ARON STEVENS AND THE QUESTION MARK
2019 - Present
Written by Adam Zimmerman
When Aron Stevens (formally known as Damien Sandow) first showed up in the NWA during episode 2 of NWA Powerrr, I knew he was going to be someone to keep an eye on. Stevens claimed he was coming out of retirement because he heard the NWA and "real professional wrestling" was back and he wanted to be a part of it... but it wasn't long before his heel persona started to show itself.
Stating that he was now a thespian and Hollywood actor who was used to things being done a certain way; certain criteria had to be met while addressing him. Criteria such as never making eye contact. The following week he even debuted the trailer for his supposed next film, Tropical Pirates, while wearing something that wasn't quite a Seinfeldesque "puffy shirt," but it was in the same ballpark.
The audience in attendance had a field day with this; enthusiastically chanting "Captain Morgan! Captain Morgan!". Stevens concluded by informing us that Tropical Pirates would soon be available on DVD, Blu Ray, and a Romanian exclusive VHS release. Following the show, one fan amusingly tweeted, "I'm 85 percent sure Tropical Pirates on #NWAPowerrr is a porno trailer". Funnily enough, after this, Stevens began to wear flesh-colored tights whenever he wrestled to make the crowd watching him even that much more uncomfortable.
Around this same time on NWA Powerrr; we started to see vignettes about a mysterious man who "comes from Mother Earth and Father Sky and his brother, the mountain". Each vignette would end with the question, "Who is The Question Mark?"
After a string of embarrassing losses against Ricky Starks; Stevens proclaimed to the audience that he was again done with wrestling and going back to Hollywood. Right after this proclamation, the mysterious Question Mark finally made his debut and completely squashed a jobber; instantly and oddly making him the most popular wrestler on the roster!
With his "karate movements" and a vicious thrust to the throat that would make even Abdullah The Butcher's pale by comparison - we can clearly tell that this is truly a master of "Mongrovian Karate" and not just Jocephus (whom the NWA had suspended a few weeks prior) and his ever-growing beard, poorly concealed, under a mask. I think that's what really makes the gimmick great and why it became such an instant success. People loved that after all these weeks of vignettes; it was just Jocephus doing a very poor job at hiding his identity but yet his opponents were selling his weak karate moves like he was absolutely killing them. Hilarious, in my opinion. The very next week, Ricky Starks was the next one who had to feel the wrath of the 10th-degree black belt from Mongrovia.
Starks held his own in the match but eventually, Aron Stevens made a run-in, revealing that he didn't go back to Hollywood and that he had basically brought in The Question Mark as sort of a bodyguard and "hitman" since Stevens obviously needed help to get the job done. Oddly enough, this still didn't make the fans hate The Question Mark. They seemed to love him even more.
In later weeks, it was revealed that The Question Mark had trained Stevens in Mongrovian Karate... pardon me: it's pronounced "kah-rah-tay", as The Question Mark always corrects people. Regardless, Stevens claimed his was now a third-degree black belt in the art and demanded to now be known as "Shooter" Stevens as he began to always appear in a karate Gi. Stevens eventually won and is the current holder of, the National Heavyweight Championship. He added three stripes to the belt and renamed it the "3rd-Degree National Heavyweight Championship" and has somehow held onto it, despite his cowardly ways, along with obvious help from his sensei.
From "Mongrovian throat singing" at the "first Mongrovian Flag Ceremony on U.S. soil" to The Question Mark dressing up as Bruce Lee from "Enter The Dragon" to second Stevens in his match against Scott Steiner at Hard Times; this is truly the funniest and most entertaining tag team active today. I can't wait to see what they do in the future! I would suggest everyone check out NWA Powerrr on YouTube and perhaps even order replays of the NWA's previous pay-per-views just to familiarize yourself with this duo's work. Some amazing stuff indeed.