WWE: Why Damien Sandow Is WWE's Next Breakout Villain

Nobody likes to be talked at or talked down to. It is a fact. There is something about someone putting themselves above everyone else and talking to people as if they know nothing. It is irritating and infuriating. And anyone that expresses themselves in this way is likely to earn the scorn of anyone they address.

For that reason alone, Damien Sandow is on the verge of becoming WWE's next breakout villain.

Sandow is a classic wrestling heel, the guy who believes himself to be the smartest in the room and the guy who is not afraid to tell you why he is the smartest in the room. He elevates himself above the fans, above his competition, and then tells us he is doing it for our own betterment.

If that was the only aspect of the Sandow character, it would be interesting in short doses but really no different than the Genius character of the late-1980s. What makes the Sandow character a perfect one for today's WWE is his reaction to being called out by his opponent.

On the May 18 edition of Smackdown, he was slated to face Yoshi Tatsu in what would have been Damien's first in-ring appearance in WWE. Instead, he insulted Tatsu, talked down to the fans, and promised that he was refusing to face Tatsu because he could not lower himself to face a wrestler of such low quality. It was the same thing we had seen from him for weeks.

Then Tatsu took the microphone and called Sandow a chicken, then danced around the ring, clucking like the bird. Sandow was enraged and hit the ring, attacking Yoshi with incredible aggression and viciousness. Repeated high knees to the midsection, followed by a full nelson while slamming Tatsu's head into the top rope, and the attack concluded with a neckbreaker.

Sandow's facial expressions sold the entire segment. A guy usually so calm, so confident, so arrogant, had been pushed to the brink by a simple insult. The intensity he exhibited was something few would have expected out of him, but it add a new layer to his performance.

Damien Sandow is the type of villainous heel people pay to watch. He can talk people into wanting to see him get destroyed by his opponent but he is not the same, over-used cowardly heel that runs from a fight. When goaded, he can assault his opponent with the viciousness of any other Superstar on the roster.

As long as Vince McMahon and the rest of the creative team do not lose interest in Sandow, there is no reason not to believe he could be a top talent in the company for years to come. Like the other fresh new faces debuting on WWE TV, the key to keeping fan interest will be his ability to evolve his performance, evolve his character, and the creative team's ability to give him something interesting to do.

An Intercontinental Championship feud with Christian may be the key to success. With two personalities completely different from one another, Sandow and "Captain Charisma" could create entertaining television, both on the mic and in the squared circle.

There are also stories to be told, in the future, between he and top talents, such as CM Punk, John Cena, Sheamus. Take a step down the card and imagine the promos alone that Sandow could cut on the "Funkasaurus" Brodus Clay.

If Damien Sandow can continue his solid performances, if he can tweak his character to keep it ahead of the audience so as not to allow them to grow tired of it, then the future is bright for him, for the WWE, and for fans that have become bored with the never-changing faces on their televisions.

And for that, as Mr. Sandow would say, you're welcome.