Former WWE MITB winner did not talk much with Vince McMahon; wasn't ready to "kiss his posterior" backstage

Vince McMahon has had a contentious relationship with many promising WWE talents over the years. During a recent interview, Damien Sandow revealed he didn't have many conversations with the boss and opened up about the backstage environment in WWE.

Sandow, aka Aron Stevens, had two stints in WWE, totaling ten years in the promotion, which ended with his release in 2016. The superstar was tipped for a major world title push when he won the Money in the Bank briefcase in 2013 but unfortunately dropped down the card after failing to cash in the contract.

Many pundits believe Sandow is one of the biggest missed opportunities in WWE, as he had all the tools to be a main-event player. The 40-year-old star spoke to Dutch Mantell recently and admitted that he didn't have many interactions with Vince McMahon despite spending a long time in the promotion.

"Nope [on if he talked much with Vince McMahon]. Here's the thing. I'm on the man's TV show, right? He has made his decision. Now, there were maybe two or three times where I've had to, and this was over the course of five years, where I was like, 'Hey, could I talk to you about this, right?' And one of the times Miz was there," recalled Stevens. "The man's busy; he is worried about shareholders and all that stuff. This is what I'm doing. I need to go and make this a grand slam."

Sandow added that he tried his best to entertain the audience irrespective of the pitch:

"Whatever pitch they decide to give me, hook or by crook, I need to knock this out of the park in terms of the television audience, right? That's it, bottom line." [1:16:01 - 1:16:51]

Sandow honestly stated that WWE had many superstars who'd go out of their way to please Vince McMahon behind the scenes. He wasn't willing to be clubbed into the group of talents who did that but instead wanted his performances to do the talking.

"Now, again, he's got enough people lining up to kiss his posterior. Number one, I'm not going to do that, and number two, if my work does not speak for itself, then okay. I don't want to have to do anything." [1:16:52 - 1:17:10]

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"Politics is involved" - Former WWE star Damien Sandow on the company's backstage environment

Aron Stevens gave some more insight into the inner workings of WWE and admitted that wrestlers indulged in politics and tried to get into Vince McMahon's good books.

Damien Sandow realized that while it was important to make the right contacts within WWE, he wasn't in favor of forcefully engaging with Vince McMahon even when there wasn't any need.

Sandow explained that speaking to the head booker was only necessary when talents had something relevant to discuss. On the flip side, he'd had no issues if Vince McMahon wanted to correct a superstar's mistake as he'd work on it and continue his job professionally.

He added:

"Now look, politics is involved. You've got to get to know people. You have to get over with people in the back but to not have anything to say to somebody and to go out of your way to be like, 'Hey!' I mean, come on! No. If I got something to say, I'll say it to you. If you don't like something I'm doing on your show, tell me, it will be corrected, and we will move on." [1:17:11 - 1:17:32]

In case you missed it, Sandow also responded to his former partner Cody Rhodes calling him cheap, and you can check what he had to say right here.

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