The Rise and Downfall of Enzo and Cass in WWE

Sportskeeda Wrestling

In the tumultuous world of professional wrestling, few stories have been as captivating and heartbreaking as the downfall of the once-promising tag team, Enzo & Cass. Join us on a riveting journey as we explore the highs and lows of their careers, examining the critical moments that led to their ultimate demise. Enzo Amore and Big Cass, from their charismatic performances in NXT to their main roster debut that had the WWE Universe chanting along with them. Their unique blend of charisma, mic skills, and in-ring prowess seemed to set them on a path to superstardom.  Share your thoughts and memories in the comments below. What are your favorite Enzo & Cass moments? Do you believe they could have overcome the obstacles and continued their success? Let's discuss the captivating downfall of Enzo & Cass in this deep dive into wrestling history!  You can also visit our site: https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe  #EnzoAmore #BigCass #WWE #Wrestling #Sportskeeda

Transcript

00:00 Enzo and Cass, what's the first thing you think of when they come to mind?

00:04 Is it the charismatic promos of the loudmouth Enzo or the imposing 7 foot force that was

00:11 Big Cass?

00:12 It's more likely you remember them for their surprising and abrupt downward slide they

00:16 had after splitting up.

00:18 Hell, if you don't follow anything outside of the WWE wrestling bubble, you may have

00:23 forgotten about them altogether.

00:24 But just 7 years ago, they looked like THE tag team that could be one of the all time

00:30 greats, you know, like the Hardy Boys or the Dudleys, Hart Foundation or the New Day or

00:35 the Usos, but that never came to be.

00:37 And if anything, it was the total opposite.

00:41 So how did it go so wrong for what seemed like the perfect duo on screen?

00:46 For that we have to go back a decade, to their NXT days, WWE's developmental territory

00:53 where new characters are created in a wonderful bubble in the Orlando area.

00:59 Also Enzo Amore grew up with a wrestling school a walk away from his house and he only really

01:04 started wrestling in WWE.

01:07 A unique way to break into the business by just trying to cut promos and be a personality

01:12 that got their attention.

01:14 At the time it didn't matter because he had the gift of gab, and if you come in with that,

01:18 sometimes that can really help you a lot in a big way.

01:22 NXT was for development and he had something that could be developed right from the get

01:27 go.

01:28 Together Enzo and Big Cass built themselves up as a personality team in a roster made

01:34 up of hardcore, legit, bell to bell performers.

01:38 They stood out because it was personality first and action later on, and they connected

01:44 with the audience right away.

01:46 Although they never technically won the NXT tag team titles, their three years there on

01:52 the brand were incredible.

01:54 The response they received from the first NXT TakeOver Brooklyn crowd was probably one

01:59 of the biggest ones that made the big brass say "hey we need them up here on the main

02:03 roster."

02:04 That reaction was huge.

02:06 Yeah, makes you ask "how you doing down there when you should be doing something up

02:10 here?"

02:11 Even then a young Carmella joined their ranks, but when it was time to get called up, Triple

02:16 H had the foresight to separate her from the act.

02:20 Really sensing that she would benefit from being away from them.

02:24 And how right he was.

02:26 It went as far as WWE separating Carmella from her boyfriend at the time Big Cass by

02:31 putting them on different brands in 2016.

02:35 And if you know anything about WWE, they usually never really separate real life couples by

02:40 brand unless there's some good reason.

02:43 And we didn't know what that reason was at the time.

02:45 Either way, Enzo and Cass' debut on Monday Night Raw after WrestleMania 32 got an insane

02:52 response.

02:53 When you talk about those post-WrestleMania Raw pops, this was one for the ages.

03:00 It didn't matter that the legendary Dudley boys were in the ring, it was the perfect

03:04 crowd to introduce to the larger WWE audience that may have heard about the rumblings of

03:10 these guys and now got to see them and it was an instant sensation, just like the fans

03:16 of theirs in NXT had predicted.

03:18 They were a big breakout act for WWE.

03:22 They were quickly shot up from being in a tag team title number one contenders match

03:27 and faced their fellow NXT alumni, the VOD Villains.

03:30 Unfortunately, that match at Payback ended in a default win for the VOD Villains after

03:36 Enzo Amore suffered a concussion after taking a nasty collision with the bottom rope after

03:42 getting thrown by Simon Gott, a man who had less than flattering things to say about Enzo

03:47 Amore in the years after he left WWE.

