Chris Van Vliet’s latest interview is with nZo, the man formerly known as Enzo Amore. It’s a long interview but there’s a ton of interesting things covered.

Here are some of the highlights and scroll down to watch the full interview.

On getting started with WWE: “After I debuted, John Cena just happened to be in the crowd that day. I was told I was gonna be fired … Rob Naylor, he worked for WWE in production, he comes running up to me and he’s like ‘John Cena wants to meet you.’ … Dusty Rhodes gave me the microphone and put me out there and gave me my first opportunity and then John Cena gave me that second opportunity that very night. In the dark segment, when the show was over, John Cena was meant to come out because at that time we couldn’t keep the NXT fans in the house. We needed John Cena to be in the dark segment so people would stick around for 4 hours of tapings. John Cena came up to me and say ‘hey listen, I’ve been here for 4 hours of tapings and you’re the only thing that has caught my attention today, good job.’ … Next thing I know, John Cena comes up to us again and now it’s me and Cass standing next to each other. He’s like ‘do you want to come out with me when I go to the ring in the dark segment? He was going out there against Damien Sandow, who was the intellectual savior of the masses. So, in a moment’s time, literally, we have about 5 minutes to get our clothes on and get to the ring because John Cena is already in the ring with Damien Sandow. Cass is freaking out, I’m freaking out. What happened that day changed my life forever.”

On getting fired by WWE: “I’m so blessed to have gotten out of that situation the way I did and for people to read into it and understand and know I’m a good guy and these false accusations that were made about me were just that. It was a blessing to know that the world had my back and I found that out, probably it was the best day of my life. It was a day that I made a decision not to necessarily jump back into pro wrestling because I thought that the love that was shown to me, I had to come home.”

On how his WWE firing was handled and showing up at Survivor Series 2018: “I was bitterly angry at the WWE to a point where I showed up to the Survivor Series pay-per-view and gave them the middle finger … Basically, my philosophy for showing up to Survivor Series was I’m booking myself back into the business and it ain’t here.”

What happened after security escorted him out of Survivor Series: “I bought a $2500 ticket but you have to understand, I’m booking myself into pro wrestling again … So, I paid that off but for one, it was my philosophy of let your bridges that you burn light the way. I ain’t scared. I ain’t scared of you. I ain’t scared to be a part of your world, I ain’t scared to be away from your world to be the best version of myself and I’m gonna go out and get mine. But at the same time, I never said anything bad about that company. I still haven’t. If you look at any shoot interview or anything that I’ve ever done, I might tell you real stories but I don’t give away details that are talking badly about any one individual. I don’t talk badly about anyone on record. If Enzo Amore or Enzo did that on camera and you got worked up, okay that’s pro wrestling.”

His thoughts on Simon Gotch: Simon Botch? Simon Botch who nearly killed me? Here’s the way I feel about it. I have no breath in my lungs to say that name ever again. You get nothing from me kid. Learn how to work.

His thoughts on Joey Janela: “You’re never gonna hear me say his name either and I have my reasons.”

On Tama Tonga: “There’s a guy, Tama Tonga who took food off my plate. So if I ever saw him out in public, same thing with Joey Janeva (Janella), I’m gonna walk up to him with my hands up. The difference I think is, I don’t think Tama is gonna walk away and I don’t give a damn. If you’re gonna book him on the same thing as me, you ain’t getting me because that’s his doing. If you’re gonna blackball me – Tama Tonga, the gatekeeper of New Japan, threw a hissy fit, got upset that he got worked just like everybody else that day. That’s what we love about pro wrestling. Now if you’re not in on it and you get upset about it, okay, and you have the nerve to throw shade at my name who did nothing to you besides take the spotlight from you? That’s all I did. If you have a problem with getting over, that ain’t my problem.”

Thoughts on possibly working for AEW: “I’ve had conversations with a lot of people who are affiliated with different promotions and I’ve talked to a lot of people about doing some things and if I do something, it’s gonna be in a big way.”

The latest on Big Cass: “I spoke to him yesterday. He’s doing everything he possibly can to be the best version of himself. Will we ever see him in tights again? Honestly, I can’t tell you. I have no idea. I just know one thing. The best friend that I had is not the same guy that’s been walking around for the past couple of years. The things that he’s dealing with mentally, I can’t relate to. Just because I can’t relate, I’ve had to learn that it doesn’t mean I can’t understand. Because it’s real, mental health is real and I saw it first hand. It’s real. This guy is going through something that I would consider a disease. Other people are going through that. If he can come out of this thing and inspire people in ways that Tyson Fury has, that’s a new purpose for him.”

Enzo spoke with Mark Carrano about Big Cass: “I unblocked Mark Carrano and we spoke recently about Big Cass but it had nothing to do with me or the biz. I just let them know that when you guys fired that man, he wasn’t in a good way and you knew it. Now help him.”

Enzo on what led him to start making music: One wrestler that I loved to watch and I loved to listen to his interviews was Roddy Piper. Roddy was once asked something in an interview and he laughed [and said] ‘I won’t even make it to see 61.’ That’s a real statistic about pro wrestlers. So when you’re 32 and you’re me and you’ve been knocked out cold by a guy who botched a spot, that’s the dangers of putting your life in another man’s hands. The number 1 thing in the pro wrestling business is to keep each other safe. It’s dangerous and I’ve been knocked out cold and my mother was sitting at home crying not knowing if I was gonna be alive. She didn’t know that for 20 minutes. I initially started making music and setting myself up for a life outside of pro wrestling right after I got knocked out.”

Click below to watch the full interview:











