Sam Adonis Addresses 'Irreversible Damage' Done By Donald Trump Sympathizer Gimmick

It's been almost six years since Sam Adonis debuted his Donald Trump sympathizer gimmick, and he feels it still haunts him today. The character was marred in controversy, despite Adonis insisting that he was just trying to "do whatever it takes to push your buttons." Speaking to Wrestling Inc. Senior News Editor Nick Hausman, Adonis expressed his belief that the gimmick has taken a toll on his career.

"Oh, I believe that character has done irreversible damage to my career," Adonis said. "I thought that I would be able to ... I'm definitely grateful for all the press and the attention that doing that character has got me. I would say in 2017, there wasn't very many individual wrestlers that have had more worldwide press than I did. I was in GQ Magazine, Vice, Reuters, Newsweek, Bloomberg, everywhere. They were talking about me, and I was under the assumption that I could paint the picture that, 'Hey guys, it's wrestling. I'm the same as the Iron Sheik.'"

Adonis, who recently signed a contract with MLW, is set to make his debut at Fightland on October 30. He's looking forward to leaving his old character in the past. "I think in the end, it kind of hurt me at the end of the day," Adonis said. "There was never a Trump gimmick. I've been Sam Adonis who's just the brash, ridiculous, over the top, Ric Flair plus Roddy Piper, a little bit of craziness sprinkled in there and the Trump flag was just a prop to get people wound up, and I think being known for that has done a lot of damage to me, and right now I'm very excited to get that point of my career behind me completely."