Former WWE star Enzo Amore (who now goes under the name Real1) was never “S-A-W-F-T” on the microphone, nor when climbing the ranks from a developmental wrestler in “WWE NXT,” to a weekly draw on the main roster. However, at one point during his meteoric rise, there was a hiccup. A massive one, at that. When faced with an on the fly challenge that either granted him another day on the payroll or a let go for good, the current 4th Rope Flyweight Champion credits this current AEW champion for helping him keep his job back then.
“There was a time where Scott Dawson, from FTR, one of the best workers out there…saved my job and his job at the same damn time,” the former two-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion said in his interview on “No-Contest Wrestling” “He was a vet. I was greener than goose s**t, and we were both on the edge of getting fired. And they called us both in the ring. Scott locked up with me and said, ‘Shut the f**k up and just listen.’ I went, ‘All right, no problem. I’ll do that.’ So, I just listened to Scott… I’ve only been wrestling for, like, three weeks… I knew from watching it my whole life…that selling is where the money’s at…So, I just sold around the ring, and we went back and forth at things. But that match, we both ended up bleeding in the face, and they had to call it. So, there was no finish…I owed Dax Harwood, because he was the first one to save my job the first time.”
Whether working alongside Big Cass (known now in AEW as Big Bill) or solo, Amore continued perfecting the art of selling, even at one point becoming the pinnacle face of the cruiserweight division. Unfortunately, Amore’s rise snowballed into a major demise soon after, when allegations of sexual assault were brought to the company’s attention, ending his six-year tenure in 2018. He went on to briefly appear for NJPW, then MLW from 2021 to 2023, but left after the company and he couldn’t see eye-to-eye on scheduled appearances and opponents. The current star now works for 4th Rope Wrestling.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “No-Contest Wrestling Podcast/The Rich Eisen Show” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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