Pro-wrestling superstar and former NWA National champion Aron Stevens was a recent guest on the Wrestling Inc. Daily to about the industry, including his time in WWE. Highlights are below.
Says there were those in WWE who talked down to the talent:
“What I didn’t like was how some of the people in between the top of the mountain and the talent would treat talent, and they would absolutely talk down to them. It literally was high school with grown men that were supposed to be in positions of authority, and this doesn’t go with everybody. There’s some very good people there. Mike Rotunda, Road Dogg, Dean Malenko, Arn Anderson, Jamie Noble and Fit Finlay, all of those people, I’ll tell you what, great human beings. I really think the world of all them. There were people between the office and the agents, they were, to me, some of the most insecure people I’d ever met. They’re your friends when the boss likes you, but then if the boss sours on you, I don’t want to say they’re not men, but to me, they’re just not very stand-up people. And I don’t respect that, and this is nothing that I wouldn’t say to their face. And I have at some point, which maybe is why I’m not there anymore, or maybe I didn’t get more than I got because I was always very honest in a respectful way, but you stand by what you say, and that that doesn’t happen a lot.”
On not being happy he lost his Money In The Bank cash-in:
“Yeah, I wasn’t happy about it, but I talked to a very high-ranking official, not Vince, but in the family. And pretty much, ‘look, we’re going up against Monday Night Football and the World Series. We need this. You have three segments.’ OK, so I knew what I had to do. In the long term, I was frustrated, but in the immediate, I had to worry about going on TV and get the ratings up, and we did. Point-blank, we did, and to me, it was past that what they did because you come back, everyone’s hugging you, saying what a great job you did and then two weeks later, there’s nothing for you. That was just like, ‘OK, whatever. So yeah, I was a little bit upset about it, but then you’re dressing up as someone new every week. I said, OK, you know what, if this is what I’m going to do, they usually give guys that and guys do it as a punishment. I’m like no, if I’m going to be Davy Crockett, you’re going to give me Davy Crockett music, and if I’m going to be an interpretive dancer, go get me a onesie flesh-colored leotard. Let’s do it right. So that is the way Damien Mizdow happened.”