Real1 Recalls John Cena Asking To Join Him for a Promo Segment, Mistakes He Made in WWE

Former WWE Superstar Real1, aka Enzo Amore, appeared on the No-Contest Wrestling podcast this week, sharing a story about an interaction he had backstage in WWE with John Cena early in his career. Below are some highlights:

Real1 on his first time meeting John Cena

“The first time I was ever in the ring was because John Cena was at the day that I debuted in NXT. And I went to college at the same school John Cena did, chasing him, chasing my dream. I just thought if I went to Springfield College where the WWE Champion played football and I played football there, that I will get into the WWE. So, I went to Springfield. I met John Cena there as a freshman. He came to speak to the football team. I asked him, ‘How do I get in the WWE?’ He said, ‘Go to college, get your degree, have Coach Deong reach out to me when it’s over.’ And luckily, I got to the WWE without him. When I when I saw him in the hallway in NXT, he was there to keep the house for the dark segment, and I just said to him, ‘Hey man, take me home tonight.’ And he looked at me like, ‘What?’ And I was like, ‘That’s the song we played at Springfield College whenever we won a football game. Did they play it when you went there?’ And he looked at me like, ‘Yeah, yeah, they did play it.’ And then he kind of walked off and I he watched me debut.”

On John Cena asking him to come out to the ring with him for a dark segment

“Apparently he stood up backstage and repeated me. Bada boom, realest guy in the room. So he pulled me aside and I quote, he said, ‘I’ve been watching this show for three hours and nothing’s caught my attention until you came through the curtain. Would you like to come out to the ring and cut a promo with me in the dark section?’ Wow. And that moment I said to him, ‘That guy over there’s my tag team partner.’ But he wasn’t. Big Cass just became my tag team partner because I told John Cena he was. I didn’t know at the time I was green. I didn’t understand, you know, I was just going to get heat for doing something like that. But, I just, man, God came over me and I just trusted my intuition. And next thing you know, I’m out there with Big Cass. Damien Sandow is the intellectual savior of the masses. So, he fed me the line. You know, ‘this guy’s 7 feet tall and you can’t teach that. And if you’re so smart, how many dimples are there on a golf ball? Oh, you don’t know. There’s 168 dimples on a golf ball. You know how many there are on my hind end? Zero. You want to know why? Cuz I’m hard body. You know what you are? S-A-W-F-T, soft.'”

On the mistakes he made in WWE

“And hey man, I made my mistakes. Don’t ever ever get it twisted like I was some, you know, some saint over there, bro. I was Ric Flair in my best days. I was absolutely bending my elbow at the bar with the best of them trying to keep up with the big guys. And man, I just, you know, I fell flat on my face too many times. Bro, you can’t uh you can’t live that lifestyle and expect it if you’re burning the candle at both ends to not eventually fizzle out. So, you know, there was lessons learned in this life.”

As previously noted, Real1 (real name Eric Arndt) was released by WWE in early 2018 after it was revealed that a police investigation was being conducted into the wrestler regarding a rape allegation against him.

The case against Real1 was later closed after the Phoenix Police Department determined that they did not have sufficient evidence to carry on with an investigation.

If using any of the above quotes, please credit No-Contest Wrestling, with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.