Damien Sandow Talks The Mizdow Character, Getting Fired From WWE, Fans Thinking He Was Held Down

Damien Sandow has turned lemons into lemonade with his Damien Mizdow character, reaching his peak popularity since debuting the persona last year. He appeared on Chris Jericho's Talk Is Jericho recently to discuss the transition from being Mr. Money In The Bank to a comedy character, and his previous WWE runs.

When originally given his comedic character, many saw it as a demotion. Sandow, however, said he looked at it as a blessing.

"I saw that period as a great time in my career. If you look at the talent roster, microphone time is very precious. I don't think I'll be doing this for the rest of my career, but I have a live mic in the ring. It's not competing for the WWE Title, but as a performer it's memorable. It builds stock. If I didn't have that, I wouldn't have what I do now," Sandow said.

The success of the character ended up leading to his most popular imitation: The Miz.

"I was dressing up as a geographically relevant person (each week). The Miz thing was supposed to be a one time thing. That led to two weeks, then three weeks. I had built some trust and (wanted to) see how far I could push this," Sandow said.

He said that people backstage enjoyed the Damien Mizdow character and helped motivate him to embrace the role even more. He pointed to the Barclays Center crowd as a turning point as well.

Sandow's career is a far cry from his position several years ago, when he was cut from the WWE.

"I was fired. At the time, it was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I ended up in Puerto Rico, but it was the best experience. Then Tom (Prichard) called and said we would be working together again, and I came back."

Sandow cited lessons from Carlos Colon and Rip Rogers for really opening up how he looked at pro wrestling. Ten years after his first enhancement match in WWE, Sandow returned to the main roster in 2012.