Several years ago MLW star Simon Gotch gave a shoot interview regarding his time in WWE, where the former NXT tag champion unloaded on nZo (fka Enzo Amore) for being a klutz in the ring, and very difficult to get along with backstage.

One key aspect Gotch focused on was the 2016 WWE Payback pay-per-view, when he accidentally knocked nZo unconscious during a tag team match, a move that gave nZo a concussion, and reportedly gave Gotch a ton of backstage heat. You can see Gotch’s full rant, which includes him discussing the accident, here.

nZo spoke about his beef with Gotch during his latest interview with Inside The Ropes. In that chat the Realest Guy In The Room says that despite Gotch’s hatred for nZo, he credits himself for making the guy’s career more relevant than it actually is.

“Literally, he’s famous for that one thing. Nobody remembers any matches he had. Nobody remembers any good matches he had. Nobody remembers anything in his life except he’s the guy that knocked out Enzo. I guess he holds a grudge and he’s really upset about it.”

Later the former NXT cruiserweight champion admits that he has no hatred for Gotch, or anybody for that matter, nor would he waste a breathe on trying to argue with him.

“I don’t have any hate in my heart for anybody. if I saw him, I wouldn’t say a fuckin’ word to him, he’s not worth my breath. On this conversation, congratulations kid, I made you famous.”

nZo has been working steadily for MLW ever since returning to the ring last year.

(Quotes via Fightful)

nZo has a new landing spot and it’s none other than MLW.

The man formerly known as Enzo Amore in WWE has revealed to TMZ Sports that he’s signed a deal to appear at MLW War Chamber on Nov. 6. The action will be held inside the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, PA.

nZo made it clear that he has no plans of being one and done with MLW.

“Is MLW gonna be a one-off? Absolutely not. Line ’em up and knock ’em down.”

The former WWE star went on to say that whoever he is matched up with better be prepared to get the best version of him.

“Now it’s time for me to get in the ring with real competition and beat the hell outta them. I’m not playing games. If you can beat me up, then do it. I’m standing in from of you, I’m in the ring. And I don’t really need to talk to anybody in the back. If you wanna talk to me then feel free, but if I see you in the f***ing ring and you happen to be my opponent, just know I’m coming forward.”

nZo wanted ‘real competition’ and he will get it. MLW has announced nZo will debut at War Chamber against veteran grappler Matt Cross.

War Chamber Preview

MLW War Chamber is gearing up to be another huge event for Court Bauer’s fight league. In addition to nZo’s MLW debut, here’s the full card:

• WAR CHAMBER MATCH: Alex Hammerstone, EJ Nduka, Richard Holliday & ??? vs. CONTRA UNIT (Jacob Fatu, Mads Krugger, Josef Samael & Ikuro Kwon)

• OPERA CUP FINALS

• Ladder Match for the Vacant National Openweight Championship
  Alex Shelley vs. Myron Reed vs. Alex Kane vs. Zenshi vs. ???

• LA Park vs. “Notorious 187” Homicide

• nZo vs. Matt Cross

• Willow Nightingale vs. Holidead (with Dr Dax)

• Winner Gets Briefcase full or Cesar’s Cash!
  Aramis vs. Arez

Also signed to appear: Davey Richards, King Muertes, Warhorse and Calvin Tankman.

If you’re in the Philadelphia area, tickets are still available at MLWLive.com.

Lio Rush and nZo (FKA Enzo Amore) will kick off WrestleMania week this year by facing off against each other in a match to air on YouTube. Rush took to Twitter recently to announce the match between the two former WWE Cruiserweight Champions will take place on April 5th.

Rush has been wrestling for NJPW and MLW since being released from WWE last spring at the onset of the pandemic. He is currently both the AAA World Cruiserweight Champion and the MLW World Middleweight Champion. Rush has been performing on episodes of New Japan Strong from NJPW’s Los Angeles dojo as of late as well.

nZo hasn’t kept as active a wrestling schedule in recent years. He was in attendance for Big Cass (CazXL) making his return to pro wrestling recently, however.

