Eric Arndt (December 8, 1986), better known by his ring name Enzo Amore, is an American rapper and retired professional wrestler, best known for his time who performed in WWE and formerly of NXT. He is also well known for his tag team with Big Cass, whom he teamed with from 2013 to 2017. On January 22, 2018, he was suspended and the next day he was fired from WWE where he was released for the sexual misconduct.
Professional wrestling career[]
WWE[]
Training and NXT (2012–2016)[]
Amore made his NXT television debut on 22 May 2013, where he was quickly defeated by Mason Ryan. Amore's NXT character was portrayed as a "stereotypical cocky, Jersey Shore loudmouth" and an "outsized version of the man playing the part". Amore went on to form an alliance with Colin Cassady, who had also previously lost to Ryan, and they labelled themselves 'the realest guys in the room'.
However, Ryan easily defeated them in consecutive singles matches, but lost to them in a handicap match. After the feud with Ryan, Amore and Cassady went on to feud with Alexander Rusev, Sylvester Lefort and Scott Dawson. In November 2013, Amore suffered a broken leg while training.
Amore returned on the June 24, 2014 episode of NXT where he saved Cassady from an attack from Sylvester Lefort and Marcus Louis. In early August, Amore and Cassady participated in the NXT Tag Team Championship tournament, where they defeated Tye Dillinger and Jason Jordan in the first round but lost to The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch) in the second round. Lefort and Louis then renewed their rivalry with Amore and Cassady by attacking them and shaving Amore's beard. As a result, Amore challenged Lefort to a match with the loser's hair as forfeit at NXT Takeover: Fatal 4-Way. Amore proceeded to win the match but Lefort ran away, leaving his partner, Louis, to lose his hair and eyebrows at the hands of Amore and Cassady.
Amore and Cassady proceeded to form an alliance with the debuting Carmella. The duo had accidentally cost Carmella her hairdressing job as per the storyline, causing her to demand to get a job as a wrestler. Carmella had her televised in-ring debut on the October 16, 2014 episode of NXT.
In March 2015, Amore and Cassady began a rivalry with NXT Tag Team Champions Blake and Murphy, with the champions insulting Amore and Cassady while attempting to woo Carmella. On the March 11 episode of NXT, Amore and Cassady defeated The Lucha Dragons in a number one contender's match for a title opportunity against Blake and Murphy. Amore and Cassady received their title match at TakeOver: Unstoppable, which they would lose after Alexa Bliss interfered. At NXT TakeOver: London, Enzo and Cass challenged Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson for the NXT Tag Team Championship in a losing effort. Enzo and Cass again challenged Wilder and Dawson for the titles at WWE Roadblock in March 2016, but were again unsuccessful.
Raw Tag Team Championship pursuits (2016–2017)[]
On the April 4, 2016 episode of Raw (which took place the night after WrestleMania 32), Amore and Cassady made their main roster debuts and confronted The Dudley Boyz. On the April 14 SmackDown, they made their main roster in-ring debuts, defeating The Ascension in the first round of the WWE Tag Team Championship Number One Contender's Tournament and defeated the Dudley Boyz to advance to the finals at Payback against the Vaudevillains. At Payback, Amore suffered an injury when his head struck the second ring rope, snapping his neck backwards. Amore was not moving, resulting in the match being stopped and him heading to the hospital. During the event, it was announced that Amore had suffered a concussion and no other injuries were diagnosed. He was released from the hospital later that evening. He made his return on the May 23 episode of Raw accompanying Big Cass to the ring for his match against Bubba Ray Dudley of the Dudley Boyz. On SmackDown Live on July 19, Enzo Amore and his tag team partner Big Cass were chosen by the General Manager of Monday Night Raw Mick Foley and Raw commissioner Stephanie McMahon. Amore and Cass were drafted in round 4. Following the draft, Enzo and Cass started a rivalry with Chris Jericho and his new partner, Kevin Owens. On the August 8th edition of Monday Night Raw, Cass challenged Jericho and Owens to a match at Summerslam, which was accepted. At the event, Enzo and Cass lost to Owens and Jericho.
On the November 7 episode of Raw, Enzo and Cass were announced as part of Team Raw for the 10–on–10 Survivor Series Tag Team Elimination match at Survivor Series on November 20, 2016, where their team would win. On the November 21, 2016 edition of Raw Enzo Amore walked around the hallway naked after losing his clothes and ran into Lana, which her husband Rusev saw. This led to a match which Enzo quickly lost. The following week on Raw, Enzo got a rematch against Rusev and won by disqualification after Rusev gave him a low blow. The following week on Raw, Amore would defeat Rusev in a rematch by disqualification. On the December 5 episode of Raw, after Amore would stand up for Lana after seeing her and Rusev argue backstage, Lana would invite Amore to her hotel room after telling him that she feels Rusev is only taking her for granted. Later that night, when Rusev was set to face Big Cass in a match, he would instead attack Amore in his hotel room in what was revealed as a set up. Over the following weeks Enzo and Cass feuded with Rusev and Jinder Mahal.
