CazXL, formerly known as Big Cass in WWE, has opened up his battle with alcohol addiction.
He did so during an interview with Wrestle Talk. He started out by talking about how it’s been a long journey and everything started to click in January 2020.
\"I had been in and out of rehab a few times and it just wasn’t clicking, and then I went back to rehab last January and everything started clicking at that point. I embraced the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous which I beforehand thought was silly, and I really, really started focusing on my recovery and myself, and magically when you do that you just start to get happier. It’s as if it’s this thing that millions of people had done successfully all over the world, but for me, I was like, ‘No that’s not for me’, but when I finally embraced the program of Alcoholics Anonymous, everything started going good mentally, I was a happy person for the first time in a really long time.”
Cass noted that he wasn’t sure he would return to pro wrestling because he thought it wasn’t for him anymore, but one day, he woke up with a clear head and realized he loves wrestling as its first love and passion. Thus, at that moment, he knew he needed to get back.
“I could have let my addiction stop me from doing what I really want to do, I could’ve taken the easy road and done something a lot easier and less fulfilling, but instead I decided I was gonna come back to wrestling.”
He stated that he went back to the gym and took it very seriously. He brought up how he’s been open in the past about his addiction and struggles with mental health.
“I feel like there’s a stigma around addiction where people don’t like to admit it or they tell themselves that they’re not an addict, and I feel like, more on a human being side, you know performance-wise I’m gonna go out there and be myself, be a turned-up version of myself and kick ass, and I really think that I have the ability to get over and do some things in this business as being myself.”
Cass stated regarding the aspect of a human being, he wants to show people that it can be done no matter how far you get down. He said that there are some things that he’s not ready to talk about that the public hasn’t seen
“But I got to really, really low points, and I really wanna show people that if you love something and you’re passionate about it, it doesn’t matter how low you get, just get up every morning and fight and fight and fight. Because you can accomplish what you wanna accomplish if you believe in yourself. The only person in this world that I need to believe in me for me to succeed, is me.
He said that if you believe in yourself, and you’re going through anything and you feel like the world is against you, it’s possible to get back and to accomplish some great things. That’s his goal going forward. He said the first step to that is reaching out for help, which is something that took him a long time to do.
Cass was released by WWE in 2018. At the time, it was reported that his release was due to behavioral issues such public intoxication during a WWE tour and disobeying direct orders from Vince McMahon.
