Damien Sandow Is WWE's Biggest Missed Opportunity in Years

WWE usually does some spring cleaning with its roster after WrestleMania every year, but one of the releases announced on WWE.com Friday caught a lot of people by surprise.

The company let Damien Sandow go after being one of the most entertaining and underused Superstars of the last four years, making him one of the biggest missed opportunities of the modern era.

He is a 15-year veteran of the sport, having worked for WWE from 2002 to 2007 and again between 2010 and 2016. He was known as Idol Stevens during his first run, but he didn't find his groove until he debuted as Sandow in 2012.

His gimmick brought back memories of Lanny "The Genius" Poffo, but he quickly established himself as so much more than a throwback character.

The simple robe, pink trunks and purple knee pads made him stick out like a sore thumb, but it was his promos that put him on a different level to the rest of the roster.

He was confident and charismatic, and his command of the English language was both impressive and infuriating because he would use it to insult his opponents and the crowd.

The Intellectual Savior of the Masses excelled in this role, and he was rewarded with a Money in the Bank victory in 2013, giving everyone the impression he was being put on the fast track to the top.

According to a report from Marc Middleton of WrestlingInc.com in 2012, Sandow was considered Triple H's pet project. When you are in The Game's good graces, you are almost guaranteed to be successful.

He had several great matches leading up to the night he cashed in his WWE title shot against John Cena. He came up short, but everyone took notice after the two tore the house down.

After that night, Sandow lost several bouts in a row. In fact, there was a whole storyline based around his slump, and it eventually led to his babyface turn.

The crowd took to him immediately, and he became a favorite of the Internet Wrestling Community. For some reason, management decided his gimmick wasn't working and completely changed his character.

He began coming to the ring in a different outfit every week. Sometimes he would wear a random costume, but he also dressed as several WWE legends.

One of Sandow's most memorable appearances during this time saw him dress up as Magneto from the X-Men franchise during a segment involving Hugh Jackman.

Despite the ridiculousness of the character, he managed to get himself over by putting everything he had into his performances. Most wrestlers would hate being forced to wear a unitard during a match, but Sandow made the most of the situation.

After a while, this gimmick was abandoned for what would end up becoming his most popular role as The Miz's stunt double.

The way he mimicked The Miz, both on the mic and in the ring, was hilarious. It endeared him to the crowd even more.

Watching him do all of the same moves with an invisible opponent was highly entertaining and often overshadowed what was happening in the ring. This helped Sandow become even more likable despite being aligned with one of the most hated heels in the company.

When he got sick of being abused by The Miz, he broke away and officially turned babyface again. Following a brief feud with his former employer, Sandow was paired up with Curtis Axel to form a tag team called The Meta Powers.

Axel would come to the ring dressed as Hulk Hogan, while Sandow paid homage to Randy Savage, adopting the name Macho Mandow.

They were slowly gaining momentum before some controversy involving Hogan became public knowledge and the team was abandoned.

There was nothing else for Sandow to do at this point except be himself. There were no goofy costumes or overly articulated promos. He was just pure Sandow. He was as over as anyone else in the company, but for some unknown reason, management halted his push again. He was never able to recover.

For the last 12 months, he only appeared in a handful of televised matches, most of them on Main Event and Superstars, but every time he stepped in front of a camera, the WWE fans cheered at the top of their lungs.

There is no explanation for why someone with great technical ability, above-average mic skills and a lot of support from the WWE Universe would be treated like a pariah.

There were never any reports of him causing problems backstage, and he always put everything he had into every performance.

Even after returning to his Intellectual Savior gimmick, he was never able to get back to the level he reached as Mr. Money in the Bank or The Miz's stunt double.

WWE has missed the boat with Superstars many times over the years, but the way Sandow was mishandled is mind-boggling.

"

I've never acknowledged the push Sandow thing. But when I am standing in Dubai and the stadium is chanting it, I smiled. Thanks #WWEDubai

— Aaron(Damien Sandow) (@TheDamienSandow) April 14, 2016"

"

Wow! Trending worldwide for 3 plus hours. Sorry I didn't notice I was at @ChurchillDowns . Ok so here it goes.. [e-mail]

— Aaron(Damien Sandow) (@TheDamienSandow) May 6, 2016"

"

This is pretty cool.https://t.co/tip3OQvlJN.

— Aaron(Damien Sandow) (@TheDamienSandow) April 5, 2016"

All you had to do was listen to the crowd any time he entered the ring to realize how popular he was despite of the way he was booked. There was always a Sandow chant going on. There was even a petition at WhiteHouse.gov to get Sandow a push. How many wrestlers can say their fans did something like that?

WWE has been doing a great job building new talents in NXT and on the main roster, but management needs to remember to put effort into pushing its veterans too.

Sandow was a victim of poor judgement by the powers that be, but he is talented enough to find work with another promotion. Hopefully, whichever company he ends up with has a TV deal so we have the chance to see him be treated with the respect he deserves.

What do you think? Did WWE miss the boat with Sandow?

Thanks for reading, and follow me on Twitter: @BR_Doctor.