Rush will also be at The Collective over Mania week. He released the following promo for the event:

GCW will be running shows on April 8th, 9th, and 10th in Florida during Mania week.

The 6th edition of Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport will take place the night of the 8th. Joey Janela’s Spring Break Spring Break 5 will take place the following night, as will Allie Kat’s “Real Hot Girl S**t” show. Social distancing measures will be in effect, masks will be mandatory, and all events will take place outside.

Enzo Amore, now known as nZo, will be returning to the ring on August 16th, 2019. He’ll face Brian Pillman Jr. on a stacked card for NEW Wrestling in Poughkeepsie, New York. Als appearing are Darby Allin, Dustin Rhodes, Luchasaurus & Jungle Boy, Jerry Lawler, David Arquette and Big Cass.

The show will be headlined by AEW stars Jon Moxley and Pentagon Jr., as Moxley returns to the United States after 5-weeks of competing in the G1 Climax 29.

Enzo sent out the following to his social media followers in regards to his in-ring return:

Enzo and Big Cass were involved in a segment with Jon Moxley at a previous NEW Show held earlier this summer as well.

• Jon Moxley Wrestles Big Cass w/Enzo At Independent Event (Video)

Enzo Hypes In-Ring Return

“August 16th, it’ll mark 572 days since the last time I stepped foot in a wrestling ring,” Enzo says in the video. “Coincidentally, it’ll be at the Mid-Hudson Civic Center, the same location as my last wrestling match I had which was the main event marquee headline of the first and only ever 205 Live cruiserweight tour.”

Enzo Visits Boy Battling Brain Cancer

Enzo also visited John Hoague-Rivette, a young boy battling brain cancer, in hospital recently. His visit was help coordinated by the World of Hurt wrestling promotion.

“John has been looking forward to it all day, he had all of his Enzo merch lined out,” said Kelly Slingerland, co-owner of World of Hurt. “It means everything to me to make somebody happy and put a smile on somebody’s face.”

Jon Moxley is currently wrestling for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) in the G1 Climax 29 tournament, but his schedule is filled with bookings for other promotions.

It was recently announced he would be wrestling against Josh Barnett at GCW’s Bloodsport II show.

Now it’s been confirmed that Moxley will be facing former WWE Superstar Big Cass, now known as Caz XL.

Northeast Wrestling announced Moxley versus Caz XL will be the main event for their Wrestling Under The Stars show in August.

nZo (fka WWE’s Enzo Amore) will be in Caz XL’s corner.

This announcement actually sees the payoff for a feud established last month in NEW.

nZo and Caz XL issued an open challenge—one that Moxley answered.

The Norwich Wrestling Under The Stars event features a number of names including Dustin Rhodes, Rhyno, Teddy Long, and Jerry Lawler, as well as WWE Japanese announcers Funaki and Shun Yamaguchi. Renee Young, who is married to Jon Moxley, will also be in attendance for an autograph session.

NEW’s Wrestling Under The Stars takes place on August 17th from Dodd Stadium in Norwich, CT.

It is part of a long weekend’s worth of NEW shows beginning on Friday 16th with their Prison Break event. Prison Break will see Jon Moxley face off against fellow AEW wrestler Pentagon Jr.

Like him or loathe him, Enzo Amore made a name for himself thanks to his notable mic skills.

Speaking on the Keeping It 100 With Konnan podcast, the former-WWE Superstar reflected on his start in pro wrestling, saying:

“I was 5 feet, 10 inches, 185 pounds, I was on a frickin’ moving truck here in New Jersey when I was discovered in a YouTube video and next thing you know I’m going to the WWE having no business, just thrown right into the fire. I don’t know how else to explain that. It’s like being taken off from the streets and being in WWE.”

