Enzo Amore says John Cena saved his WWE career after his NXT debut left him buried backstage, recalling how a chance encounter with Cena led to the creation of the Enzo and Cass tag team on the fly.
Amore spoke to Emilio Sparks about the pivotal early moment that changed the trajectory of his career.
Every time they asked me to submit names, I submitted Enzo Amore. Within a week of getting there, I got there with 20 or 30 other people, they all got fired. The only people that made it were Charlotte, Baron Corbin and Mojo, and I was the last guy to get a name. So I go to the ring that day, in NXT, to do a job, and a guy did me a favor in Triple H, brought me here and I think he was just doing a charity case. I get to the ring, do the job, and when I get out of the ring Bill DeMott motherfks me, buries me, and I’m like ‘ah st’, I got my head down walking out, and Rob Naylor goes ‘Enzo, John Cena wants to see you.'
I get there and all the boys are looking at me when I come in and they all clap for me, I’m like ‘what the f**k is happening’. John Cena calls me over to him and he goes ‘I’ve been here for three hours and I want you to know you’re the only thing that caught my attention all day. Would you like to come to the ring with me in the dark segment?'
Amore then improvised on the spot, creating the Enzo and Cass partnership in that moment.
I immediately, in that moment, did something, I don’t know what God took over. I went ‘can I come to the ring with that big guy right there, seven foot tall guy, that’s my tag team partner, his name is Big Cass’, and John Cena goes ‘yeah tell him to come.’ Fk no we weren’t a tag team at that point. Fk no we weren’t a tag team, we were just homies and he was teaching me everything about wrestling. John Cena got me and Cass over, gave us the rub. Triple H gave me a squash match, don’t know if it was supposed to be a one time thing and done, but I lingered there for seven long years.