On January 13, 2012, Sandow lost the FCW 15 Championship to Steamboat.
Main roster debut and Rhodes Scholars (2012–2013) Haddads main roster character upon his return, Damien Sandow, was described as a "braggart, condescending intellectual heel". After his second WWE run ended, Haddad said that his initial purpose in building the 'Intellectual Savior of the Unwashed Masses' character was "to do anything I could to stand out". Given "freedom to execute the character", Haddad stopped shaving, began wearing a bathrobe (proposed by Dusty Rhodes for a robe like Lou Thesz's) to "present" his pink trunks when the robe was taken off, and using the "Hallelujah Chorus" as his entrance music. Haddad also credited Mike Rotunda, Triple H and Brian James for their help in guiding him.
On the April 6, 2012 episode of SmackDown, Sandow appeared in a pre-taped interview denouncing popular culture and extolling his virtues. After weeks of vignettes, Sandow made his WWE in-ring return under the new gimmick on the May 4 episode of SmackDown, but refused to compete against Derrick Bateman, claiming that the audience would neither learn nor benefit from him facing an inferior opponent. On the May 18 episode of SmackDown, Sandow refused to wrestle against Yoshi Tatsu, but Tatsu accused Sandow of being a coward and Sandow assaulted him. On the May 25 episode of SmackDown, Sandow defeated Tatsu in his debut match. The following week, he refused to face Ezekiel Jackson, and despite Jackson forcing the match to begin, Sandow won. On the June 8 episode of SmackDown, Sandow went to attack Hornswoggle but was intercepted by Tyson Kidd before he could do so. The following week on SmackDown, Sandow defeated Kidd.