#2 Damien Sandow
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Damien Sandow had a bright future. Since his debut in 2012, the WWE Universe were crazy for the Intellectual Savior of the Masses. Berating all of his opponents before the match, and attacking them from behind while their heads were turned to the crowd, Sandow put together quite a winning record.
Eventually, it would end, but Sandow would continue to have success with Cody Rhodes as the Rhodes Scholars, being one of the best tag teams of 2013, although never actually winning the titles.
2013 continued to be a great year for Sandow, as he won the MITB briefcase for the World Heavyweight Championship. This, however, was the downfall of Sandow. He lost his chance to be World Champion when he took on John Cena on an episode of Raw.
Cena, who was injured during the match, still beat Sandow. Before losing to Cena, however, he was already in a slump, toting a 1-12 record after winning the briefcase. After the match of his career, he went on to have a losing streak lasting for about five months.
He lost his patented pink trunks, wrestling now in basic black, and stopped doing his well-received cartwheels during matches.
Sandow was then given a career-killer of a gimmick; the Impersonation Gimmick. It began with Sandow dressing as Magneto when Hugh Jackman came to Raw. It was goofy, sad, and at that point, fans of the Enlightened One almost gave up hope.
However, Sandow became probably the first person to ever make this gimmick work. Fans enjoyed his entertaining comedic acts, and once he latched onto the Miz, he became one of the most popular acts of 2014/2015.
The Miz needed a stunt double, and Sandow, now Mizdow, was happy to oblige. Not only would he wrestle for the Miz, he would also take beatdowns with him. Whenever Miz was slammed, Mizdow would slam himself. If he was thrown over the ropes, Mizdow would get in the ring, then toss himself over the ropes.
The fans ate it up and Mizdow rode the popularity to not only a victory over a champion but a world tag team title reign.
Mizdow was still racking up losses at this point in his career, but in the Fatal 4-Way tag match at Survivor Series 2014, Miz and Mizdow defeated The Usos, Los Matadores, and the champions Goldust and Stardust to become WWE Tag Team Champions.
Even after winning the belts, Miz and Mizdow rarely won matches, and they dropped the belts to the Usos on December 29. However, his popularity continued to rise, and Mizdow was ready to move on.
After the gimmick had run its course, Mizdow turned on Miz, returning to his Sandow name. However, he would be released shortly thereafter. It was a controversial move, as the fans continued to back Sandow, even after he was forced to go back to the gimmick that almost ended his career.
He became one-half of the Meta Powers with Curtis Axel, with Axel parodying Hulk Hogan and Sandow going for a Macho Man character. However, due to the Hulk Hogan controversy, this was quickly dropped.
Sandow rarely had a win after that point and was released in 2016 to universal heartbreak. Sandow became a Top 5 Twitter trend in the US, as fans and critics alike were furious over his release. He now works in TNA under the name Aron Rex, a Liberace-esque character, garnering mixed responses.
Whether he can make this gimmick work remains to be seen, but wrestling fans worldwide are still hoping for something great from the once-jobbing Damien Sandow.
