Long before he was Damien Sandow in WWE, Aron Stevens was just another wrestling obsessed teenager, looking to break into the business. Fortunately, he found the right many to do so in wrestling legend, and noted trainer, Killer Kowalski. Appearing on "Developmentally Speaking," Stevens recalled meeting Kowalski when he was a 16-year-old high school student, and how he and his friend convinced Kowalski to accept them to his wrestling school.
"We asked him about getting in, and he goes 'Alright, here's my card,'" Stevens said. "'Give me a call, come up to the school. Your parents will have to sign a permission slip.' I was like 'Sure.' Well, long story short, it happened, and I was accepted. He was like 'No, we're going to take a chance on you.' And he did. And this was before...you had to be 18, because the business was still very, very closed. Like, people were like 'Who the f**k is this kid?' That was the vibe, right?"
Stevens stated the experience led to him getting educated both in wrestling and school as he continued high school. But there was a third education Stevens says wrestling training gave him that was equally as important; one in life.
"In terms of how to deal with people, in terms of...and look, wrestling has a carny element," Stevens said. "But...you've got to smarten up really quick, at least you did back then. Nowadays, it's all Instagram videos and whatever, creating a culture...Back in the day, if you didn't smarten up, that's how you got weeded out. And at 16, if I had not had people looking out for me, I wouldn't know what hit me. But I was lucky enough where I had people to be like 'Hey, this is how you have to deal with this.' 'Okay.'"
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Developmentally Speaking" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