03:50 I attended this match live at the Allstate Arena in Chicago and the weird sound of the

03:56 crowd when they knew that Enzo was in a bad spot truly sucked the air out of the room.

04:02 It felt like this was going to be their big breakout moment.

04:06 They had so much momentum that suddenly got lost on this sudden injury.

04:11 Enzo had been given the reputation of not being the most technically sound wrestler.

04:16 Yeah, he leaned on the charisma and this concussion was a clear freak accident, not exactly something

04:22 you can blame on his in-ring skills, depending on who you talk to.

04:26 WWE used this time to establish Big Cass as a presence as a single star on Raw and it

04:32 became abundantly clear early on that they would eventually have big plans for the big

04:36 man.

04:37 Hey, he was the big guy in the land of big guys, right?

04:42 There was even some success there and he looked like a bona fide superstar hardly a month into

04:46 his Raw run.

04:48 He was put up against Chris Jericho in the main event on Monday Night Raw within his

04:53 first month and although the match technically didn't happen thanks to Dean Ambrose having

04:58 an assault, it was a great spot for Cass to be in.

05:02 Even when Enzo eventually returned, business went on as usual.

05:07 They were first making attempts at the tag team titles and when that failed, they went

05:12 on to assist John "Frickin" Cena in a battle against AJ Styles in the club.

05:18 What an endorsement.

05:19 They teamed up with Cena, the GOAT, to beat the club at Battleground 2016 with a fresh

05:26 coat of Cena sauce endorsing them.

05:29 They then pivoted into a feud against the two hottest stars of the post-draft Raw in

05:36 2016, Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho.

05:41 Those two were on fire at the time.

05:44 Jericho came in on his list, Kevin Owens having absolute banger matches, so were Enzo and

05:50 Cass, so it felt like a great combination of strong elements running right at the same

05:56 time, which is why it made perfect sense when the two teams faced off at Summerslam.

06:02 Enzo and Cass didn't win on that occasion either, but it didn't really matter.

06:07 They were still really over getting huge reactions on some of the biggest shows and being put

06:13 in key spots.

06:14 You don't have to win every match to be a winner in the eyes of the fans.

06:19 They still had a lot of momentum, just maybe not some W's in the right column on their

06:24 record.

06:25 Although the rest of the year wasn't as hot for them as that period between April

06:30 and August, they were eventually in prime positions to win the Raw Tag Team titles at

06:36 WrestleMania 33 in what was initially a fatal four way match.

06:41 That of course changed.

06:42 The deck got shuffled for the tag teams in WWE when the music hit and the Hardy Boys

06:50 made their anticipated, long rumored and reported return to WWE in an all time great pop.

06:58 They won the ladder match that happened that year to become the tag team champions.

07:03 Yeah, sorry, the Hardys coming back.

07:05 I mean, the Hardys come back and they gotta win those titles.

07:09 Sorry Zo, sorry Cass.

07:11 This unfortunately though actually marked the start of their downfall since by this

07:16 time they had lost some momentum.

07:18 I mean, they were still in the mix, but they weren't at the top of the pile of tag teams.

07:23 And now with the Hardys coming in, it meant that there was a shuffling.

07:26 The Bar, a great tag team made up of Cesaro and Sheamus was putting on incredible matches

07:32 while Enzo and Cass sadly weren't exactly seen as the guys that went out there and had

07:37 five star matches.

07:39 They went out there and had great segments with some strong matches, but for whatever

07:42 reason WWE decided that it was time to split the two up.

07:47 It just felt like maybe if they stuck in there a little bit longer with them, it would have

07:51 turned around.

07:52 But you know, that's just retroactively thinking about it.

07:56 Enzo's reasoning for the split was that the higher ups in WWE had different creative

08:01 visions for them and wanted them as single stars, even though they hadn't really scratched

08:06 the surface or broke through the ceiling as a tag team just yet.

08:10 It's worth noting they were still really, really over.

08:14 They were among the top merchandise sellers in WWE.

08:18 That's a fact and you can't teach that.

08:20 You can sell it and put it on a t-shirt.

08:23 The lack of vision unfortunately led to a rushed and panicked breakup angle just a month

08:29 after WrestleMania, starting with Enzo getting attacked by an unknown assailant on Raw.

08:34 Corey Graves on commentary revealed that the assailant must be none other than Big Cass

08:40 himself leading to the most underwhelming breakup feud in years.

08:44 You think this would have meant more?

