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Enzo and Cass

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Enzo and Cass
Enzo (right) and Cass (left) in March 2015
Tag team
MembersEnzo Amore / nZo
Colin Cassady / Big Cass / CaZXL
Name(s)Enzo and Cass[1][2]
Enzo Amore and Big Cass
Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady[3]
FreeAgentZ
Billed heightsEnzo Amore:
5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Big Cass:
6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Combined
billed weight		477 lb (216 kg)
Billed fromHackensack, New Jersey (Enzo Amore)
Queens, New York (Big Cass)
Former
member(s)		Carmella (manager)
DebutJuly 3, 2013
Years active2013–2017
2019
2022

FreeAgentZ (formerly known as Enzo and Cass)[4] were an American professional wrestling tag team composed of nZo and CaZXL.[1][2] The duo are best known for their tenure with WWE, from 2013 to 2017, under the respective ring names, Enzo Amore and Big Cass. After their separate departures from the WWE, the two reunited in 2019, when they appeared at G1 Supercard.

History

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Early years

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Arndt and Morrissey first met each other whilst in their mid-teens during a game of basketball at The Cage in Manhattan, New York, nearly ten years before reuniting in WWE's developmental territory NXT, in July 2013.

WWE

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NXT (2013–2016)

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On May 22, 2013, Enzo Amore debuted on NXT television, where he was quickly defeated by Mason Ryan.[5] Colin Cassady debuted on NXT television on June 5, with a loss to Mason Ryan.[6][7] On the July 3 episode of NXT, Amore and Cassady went on to form an alliance,[8] and they labelled themselves "the realest guys in the room".[8][9] Despite Amore and Cassady's alliance, Ryan easily defeated them in consecutive singles matches in July,[10] but lost to them in a handicap match.[9] After the feud with Ryan, Amore and Cassady went on to feud with Alexander Rusev, Scott Dawson and their manager Sylvester Lefort, turning face in the process.[11][12] 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 (Konnor and Viktor).[13] In November 2013, Amore suffered a broken leg while training, which led Cassady to try his hand at singles competition.[14]

Amore and Cassady being managed by Carmella in March 2015

Amore returned on June 26, 2014 episode of NXT, saving Cassady from an attack from Sylvester Lefort and Marcus Louis.[15] 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.[16][17] 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.[18] Amore and Cassady then 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 professional wrestler.[19][20] Carmella had her televised in-ring debut on the October 16, 2014 episode of NXT.[21] On the March 11, 2015 episode of NXT, Amore and Cassady defeated The Lucha Dragons to become the number one contenders for the NXT Tag Team Championship. At NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable, Amore and Cassady faced Blake and Murphy for the title in a losing effort after interference from 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 unsuccessfully. On the April 20 episode of NXT, the two took on the newly crowned NXT Tag Team Champions American Alpha, in a friendly non-title bout where they failed to defeat them, this was Amore and Cassady's last appearance in NXT.

Main roster (2016–17)

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On the Raw after WrestleMania 32, Amore and Cassady debuted on the main roster and confronted The Dudley Boyz.[22] A week later on SmackDown, Amore and Cassady defeated The Ascension in their main roster debut, in a tournament to determine the number one contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championship.[23] 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, they faced The Vaudevillains at Payback, with the match ending in a no contest after Amore suffered a legitimate concussion during the match.[24] Around this time, Cassady's ring name changed to his former nickname, Big Cass. At the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, 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, but The New Day retained their titles. On the July 4 edition 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. As a result, Enzo and Cass teamed with Cena to face The Club in a six-man tag team match at Battleground, which they won.