“I Didn’t Ask For Permission”

Adjusting to the WWE mentality took some work for Amore. He admitted that he would go out of his way to avoid the scripted promos WWE’s creative team provided him. Instead, he would attempt to “remix” the script.

“So many times I was handed a script, and the script would change an hour into the show and I would try to remix it, and some of the writers hated that. But when Enzo Amore goes out there and goes off script and he comes back to the curtain he forgets the script,” he said.

He continued, stating that “The only person that really mattered was Vince McMahon, so I never gave a f*** about the writers. If a writer adds something terrible to the script and I wasn’t feeling it, I’m sorry bro. I didn’t ask for permission, I asked for forgiveness, and half the time I went out there and just said what I felt was better because who better than the guy that says ‘My Name is Enzo Amore’? I wrote that, and I hear everybody saying that with me.”

ROH “Invasion”

Enzo Amore and Big Cass “invaded” the ROH and NJPW co-promoted G1 Supercard show back in April. They ran in during the ending of the tag team championship matchup. The segment was met with skepticism and confusion at first, before being revealed to be a work.

It has been reported that they are already done with ROH, despite only having a singular appearance.

H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

One of the major talking points coming out of the G1 Supercard show from April 6th surrounded the supposed ‘invasion’ by Enzo and Big Cass.

The show, co-promoted by New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and Ring Of Honor (ROH), was interrupted during the conclusion of a four-way tag team championship match as a brawl broke out between the former WWE Superstars and ROH talent.

Now it seems that the duo may be done with the company before ever really starting.

According to Dave Meltzer via F4WOnline.com, neither Enzo nor Cass were present for ROH’s shows this past weekend. Additionally, they have not been scheduled for anything going forward.

Apparently, “key people were very upset” with the entire Enzo and Cass segment, with the whole angle being divisive.

The original plan would have been isolated by the barrier, with Enzo grabbing or shoving Mark Briscoe. This obviously didn’t happen, and things quickly escalated.

Presented as a shoot, it saw confusion spread throughout the crowd as people were unsure of what they were witnessing. ROH also refused to show the action on TV. Instead, they focused on their commentary team who also did their best to ignore it.

It’s been reported that NJPW talent weren’t informed this angle would take place. Recently, PCO, who was a participant, also claimed he had no idea Enzo and Big Cass would ‘invade.’

April 6th saw New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) and Ring Of Honor (ROH) put on a historic co-promoted show at Madison Square Garden in New York. One of the major stories to take place during their G1 Supercard show saw Enzo and Cass ‘invade’ the show.

The two— now known as nZo and CaZ XL, respectively—jumped the barricade during the ending of the tag team match that would see the Guerrillas of Destiny become the IWGP and ROH tag team champions. The ensuing chaos wasn’t shown on TV, leading people to initially believe that the former WWE Superstars were legitimately trying to make a name for themselves at the expense of the show. It wasn’t long, however, for the angle to be revealed as a work.

One of the men in the matchup, ROH’s PCO, recently spoke with Wrestling Inc. During their conversation, he would reveal that he had no idea about the controversial invasion.

“There was a lot of controversy about what happened. For me, I was just worrying about my back because I took a double powerbomb from 12-14 feet in the air straight to the concrete floor,” PCO confessed. “I didn’t know what was going on because nobody knew nothing about this [invasion]. I just came back from TV tapings in Pittsburgh and Columbus…and I got back yesterday, and there was no Enzo and no Cass at those events. I haven’t heard anything from the office, so I don’t know what’s going on with that. Are they signed? Are they not signed?”

“I’m In The Middle Of This And I’m Confused”

PCO admitted that he didn’t want to get “politically involved” with the situation when asked if he felt their involvement detracted from the match itself. He then alluded that the ROH office may even be working their own roster.

“It seems like sometimes the dressing room is getting worked by the office. I’m in the middle of this and I’m confused. I think everything will unfold and we’ll see what’s going on in the future. Maybe it was planned. Maybe it wasn’t planned. We’ll see how everything will evolve.”