08:46 While the intention may have always been to make Cass a big single star, they didn't

08:52 do exactly a great job out of that, giving him the most generic theme song in existence

08:57 and putting him in horrible squash matches on that one off pay per view named Great Balls

09:03 of Fire.

09:04 That should have been it for their feud, but Enzo found himself getting involved in Big

09:09 Cass' big man feud against the Big Show.

09:13 At Summerslam when Cass faced Big Show, Enzo was suspended above the ring in a shark cage.

09:18 He slipped out and was conveniently taken out by Cass seconds later.

09:23 What was the point of the shark cage anyway?

09:25 And more importantly, a bigger question, why on earth was WWE so obsessed with shark cages

09:30 around this time as a gimmick?

09:32 When Enzo faced Big Cass in a huge personal grudge match, these two former tag team partners

09:39 the next night on Raw, the injury bug hit again and sadly Cass tore his ACL and was

09:47 out of action for the foreseeable future.

09:49 Once again, just bad luck, bad timing as the story may have been going in a positive direction.

09:55 It never really got to even turn that way.

09:57 WWE decided to finally turn the loud mouth Enzo into a heel, a villain, and thrust him

10:03 into the cruiserweight division, probably with the hope that he would bring more attention

10:09 to that brand, which was all built around bell to bell performers and he was very much

10:14 a character performer.

10:16 Alright, I'm seeing what they're doing here, this makes some sense.

10:19 He did that to a degree, but not as much as they may have intended.

10:23 At this time, WWE had a strong crop of cruiserweight wrestlers who could put on absolutely great

10:28 5 star matches, but they needed that character player, and WWE's bosses felt it was right

10:35 to pivot Enzo as the new hot star on that brand, and making him a heel made it easier

10:42 for these other wrestlers to go after him, and he quickly became the cruiserweight champion.

10:47 The logic is there, it makes sense, and 205 Live needed a shot in the arm at the time

10:52 anyway.

10:53 They even got a main event segment on Raw where Enzo Amore roasted all of the cruiserweights

10:58 for their lack of relevance or personality.

11:02 In the final segment of Raw, this was pretty rare for 205 Stars to be featured there.

11:07 What he probably didn't want you to know was that the segment happened to be the lowest

11:12 viewed part of the entire episode that week, maybe not the thing you want to remember.

11:16 And the problems would keep rolling in.

11:20 While Enzo's mouth may have gotten him into the top spot in the cruiserweight division,

11:24 it was causing a lot of issues backstage.

11:27 Let's just put it this way, have we ever actually seen anyone defend Enzo around this

11:32 time?

11:33 Later in 2017, Enzo found himself getting kicked out of a tour bus in Europe by the

11:39 locker room leader Roman Reigns, reportedly.

11:43 It should be prefaced here that if Roman Reigns, who's considered one of the chillest locker

11:48 room leaders WWE has ever had, is the chillest and kicking you off the bus, it's not for

11:55 a good reason.

11:56 If you were to hear it from the horse's mouth, Enzo said that he got into an altercation

12:01 with another superstar unnamed and that Roman Reigns made him change buses as a result.

12:07 But a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter said that Enzo had a lot of pre-existing

12:12 heat on him within the locker room and that this was just the straw that broke the camel's

12:17 back.

12:18 Bad timing again.

12:20 The report stated that Enzo was talking extremely loud on his phone, allegedly stating negative

12:26 things about the wrestling business while simultaneously bragging about how much money

12:31 he was making.

12:33 The common perception of Enzo was him being a loud mouth bragger, both in his character

12:40 and maybe in real life.

12:42 JBL, on his Stories with Briscoe and Bradshaw podcast, said that Roman Reigns even kicked

12:48 Enzo out of the locker room for disrespecting the business, supposedly relating to a story

12:55 where he got some uninvited guests backstage to the show.

13:00 On the WWE Network series Bring It to the Table, JBL also said that when an entire locker

13:05 room turns on a wrestler, they're basically done for in the business.

13:10 JBL named The Miz as one of the only men ever to survive that type of reputation and described

13:16 Enzo Amore as a "man having a lot of problems with the rest of the world."

13:22 If you're wondering about Big Cass at this point, he had a little heat on him too, but

13:27 it wasn't anywhere near as bad.

13:30 Unfortunately for Big Cass, his time on the shelf from the ACL injury proved to be pretty

13:35 bad for him in his personal life.While facing major issues with depression and alcohol abuse,

13:42 even admitting to drinking an entire bottle of Tito's vodka every day, it led to a falling

13:47 out with his girlfriend Carmella, despite buying a house together and signaling a larger

13:52 commitment together.