On July 19 at the 2016 WWE draft, Enzo and Cass were drafted to Raw brand.[25] Following Battleground, Enzo and Cass proceeded to feud with Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens. The feud culminated at SummerSlam in a tag team match, which would ultimately be won by Jericho and Owens. On the August 22 episode of Raw, Cass, managed by Amore, defeated Rusev by count-out to qualify for a fatal-four way elimination match for the vacant Universal Championship. The next week on Raw, Cass faced Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens for the title, where he was the first man eliminated. 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, in which their team won. On the November 21 episode of Raw, after Amore was locked out of the locker room naked by Cass as a practical joke and ran into Lana in the hallway, her husband Rusev challenged Amore to a match later that night, in which Amore was quickly defeated. On the December 5 episode of Raw, after Amore stood up for Lana after seeing her and Rusev argue backstage, Lana invited Amore to her hotel room. Later that night, this was revealed to be a trap when Rusev attacked Amore in the hotel room. Over the following weeks, Enzo and Cass feuded with Rusev and Jinder Mahal.[26] Cass lost a handicap match against Rusev and Jinder Mahal before teaming up with Amore to defeat the duo twice, ending the feud. On the February 20, 2017 episode of Raw, they would become the number one contenders for the Raw Tag Team Championship by defeating Cesaro and Sheamus. At Fastlane, they failed to capture the titles from Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. On April 2 at WrestleMania 33, Enzo and Cass participated in a fatal-four way ladder match for the Raw Tag Team Championship against defending champions Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, Cesaro and Sheamus, and the returning Hardy Boyz, where The Hardy Boyz emerged victorious. The following night on Raw, Amore and Cass were defeated by Cesaro and Sheamus in a tag team match to determinate the number one contenders for the Raw Tag Team Championship.

Split and feud (2017)

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On the May 22 episode of Raw, when Amore was attacked, Cass would tell the General Manager Kurt Angle to find the attacker before he does. The next week, Cass would accuse Corey Graves, then The Revival as Amore's attackers. On the June 5 episode of Raw, Cass was mysteriously attacked in the same manner as Amore and blamed his attack on Big Show, but Show denied this allegation. On the June 19 episode of Raw, it was revealed by Corey Graves that Cass was behind the attacks on Amore and that he faked his own attack in order to lure away suspicion that he was the attacker. Cass stated his frustration during his time teaming with Amore by accusing him of holding him down, calling him "dead weight". Cass then delivered a big boot to Amore, thus turning heel and disbanding the team. The following week on Raw, Amore called out Cass in order to make up and leave the attacks in the past. Cass would supposedly accept Amore's speech, but then attack him when they went up the entrance ramp. On July 9, Cass defeated Amore at Great Balls of Fire event.

They continued to feud for the duration of the summer, with Amore eventually befriending Big Show. Show and Cass' ensuing series of altercations culminated in a match at SummerSlam with Amore locked inside a shark cage which hung over the ring. Although Amore escaped the cage, he was easily taken out by Cass, who would go on to defeat Big Show. On the August 21 episode of Raw, Cass faced Amore in a Street Fight, which Amore won by referee stoppage after Cass suffered a legitimate knee injury.

Post-WWE (2018)

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In 2018, Arndt and Morrissey were released at separate times from WWE. Arndt was released by WWE on January 23 while Morrissey was released on June 19. Arndt pursued a rap music career under the moniker "Real1" and later "nZo", whilst Morrissey worked limited independent wrestling bookings.

Ring of Honor (2019)

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Arndt and Morrissey reunited at the G1 Supercard show at Madison Square Garden. Following a tag team match involving Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro-Wrestling talent, the two jumped the barricade and attacked several wrestlers.[27] The broadcast cameras cut away from the incident to indicate a legit outside attack, but it was later reported the angle was a worked shoot.[27] Soon thereafter, the pair gave an interview with Sports Illustrated announcing that they had reformed as a tag team - now known as "nZo" (Arndt) and "CaZXL" (Morrissey).[4] Collectively, they would be known as "FreeAgentZ".

Other media

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The team appears in three video games: WWE 2K16, WWE 2K17 and WWE 2K18.[28][29][30][31]