It was initially reported that only the NJPW roster wasn’t made aware of nZo and Caz XL’s appearance—with Tama Tonga expressing how unimpressed he was with the situation. This interview with PCO definitely changes that, adding questions over why ROH would hide it from their own talent.

Since invading the G1 Supercard in Madison Square Garden last weekend, Enzo and Big Cass have announced they are reforming their tag team. Now known as the Free Agentz, nZo and CazXL say they aren’t signing any exclusive contracts and could potentially appear in any promotion.

One promoter/wrestler, GCW’s Joey Janela, sent a message to Enzo on Twitter. He challenged Enzo to appear on next year’s Bloodsport event:

For those unfamiliar with Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport, the annual event uses a more realistic style similar to the UWF promotion in Japan during the 1980s. Minoru Suzuki and Josh Barnett wrestled in the main event of the show this year.

Enzo posted the following to his Twitter account the next day:

Janela then issued the following response:

When asked if he actually has beef with Enzo, however, Janela stated he is just having fun.

Enzo and Big Cass Are The Free Agentz

Enzo and Cass told SI.com this week that they do not plan on signing any exclusive contracts. This would theoretically free up the pair to appear on a GCW show at some point in the future if Enzo and Janela plan on capitalizing off their online back-and-forth.

• Enzo & Big Cass: “This Is The Real-Life NWO”

“This is the real-life NWO,” said Enzo this week to Sports Illustrated. “We are not signing any exclusivity contracts, we are not signing a non-compete. We have all the right in the world to promote ourselves shamelessly and have as much fun as we want. If fans want to see us in a ring, then let their voices be heard.”

Enzo and Big Cass, now collectively known as the Free Agentz, don’t plan on signing exclusivity contracts with anyone, including Ring of Honor. They made that point clear during a recent interview with SI.com.

“This is the real-life NWO,” said Enzo. “We are not signing any exclusivity contracts, we are not signing a non-compete. We have all the right in the world to promote ourselves shamelessly and have as much fun as we want. If fans want to see us in a ring, then let their voices be heard.”

nZo & CazXL are the Free Agentz

Eric Arndt (formerly known as Enzo Amore) will now officially use nZo as his ring name. William Morrissey (formerly known as Big Cass) will now use the ring name CazXL.

“Our goal is to be the top act in the entire world of pro wrestling,” nZo continued. “In the social media era, we’re the f—ing Road Warriors. We’ve got nothing else to lose, so we’re going to take it all.”

nZo had once said is pro-wrestling career was over after being released from WWE. Several things have changed since he made those statements, however, including seeing is former friend Cass suffer a seizure at a House of Hardcore show.

“It’s been well-publicized that Cass had a health scare and suffered a seizure at a House of Hardcore wrestling event,” nZo stated. “Once I saw that footage, I thought about my friend—a guy I traveled the world with and had experiences that I can’t share with any other human—and I couldn’t risk losing that forever. Pride aside, I reached out.”

• Enzo and Big Cass Crash G1 Supercard

What’s Next For The Free Agentz?

CazXL noted that both he and nZo have had a turbulent last couple of years.

“We’ve had our personal differences and we’ve had our professional differences, and it’s no secret that we had a falling out,” admitted Cass. “We’re both fighters, we’ve been fighting our whole lives, and we’ve especially been fighting these past two years.”

nZo noted the team plan on cashing in on their large social media following.

 “Nobody in WWE, AEW, New Japan, Ring of Honor, or Impact has been given the opportunity we’ve had,” nZo continued. “We have a social media following, a presence, and a voice despite not working for a company right now. In order to take advantage of that, we plan on doing it in ways that have never been done before.”

He also noted they have other plans in the works as well.

“We are now business owners of our brand with creative control over our work, we own our own music, artwork, and merchandise. We have a television show in the works, and I can’t wait for the world to see it.”

The full interview can be read here.