13:54 Even Carmella, who stood by his side for years, had to let go of the relationship, and this

13:59 was likely even a bigger source of sadness for Cass.

14:02 Things just weren't going well.

14:05 And as the new year began in 2018, Enzo Amore's WWE career would take a sharp and very quick

14:13 nose dive, both in the ring and in his personal life.

14:18 In the span of just 24 hours, he was accused of a sexual assault, suspended and terminated

14:27 by WWE.

14:29 This all occurred on the Raw 25th Anniversary show, where he was supposedly going to have

14:34 a pivotal role in that special show.

14:37 FIFA reported that at the time, the reasoning for Amore's dismissal was not the allegations

14:43 themselves, but the apparent fact that he was aware of the legal situation prior and

14:47 did not inform the company in a timely manner.

14:51 For context, it is worth noting that ESPN reported in May of 2018 that the Phoenix Police

14:56 Department stated, "The case has been investigated to its fullest extent.

15:02 We're working with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.

15:04 The case has been closed.

15:06 This would not preclude the case from reopening should new evidence come to light."

15:11 But whether or not the allegations had any validity, it was simply the way Enzo responded

15:17 to them internally in his way that he did business with WWE thereafter.

15:22 Enzo seemed to get a lot of chances, and rubbed too many people the wrong way, whether it

15:27 was his fellow wrestlers or someone just simply working backstage.

15:31 To add to that, he didn't even progress in the ring all that much since his debut

15:36 five years prior.

15:38 But that really isn't as important as comparison to the issues he had outside of the ring.

15:43 He had enough character, enough charisma, to really continue to be something special.

15:48 Big Cass was brought back into the fray at the Superstar Shake-Up in April 2018, and

15:55 WWE could finally focus on this seven-footer as a single star like they reportedly always

16:02 intended.

16:03 And he came back at the right time.

16:06 Daniel Bryan was now cleared for in-ring action, and this was going to be his first singles

16:11 feud following his big triumphant return at WrestleMania 34.

16:15 It was a testament to how highly WWE thought of him.

16:19 But from a creative standpoint, the story was just not good.

16:24 Pretty underwhelming considering the players and the timing.

16:27 Big Cass was nothing more than a high school bully who targeted Daniel Bryan for his height.

16:33 Never forget that ridiculous promo on Miz TV when Big Cass said he knew what it was

16:38 like to be Daniel Bryan, short and getting bullied all the time.

16:43 So what did he do?

16:46 He grew up and became a bully?

16:49 Okay.

16:50 Big Cass talked about it like he was responsible for his height, and he doubled down by having

16:54 an absolutely cringe segment with a little person.

16:58 Yeah, and that one was also controversial because despite being specifically instructed

17:04 by producers and WWE officials not to attack the little person, Big Cass disobeyed that

17:11 edict and kicked him anyway, getting a lot of heat backstage.

17:16 Cass would later recall the segment and labeled it as a "horrible mistake from his end."

17:23 While he thought he was going to get mega heat for attacking a little person impersonating

17:28 Daniel Bryan, the crowd laughed instead.

17:31 That was when he realized he effed up.

17:34 And that's exactly what they call going into business for yourself.

17:38 A big no-no when you're in the biggest wrestling company in the world that is spending thousands

17:44 of dollars on the production itself.

17:46 Yeah, you don't do that.

17:49 Cass not only lost to Daniel Bryan once they had their first premium live event match after

17:54 returning, but he tapped out to him again the next month at Money in the Bank.

17:59 Two days after this, he was released from WWE.

18:03 Following his release, there was a whole flurry of reports about different incidents with

18:07 Big Cass that got him the wrong kind of heat.

18:11 There was one story of him blowing off Kevin Dunn's request to rehearse for his promo

18:16 on SmackDown.

18:17 In case you didn't know, Kevin Dunn is basically Vince McMahon's right-hand man for most

18:24 of his career and the head honcho of WWE's TV production.

18:29 And when Cass did cut that promo, it went over time.

18:34 There was another report of him being inebriated in public as a result of alcohol intoxication

18:39 on a tour, while another rumor surfaced that during a separate European tour, Cass was

18:46 locked in a bathroom because of a faulty lock system and somehow, thinking it was a prank,

18:52 he allegedly broke the door open.

18:54 The result of this was other superstars having to do their business in the bathroom minus

19:00 the door, while WWE had to pick up the bill on Cass' behalf.

19:05 Once again, a string of problematic behavior led to Cass' release, and that was the

19:11 end of Enzo and Cass' story in WWE.

19:15 It should be noted that their responses as to why they were released couldn't be more

19:19 different from one another.

19:21 While Enzo basically blamed everyone but himself and the circumstances for his release, Big

19:28 Cass has taken full responsibility for his actions, and has even proven to be a lot better

19:34 than people expected about it.

19:35 We're not saying that Enzo has any right to be angry about his release from WWE, but

19:41 let's be real, the number of people that he rubbed the wrong way probably contributed

19:45 to his dismissal from the company.

19:47 And while Enzo has been enjoying his life away from wrestling, periodically embracing

19:52 the independent wrestling circuit, putting out a clothing line, and producing hip hop

19:57 music, Big Cass has chosen a more humble approach.

20:02 In 2019, he partnered up with Diamond Dallas Page to release a video talking honestly about

20:08 his struggles with alcohol and depression, and what he said really resonated with fans.

20:13 "I'm sitting here right now and telling you that I should be dead with the amount

20:17 that I drank and the seizure that I had.

20:20 I shouldn't be here.

20:22 If anybody out there suffers with depression or anxiety, and you're hiding it because

20:28 there's a stigma out there that you're weak, you're not weak, whatever it is, you

20:34 need to go seek help."

20:36 He described it as one big explosion that ultimately cost him his dream job, and this

20:42 was following a seizure that he had during an independent wrestling event in 2018.

20:48 That moment turned his life around.

20:50 He's always known that the goal is to get back to the big time of WWE or somewhere else,

20:56 and to do that, he needed to get help and take things one day at a time.

21:00 Enzo essentially got himself blacklisted from WWE when he disguised himself as a fan and

21:06 tried to cause a scene at Survivor Series 2018 in the seats, getting kicked out.

21:13 Enzo and Cass did have a brief reunion of sorts in 2019 on the independent circuit,

21:20 but most notably at the world's most famous arena, Madison Square Garden, when they interrupted

21:27 a tag team match on Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling's G1 Supercard show.

21:34 This was supposed to lead to some type of angle within Ring of Honor, but that never

21:39 came together.

21:40 In 2019, when TalkSport interviewed Triple H, they asked him about the rumors of Enzo

21:46 and Cass possibly rejoining the company.

21:50 His answer was very frank, but a lot more brutal.

21:53 Triple H said he personally told WWE's public relations department to shoot down Enzo and

22:01 Cass return rumors, and said that there was "absolutely zero interest."

22:08 The Game even took a shot at Enzo by saying, "Congratulations to Enzo.

22:14 I'm sure spreading rumors is working well for him, but I want no part of it."

22:22 But for Big Cass, it's a different story, with a completely different feeling.

22:27 He seems to have largely gotten his life together and has found a home on the other big televised

22:33 wrestling show, All Elite Wrestling.

22:37 Under the name Big Bill, he's teamed with another great young superstar in Ricky Starks,

22:43 and even won the AEW World Tag Team Championships, making it the first championship he's won

22:50 in a major promotion since he signed with WWE in 2011.

22:56 Just imagine that.

22:58 12 damn years, and a whole lot of challenge and tribulation along the way.

23:04 He's reportedly been in a relationship with AEW's Lexi Nair, the stepdaughter of DDP,

23:09 for a couple of years now.

23:10 They've been engaged, and Ricky Stark's reaction when he found out about the relationship

23:15 live in a media scrum was hilarious.

23:17 It's hard not to support somebody like Cass.

23:21 When a 7 foot tall man who seems to be the embodiment of machismo talks so openly about

23:28 his struggles with depression, there's just a relatability to the common man, let alone

23:35 the average wrestling fan or just anyone who can embrace this story.

23:40 Given the trajectory of both men having been released from the WWE within a short time

23:45 between each other, it seems rather clear between the two men, Enzo and Cass, as to

23:51 who could potentially have a run in WWE again.

23:56 Whether he ultimately returns or not, Big Cass' main focus will always be on prioritizing

24:03 his physical and mental well-being, and since he's done so well at taking it step by step,

24:09 it wouldn't be a surprise to see him eventually come back to the WWE, though he's kicking

24:13 ass right now in AEW, and good on him for doing it.

24:17 He certainly earned the chance to prove to people who believed in him all those years

24:22 ago that they were right about his potential.

24:25 Thanks for watching.

24:26 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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