Former WWE Superstar Damien Sandow was in demand to play a ‘fake Elias’ character alongside Ezekiel but as it turns out, he was never even contacted.
When Elias returned to WWE programming on the Raw following WrestleMania 38, he was now clean-shaven and dressed in his previously-reported Randy Savage-esque attire. Most notably, he was now known as Ezekiel, claiming to be the younger brother of ‘The Drifter’.
The character of Ezekiel has been well-received thus far but when news broke of Elias’ return to Raw, fans wondered how, exactly, WWE would pull this off. Some clever editing was the answer, but the desired approach was for WWE to bring back Damien Sandow.
Despite the demand for him, the former Mr Money in the Bank never received an invitation for the role. Speaking on Straight Talk Wrestling, Sandow noted how he wasn’t even sure if it was something he’d be interested in:
“No, nasty rumours. They [WWE] have never contacted me, I’ve never contacted them. It’s just been kind of like, ‘Okay, that chapter of my life is done, and I’m moving forward.’ I don’t know if they did contact me, I would have much interest in doing that because I think there’s just other things that I’m focusing on.”
Damien Sandow’s alliance with The Miz – where he was known as Damien Mizdow – was the highlight of his career. They won the WWE Tag Team Championships together, but WWE’s failure to capitalise on their resultant feud led to Damien Sandow slipping down the card before his 2016 release.
Stints in IMPACT Wrestling and the NWA followed shortly thereafter, but the real-life Aron Haddad is now deemed retired from the ring after losing to Trevor Murdoch at NWA Alwayz Ready.
Ezekiel, meanwhile, remains a focal point of WWE’s red brand. He last wrestled Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins, losing to ‘The Visionary’ on Raw’s 18 July broadcast.