Amore participated in the 2017 Royal Rumble match entering at number 27 but was immediately eliminated by Brock Lesnar. Amore and Cass competed in a fatal-four way ladder match at WrestleMania 33 for the Raw Tag Team Championship against defending champions Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, Sheamus and Cesaro, and the returning Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff Hardy), where the Hardys emerged victorious. The following night on Raw, Amore and Cass were defeated by Cesaro and Sheamus in a tag team match to determinate the #1 contenders for the Raw Tag Team Championship. On the April 17 episode of Raw, Amore and Cass were defeated by Anderson and Gallows.
Solo career and departure (2017–2018)[]
Throughout May, Enzo was repeatedly knocked out from behind by an unknown attacker. Big Cass went on to accuse The Revival, who had been seen in the background in the aftermath of the attacks. The following week on the June 5 episode of Raw, Cass was found knocked out backstage in the same fashion as Enzo was. Later, Cass claimed he was not cleared to wrestle, so Amore teamed with Big Show in a match against Gallows and Anderson, which they won. The following week, Cass was again found knocked out backstage. He claimed the attacker had to have had a giant fist and blamed Big Show, who denied having been the attacker. On the June 19 episode of Raw, General Manager Kurt Angle attempted to expose the attacker before security footage found by Corey Graves revealed that Cass had faked his own attack in order to lure away suspicion. Cass admitted to this, expressing his frustration during his time teaming with Enzo. Cass then attacked Enzo, thus turning Cass heel and disbanding the team. On the June 26 Raw, an emotional Enzo called out Cass to the ring and the two seemingly reconciled; however, Cass again viciously attacked Enzo on the stage, cementing his heel turn. At the inaugural Great Balls of Fire pay-per-view, Enzo lost to Cass. At SummerSlam, Cass defeated Big Show while Enzo was suspended above the ring inside a shark cage. During the match. Enzo escaped from the shark cage, but was quickly attacked by Cass. The next night on Raw, Enzo challenged Cass to a Brooklyn Street Fight, which he won after the referee stopped the match after Cass suffered a legitimate knee injury.
Cruiserweight Champion[]
On the August 22 episode of 205 Live, Amore made his debut in the cruiserweight division, confronting Cruiserweight Champion Neville, beginning a feud with him in the process. On August 28 episode of Raw, Amore scored his first victory in the cruiserweight division against Noam Dar. The following day on 205 Live, Amore teamed with Cedric Alexander and Gran Metalik to defeat the team of Dar, Tony Nese and Drew Gulak. On September 5, Amore earned a title opportunity against Neville for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship at No Mercy, winning a fatal-5 way elimination match also involving Alexander, The Brian Kendrick, Metalik and Nese, allowing Alexander to eliminate the other competitors before stealing the win. At No Mercy, Amore defeated Neville with a low blow showing signs of a heel turn to win the Cruiserweight Championship, claiming his first title win within the WWE.
The following night on Raw, Amore convinced Raw General Manager Kurt Angle to close the show with a "championship celebration". During the segment, Amore, who was still cheered by the audience, continued to signal a heel turn by insulting the cruiserweight division and stating that since debuting in 205 Live, he made the show "relevant", and claimed that the 205 Live roster was "jealous" of his accomplishments. He also showed a signed clause by Kurt Angle that if any cruiserweight touched him, they will lose their title opportunities. After Rawstopped airing, the cruiserweight division collectively attacked him. The next night on 205 Live, Amore opened the show on crutches, with a heel promo, continuing to say that he is the reason the cruiserweight division is relevant. After Neville's match against Ariya Daivari, Amore assaulted him with a crutch, completing a double turn between Amore and Neville, turning Amore heel for the first time since his NXT debut. The week after on Raw, Amore revealed another paper clause stating that any cruiserweight that tries to touch him will be fired. Subsequently, Kalisto was introduced as the newest member of the cruiserweight division and attacked Amore. On the October 9 episode of Raw, Amore lost the Cruiserweight Championship to Kalisto in a lumberjack match ending his reign at 15 days. However, he would regain the title in his rematch at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, via an illegal thumb shot to the eye behind the referee's back. At the Survivor Series Kickoff show, Amore successfully defended the title against Kalisto. In early 2018, Amore was unable to compete due to suffering from influenza. Amore was suspended from WWE on January 22 due to allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault, his match against Cedric Alexander at Royal Rumble for Cruiserweight Championship was cancelled. Amore was fired and released the next day and the title was vacated.