Arn Anderson explains why WWE stopped pushing two rising stars
Arn Anderson has given his opinion on why Kalisto and Damien Sandow did not receive more television time earlier in their WWE careers.
In 2015, Damien Sandow’s Damien Mizdow character was among the most popular Superstars on the WWE roster. Kalisto, a newcomer to RAW and SmackDown at the time, debuted in a tag team with Sin Cara before he became a singles competitor.
Speaking on his ARN podcast, Arn Anderson discussed Kalisto’s United States Championship victory over Alberto Del Rio at the 2016 Royal Rumble. The former WWE producer believes there was not enough support for Kalisto backstage after he left NXT for the main roster.
“Just the fact that there was never enough belief in that war room, that room where all the ideas are finalized and all that. There was not an equal distribution of TV time.”
Arn Anderson said no WWE Superstar should be involved in five segments on a three-hour episode of RAW. He thinks WWE’s approach of producing television in that way has prevented some Superstars, including Kalisto, from getting the exposure they deserve.
Arn Anderson on Damien Sandow's popularity
Arn Anderson agreed when the host of his podcast, Conrad Thompson, mentioned that WWE officials were not ready for Damien Sandow to receive a push.
“Bingo. I can’t say any better than you did. I was there for it. I saw it evolve. When he was on the floor mimicking Miz and being his stunt double, he did such an incredibly, surprisingly great job with that. It was so entertaining. The office didn’t get it over, Miz didn’t get it over. Sandow got it over.”
Arn Anderson added that WWE Superstars maintain a relationship with the audience once they do something to get themselves over. However, in Sandow’s case, WWE’s decision-makers hardly used the former Money in the Bank winner after his storyline with The Miz ended.
Please credit ARN and give a H/T to SK Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.