FKA Enzo Amore Recalls His Success With Former Big Cass

WWE

Former WWE star Real1, or Enzo Amore – as he was better known in WWE – finds himself on the independent circuit these days, but the former WWE Cruiserweight Champion still fondly remembers his pairing with Big Cass – now known as Big Bill in AEW. During an appearance on Buff Bagwell's YouTube channel, Real1 looked back at the formation of their tag team and the success they ended up having.

The star then recalled the difficulty he had under Bill DeMott, which led to his "NXT" debut spot and a standing ovation from the locker room which caught John Cena's attention. 

"So, then John Cena walks up to Tyler Breeze – who saved my career – and Tyler Breeze said 'Oh, him and Cass cut promos in promo class for Dusty and their hilarious together,'" he claimed. Real1 then further claimed that this exchange led to his pairing with Big Bill.

However, he also recalled that he believed his stunt likely led to his release, and expected to be fired the moment he walked through the curtain. "Triple H did charity, he got me my one match so I can go home to Jersey with my bar story and say 'Yeah, I did it guys!' Yeah!" Real1 recalled. "That's what I thought! But apparently John Cena had other plans." The star then claimed that Cena invited him to have a segment with him in the ring, and that he didn't leave Big Bill out of the equation and asked that his friend be included as well. "I just booked my own tag team partner over Triple H, over Dusty, over everyone's head to John Cena!"

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While he would eventually end up getting fired from WWE, Real1 seems to have always expected to be let go early on in his career, even after having his moment with John Cena, especially after he got the crowd to chant "SAWFT." "Now we get booked the next tapings, me and Cass haven't had a match, we're at the – we're – I'm thinking I'm getting fired the second I get out of the ring with Cena, I've got more heat than anybody, ever!" he explained. Some time later, Cena had a match against Ryback, which led the crowd to begin chanting "SAWFT" again, but instead of getting in trouble, Real1 claims Terry Taylor chased both him and Big Bill out to answer the crowd.

Real1 then claimed he told Big Bill to just mention food off of the buffet menu to take a rib at Ryback – whose gimmick at the time was "Feed Me More" – and he'd say "how you doin'?" in between. "So, we got 'How you doin'?' and 'SAWFT' over in front of the crowd, with the rub of Ryback and the rub of Cena," he recalled. Real1 then praised the Orlando crowd for getting the chants over and getting him the job. "The whole time I was in NXT, I thought I was getting fired!"

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Buff Bagwell's YouTube channel and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.