This is certainly going to be a very polarizing interview, due to the controversial nature of its subject. That being said, I am able to tolerate Enzo, so I didn’t hesitate to watch this. I was happy that there was plenty of background on Enzo’s pre-wrestling days. He covers all of the careers he thought about before wrestling, including deejaying, boxing, moving (furniture, etc.), football, and journalism.
Enzo talks extensively about his gift of gab and how he developed it, including taking lessons from Shawn Michaels and Dusty Rhodes. In my book review of Sean Oliver’s second Kayfabe Commentaries book, I talk about Oliver explaining that “true pros are not afraid to share their ideas to the public because they know that nobody will ever be able to materialize those ideas like they can.” If you happen to agree with that mindset of Oliver’s, then it speaks highly of Enzo, as he reveals plenty of secrets to his own microphone success in this interview. He also claims that there were constantly limitations placed on his mic work in NXT and WWE, whether it was what he could say or for how long he could talk. He goes so far as to show viewers a physical book featuring thousands of pages of promo lines that he carried with him on the road.
Interviewer Rob Feinstein doesn’t ask questions often; Enzo does most of the talking, and that’s fine as his stories tend to be fairly engrossing, especially one about getting to interact with John Cena while only in NXT. On some occasions in this interview, especially when he is enunciating his accent, the viewer may tend to think he is staying in character, but I think that’s just how he is in real life – he’s always somewhat in character, and that kind of becomes evident in this interview. The animated nature that Enzo talks with tends to make even the most basic story at least moderately compelling.
As someone who didn’t see anywhere near his entire NXT and WWE runs, I have no idea whether Enzo’s high opinion of himself throughout this interview is warranted, but I was definitely entertained by what he was saying in this shoot interview most of the time. It is clear that he thinks he was very important in both NXT and WWE, as he talks about how they owe tons of merchandise and ticket sales to himself and Big Cass, and he claims that he has received offers for WrestleMania level money for indie appearances.
If you can stand Enzo (and not everyone can), this interview is very much worth a watch. All of his NXT trainers are addressed, and so are most of the names he encountered on the WWE main roster. Maybe the content was just fresh to me because I’ve seen so few candid interviews with Enzo other than this, but I was pleasantly surprised that in addition to the wrestling talk, you get a sense of Enzo’s attitudes on important non-wrestling topics like acting, self-marketing, and personal goals. If Enzo is your cup of tea, you are likely to enjoy this interview. If he’s not, steer clear because there is plenty of self-indulgence to go around.
Grade: A-
Purchase:
DIGITAL: http://store.rfvideonow.com/downloads/nzo-shoot-interview/, https://www.rfvideovault.com/media/nzo-shoot-interview/84821
DVD: http://www.rfvideo.com/nzoshootinterview.aspx
Index of topics discussed:
- small talk
- his fans
- his childhood
- his football days
- his college days and how he ran into disciplinary trouble
- whether he was familiar with wrestling before he got involved with it
- his video that went viral on Barstool Sports before he got into wrestling
- studying journalism
- his family’s history as deejays
- his days as a mover
- Joe DeFranco
- his tattoos
- being the manager of Hooters restaurants
- his WWE tryout tape
- meeting Triple H for the first time
- his physical book of promo lines
- his roast of the cruiserweights (very in-depth)
- his WWE tryout tape
- heat he had coming into the developmental locker room
- his WWE tryout match VS. CJ Parker (Juice Robinson)
- his WWE tryout promo
- meeting Big Cass for the first time
- Mojo Rawley
- the challenges of in-ring training
- his fandom of Shawn Michaels
- Pamela Anderson
- the grind of regularly traveling to shows with other developmental wrestlers
- Dusty Rhodes
- Norman Smiley
- his ring crew days
- Steve Keirn
- the name “Enzo Amore”
- Bill DeMott
- breaking his leg
- Simon Gotch (in-depth talk)
- Aiden English
- NXT promo class
- offers he’s gotten to perform on the indies
- getting paired with Carmella
- Dudley Boyz
- Vince McMahon
- getting chewed out by Triple H
- Bray Wyatt
- Cody Rhodes/AEW
- Dustin Rhodes
- almost getting terminated on several occasions
- Rob Naylor
- interacting with John Cena while still in NXT
- NXT writers
- Terry Taylor
- Ryback
- he and Cass’ merchandise sales
- leopard fashion
- the “glass ceiling” in WWE
- the purchase of other wrestling libraries by WWE
- wrestler payouts with the WWE Network
- The Revival
- the importance of physical mannerisms in wrestling
- being told that he and Cass were going to break up
- writing his own entrance music
- Chris Jericho
- Stephanie McMahon
- 205 Live
- Mustafa Ali
- Adrian Neville
- Cass’ injury
- his own injury
- whether he plans to get into the ring
- shoot interviews
- transcending wrestling by appealing to niche markets
- his rap career
- getting terminated from WWE
- Juice Robinson
- his Survivor Series 2018 invasion
RUN TIME: 2 hr. 52 min.
For more reviews, please visit:
Jon Barber Portfolio 