Championships and accomplishments

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Draft rules revealed: Everything you need to know about the WWE Draft". WWE. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  2. ^ a b "WWE SMACKDOWN SPOILERS: THE CLUB VS. ENZO & CASS; CHRIS JERICHO VS. DEAN AMBROSE". Figure Four Wrestling Online. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  3. ^ "NXT Tag Team Champions The Revival def. Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady". WWE. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Enzo Amore and Big Cass are back as nZo and CazXL". SI.com. 12 April 2019.
  5. ^ James, Justin. "James's WWE NXT report 5/15 & 5/22: El Generico debuts, O'Brian beats two NXT releases in same match, Bray Wyatt debuts mask, Natalya vs. Rae, more developments". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  6. ^ Bongiovanni, Darren. "Looking at the WWE & TNA win–loss records: Week 23". PWInsider.com. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
  7. ^ James, Justin. "James's WWE NXT results 5/29 & 6/5: Wyatts defend Tag Titles, NXT Women's Title introduced, #1 contender battle royal, Parade of released NXT wrestlers in matches". PWTorch.com. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
  8. ^ a b Saxton, Byron. "Colin Cassady & Enzo Amore: 'The Realest Guys in the Room' – Page 2". WWE. Archived from the original on August 23, 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
  9. ^ a b James, Justin. "James's WWE NXT report 7/10: Wyatts vs. Team Regal six-man main event, NXT Women's Title tourney continues, Generico (Zayn), Mason Ryan, set-up for Charlotte's debut". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  10. ^ James, Justin. "James's WWE NXT report 7/3 – WEEK 53: Bo Dallas defends NXT Title, Women's Tourney continues, Mason Ryan". PWTorch. Retrieved August 9, 2013.
  11. ^ James, Justin. "James's WWE NXT report 9/11". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  12. ^ James, Justin. "James's WWE NXT report 10/9". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  13. ^ "James's WWE NXT report 9/25 – Week 65: Triple H makes "big announcement," Ohno/Hero returns, Zayn/Generico in action, Overall Reax". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  14. ^ Saxton, Byron. "Riding solo: Can Colin Cassady go it alone?". WWE. Archived from the original on April 23, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
  15. ^ Justin, James. "James's WWE NXT report 6/26 – Week 104: RVD faces NXT champion Neville, Summer Rae, Overall Reax". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
  16. ^ James, Justin. "James's WWE NXT report 8/7 – Week 110: Rose finds his way into Zayn vs. Kidd & Gabriel issue, Overall Reax". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 23, 2014.
  17. ^ Namako, Jason. "WWE NXT results – 8/21/14 (Rose/Zayn vs. Cara/Kalisto)". WrestleView. Archived from the original on February 8, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  18. ^ Howell, Nolan. "Neville shocks, defies odds at NXT Takeover: Fatal 4 Way". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on September 12, 2014. Retrieved September 13, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  19. ^ Namako, Jason (7 September 2014). "WWE NXT Results – 9/4/14 (Tag Tournament Finals)". WrestleView. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  20. ^ Namako, Jason (19 September 2014). "WWE NXT Results – 9/18/14 (Hideo Itami in-ring debut)". WrestleView. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  21. ^ Trionfo, Richard. "WWE NXT report: one move to win a match; a Diva debuts; Zayn versus Kidd; and an update on Mojo Rawley". PWInsider. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  22. ^ Caldwell, James. "4/4 WWE Raw Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Report on post-WM32". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
  23. ^ "WWE SMACKDOWN RESULTS – 4/14/16 (SAMI ZAYN VS. CHRIS JERICHO IN MAIN EVENT, NO. 1 CONTENDERS TAG TEAM TOURNAMENT CONTINUES)". wrestleview.com. 15 April 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  24. ^ Caldwell, James. "5/1 WWE Payback Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Live Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
  25. ^ Caldwell, James (July 24, 2016). "7/24 WWE Battleground Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
  26. ^ Hanstock, Bill (December 26, 2016). "Enzo and Cass feud with Jinder Mahal and Rusev". Uproxx.com. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  27. ^ a b "Enzo and Big Cass make appearance at ROH-NJPW G1 Supercard". WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, UFC News, UFC results. April 6, 2019.
  28. ^ "Superstars and Divas featured on WWE 2K16 roster list". WWE. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  29. ^ "WWE 2K17 roster: All confirmed wrestlers and characters". Sportskeeda. 16 September 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  30. ^ "WWE 2K17 roster: All confirmed wrestlers and characters". Sportskeeda. September 16, 2016. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  31. ^ Artus, Matthew (January 16, 2018). "WWE 2K18 roster: Meet the Superstars joining the list of playable characters". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on January 26, 2023. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  32. ^ a b "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2016". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  33. ^ Herzog, Ken (December 21, 2016). "10 Best WWE Wrestlers of 2016". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  34. ^ Zimmerman, Zack. "1/13 Zim's WWE NXT Live Coverage: Battle Royal to determine Bayley's next challenger for the NXT Women's Championship, Dash and Dawson vs. The Ascension, plus Elias Sampson and Tommaso Ciampa in action". prowrestling.net. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
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