Enzo Amore

Enzo Amore
Amore in February 2015
Birth name	Eric Anthony Arndt[1]
Born	(1986-12-08) December 8, 1986[2] Waldwick, New Jersey, United States[1]
Alma mater	Salisbury University
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Enzo Amore[3] Eric Anthony[2]
Billed height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[3]
Billed weight	200 lb (91 kg)[3]
Billed from	Hackensack, New Jersey[3]
Trained by	WWE Performance Center[3] Perry Saturn
Debut	October 25, 2012[2]

Eric Anthony Arndt^[1] (born December 8, 1986)^[2] is an American professional wrestler.^[1] He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Enzo Amore.^[3]

Early life

Arndt was born in Hackensack, New Jersey^[1] but grew up in Waldwick, New Jersey. There, he attended Julia A. Traphagen School and Crescent School and Waldwick High School, where he also played football.^[1] Arndt continued his football career at Division III (NCAA) Salisbury University, playing linebacker and safety for the Sea Gulls from 2007-2009.^[1][4][5] Arndt ultimately earned a degree in journalism.^[1] He formerly worked as a disc jockey for the New York Jets,^[4] a piano mover, and a manager at Hooters.^[1]

Professional wrestling career

WWE

Enzo and Cass (2012–present)

Arndt had no prior wrestling experience before WWE signed him.^[6] He had trained with Joe DeFranco at the DeFranco's Training Systems gym in Wyckoff, New Jersey since the age of 16. By chance, WWE executive Triple H also started training with DeFranco; Arndt, a lifelong fan of professional wrestling, made a compilation video of himself doing various exercises and cutting a promo. When DeFranco showed the video to Triple H, Arndt was given a tryout at WWE,^[6] ultimately resulting in his signing.^[1] In August 2012, WWE was noted to have signed Arndt, then under the ring name Eric Anthony.^[7][8] He was listed as a wrestler by the ring name of Enzo Amore within WWE's developmental system NXT by November 2012.^[1][9]

Amore (right) with Colin Cassady at WrestleMania Axxess in March 2015

Amore made his NXT television debut, being described as a "stereotypical cocky, Jersey Shore loudmouth" and an "outsized version of the man playing the part",^[1] on May 22, 2013, where he was quickly defeated by Mason Ryan.^[10] Amore went on to form an alliance with Colin Cassady,^[11] who had also previously lost to Ryan,^[12] and they labelled themselves "the realest guys in the room".^[11][13][14] In real life, Arndt (Amore) first met Bill Morrissey (Cassady) when Morrissey was 15, when they played basketball together at the Cage of Manhattan, New York nearly 10 years before reuniting on NXT in August 2013.^[4] Despite Amore and Cassady's alliance, Ryan easily defeated them in consecutive singles matches in July,^[15] but lost to them in a handicap match.^[13] Ryan ultimately had the last laugh when he caused Amore and Cassady to be attacked by Tons of Funk.^[14] After the feud with Ryan, Amore and Cassady went on to feud with Alexander Rusev, Sylvester Lefort and Scott Dawson.^[16][17] On the September 25 episode of NXT, Amore and Cassady participated in a gauntlet match for a future shot at the NXT Tag Team Championship; they started the match, first defeating CJ Parker and Tyler Breeze, then beating Rusev and Dawson, but fell to their final opponents, The Ascension.^[18]

Amore and Cassady being managed by Carmella in March 2015

In November 2013, Amore suffered a broken leg while training.^[19] Amore returned on June 26, 2014 episode of NXT, saving Cassady from an attack from Sylvester Lefort and Marcus Louis.^[20] In early August, Amore and Cassady participated in the NXT Tag Team Championship tournament. They defeated Jason Jordan and Tye Dillinger in the first round, but were eliminated by The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch) in the second round.^[21][22] 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 which Amore won, but Lefort ran away, leaving his partner Louis to lose his hair and eyebrows at the hands of Amore and Cassady.^[23] Amore and Cassady formed 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.^[24][25] Carmella had her televised in-ring debut on the October 16, 2014 episode of NXT.^[26] Among the trainers at NXT, Amore singled out Bill DeMott and Dusty Rhodes as being instrumental in his training and promos respectively.^[6]

On the March 11, 2015 episode of NXT, Amore and Cassady defeated The Lucha Dragons in a No. 1 contenders match for the NXT Tag Team Championship. At NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable, Amore and Cassady faced Blake and Murphy for the title in a losing effort, following interference by Alexa Bliss. In December, Amore and Cassady began a feud with Dash and Dawson, where they challenged them for the NXT Tag Team Championship at both NXT TakeOver: London and Roadblock in losing efforts. On March 24, 2016, Apollo Crews, Enzo and Cass defeated NXT Champions The Revival and Baron Corbin.^[27]

On the Raw after Wrestlemania 32, Amore and Cassady debuted on the main roster (without Carmella) and confronted The Dudley Boyz.^[28] A week later on SmackDown, Amore and Cassady defeated The Ascension in a tournament to determine the No. 1 contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championship.^[29] The team went on to defeat the Dudley Boyz on the following week's Raw in the semi-final of the tag team tournament, advancing them to the finals. In the finals, Enzo and Cass faced the Vaudevillains at Payback, with the match ending in a no contest after Amore suffered a legitimate concussion during the match.^[30] At Money in the Bank, Enzo and Cass faced The New Day, The Vaudevillains and Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, in a fatal-four way tag team match for the WWE Tag Team Championship, in which The New Day retained their titles. On the July 4 episode of Raw, Enzo and Cass helped John Cena, who was getting attacked by The Club, involving themselves in the feud between Cena and The Club. At Battleground, Enzo and Cass teamed with Cena to defeat The Club in a six-man tag team match. In the 2016 WWE draft, Enzo and Cass were drafted to Raw.^[31] Following Battleground, Enzo and Cass proceeded to feud with Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho, which culminated at SummerSlam, where the two lost to Jericho and Owens.

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. On the November 21, 2016 edition of Raw Enzo Amore walked around the hallway naked 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.

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • Air Enzo (Diving splash)
• Signature moves
  • DD-G (Diving DDT)
  • Dropkick
  • Hurricanrana
  • Running crossbody
  • Suicide dive
  • Tornado DDT (sometimes while standing)
  • Headscissors takedown
• With Colin Cassady/Big Cass
  • Double team finishing moves
    • Bada Boom Shakalaka (Rocket Launcher)^[32][33]
• Nicknames
  • "A Certified G and a Bona-Fide Stud"^[11]
  • "Jersey's Finest"^[3]
  • "Realest Guy in the Room"^[3]
  • "Smacktalker Skywalker"^[3]
  • "The Michael Jordan of Jargon"^[3]
  • "Muscles Marinara"
• Managers
  • Carmella^[34]
• Entrance themes
  • "Italian Lover" by Raphael Lake (NXT)
  • "SAWFT is a Sin" by CFO$ featuring Enzo Amore^[35] (NXT/WWE; May 30, 2014–present)

Championships and accomplishments

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Ranked No. 122 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2016^[36]
• WWE NXT
  • NXT Tag Team of the Year (2015) with Colin Cassady^[37]

Luchas de Apuestas record

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Enzo Amore.

• Enzo Amore on WWE.com
• Enzo Amore on Twitter
  
• Enzo Amore on Instagram