Exclusive: Aron Stevens, formerly Damien Sandow, on acting and his WWE career

You played some really iconic roles over the years in wrestling - most notably as Damien Sandow and, of course, Mizdow - do you think that set you up nicely for acting, or have you took up any training ahead of your latest venture?

It was funny, I was almost the real actor-wrestler and I went through so many roles without being repackaged. It was just a sort of natural evolution or mental breakdown on television.

I think wrestling is some of the best preparation you'll ever find. We have one take to do things. You're in front of a live crowd, so there's a Shakespearean or theatrical element to it. You're having to think on your feet, you're having to adapt, and when I left wrestling, I said, "Look, if I'm going to go into this new world, I have no aspirations of being Anthony Hopkins overnight. I want to learn everything. I want to learn the structure of the theatre, I want to learn everything." Acting started in theatre, so I studied Shakespearean acting, then I progressed and worked my way up.

I intellectualised it a lot, and then once I intellectualised everything I want to, I just let it all go and was completely right-brained, which I believe is the creative side, but you don't forget what you've learned. It's like wrestling - you learn the moves and it's very much a science, then when the moves are down, it becomes an art, and that's when it becomes fun.

Of course, you're not the only wrestler to have ventured into acting. There is, of course, the Miz, and the likes of The Rock and Batista - and even Vito LoGrasso and Wade Barrett. Do you look to any other wrestlers for inspiration, or even any actors, or are you just doing your own thing?

Well, it's 50% going out there and doing my own thing, but Daniel Day-Lewis, I absolutely look up to. Anthony Hopkins. Robert Redford is one that I really have a lot of respect for. Jonathan Banks is one in the project that I got to do with him, he has really helped me so much and those are to name a few.

You also have a new show, Ask Me Anything, on BarnBurner which follows SmackDown every week. How did that come about? Is radio something you've wanted to try for a while?

Here's the trick, if you follow me on social media, this is no secret - I am probably the worst social media person in the world. I don't know what I'm doing. The tweeting thing - okay, when I was with WWE and Impact Wrestling, I'd tweet out and it'd be fine.

But the Instagram thing, it's like, "All right, who cares what I had for breakfast? I don't need to put out a picture of it." But I'm learning kind of the 50/50 how to balance that out because, believe it or not, your Instagram followers can affect some of roles you get in acting, so I said, "Look, I'm going to post once a week on Instagram, and I'll post the show's logo and people can ask me anything. From wrestling to current events and sports, anything, so long as it's tasteful."

I got called a couple of months ago by the BarnBurner people to give my opinion on wrestling, but the truth is I don't watch wrestling that much - but there'd be a world issue or something and I'd be a guest on the show and help contribute, but it's a way to keep me engaged with fans because I was living under a rock in Malibu and now I'm emerging and trying to be in the public eye again. It's just a good way to get out there and interact with fans because I really miss that fan interaction.

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NEXT: Aron reveals his favourite wrestling memories and opponents.