Enzo Amore Says NXT Was The First True Alternative To WWE

Former WWE star Enzo Amore (nZo) has discussed his time in NXT, calling the brand the first major alternative to the WWE main roster.

Enzo Amore is best known for his tag-team work alongside Big Cass (IMPACT’s W. Morrissey) in WWE and NXT. Speaking on Busted Open Radio, Amore has compared his era of NXT with AEW as true alternatives to WWE’s main brands.

Claiming that the real wrestling revolution began when NXT signed Finn Balor, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens and Neville (PAC), Amore said:

“When I saw what happened to Dusty, my mentor, he passes away,and Cody says ‘f**k it’ and he leaves the WWE and joins the likes of Kenny Omega and Young Bucks. They do All In, I saw it coming a mile away. I think guys like Finn Balor would tell you they saw it coming. We weren’t in the locker room so jaded that we said ‘oh WWE is the only show in town. No one else can rise up through these ranks and do this and blah, blah, blah.’

“I always felt like it would just take, in this new day and age in the social media era, it takes a garnering of certain audience. And NXT, people don’t realize that the alternative to WWE before it was these other promotions, was NXT. Before it was AEW, the audience that made me and Cass was the most hungry alternative audience you’ve ever seen in this business.

“The revolution started back then, it didn’t start with what Cody was doing right now. I saw this happen because we created something by poaching Samoa Joe, Finn Balor, El Generico, Kevin Owens (Kevin Steen at the time), Neville. You’re going out and grabbing all the likes of the greatest talent that’s out there and putting it under this alternative brand, under this home in WWE.

“And you’re having this women’s revolution at the same time because you’ve got Charlotte, Sasha, Bayley, Becky all under that house at one time. And tag team wrestling with Dawson and Dash and me and Cass.

“It was just a unique feel, it was an alternative route to the WWE. So when I saw this angle building from a million miles away, it was the smartest thing Cody could’ve ever done.”

WWE Hall of Famer and AEW analyst Mark Henry seems to agree with Amore, retweeting a clip of the interview with the caption:

“He was not wrong.”

Former NXT Champions Andrade El Idolo and Malakai Black have joined AEW within the last few months, with Black making his in-ring debut last week against Cody Rhodes.

Despite AEW’s success, Vince McMahon has admitted that he doesn’t see the promotion as competition to WWE. WWE reportedly plans to repackage NXT, reformatting the show to focus on larger and younger wrestlers.

Quote via Wrestling Inc. 

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• Enzo Amore
• AEW
• nxt
• wwe

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