Enzo Amore has looked back on the night he was in a bar with Steve Austin and Shane McMahon the night before his WWE debut.
Alongside Big Cass, Amore made his debut on the Raw after WrestleMania 32 in 2016. Interrupting The Dudleys and receiving a great reception from the raucous Raw after Mania crowd, the tag team left a very lasting first impression and quickly became one of the most popular acts on the roster.
Having appeared on Austin’s podcast 2 days prior but not being aware of the main roster call-up at the time, Amore took advantage of the Hall of Famer being in the same hotel as him to get some advice from one of the all-time greats. At WrestleMania 32, Austin made a brief cameo appearance alongside Shawn Michaels and Mick Foley to take down The League of Nations.
Speaking exclusively with Inside The Ropes’ Kenny McIntosh, Amore recalled being told that he and Cass are being called up and approaching Stone Cold:
“Basically, Saturday me and Big Cass did Stone Cold’s podcast the day of TakeOver and the next day is WrestleMania. We don’t know that we’re debuting. So we sit through a whole Stone Cold podcast not knowing we’re about to be on Raw, and we don’t tell Stone Cold. So we go to TakeOver and they bum rush us with cameras, tell us to go and meet with Hunter, and then they tell us we are gong to debut on Raw.
Now we’re coming to work we find out we are with the Dudleys, I find out that that’s who we’re debuting against. But we don’t know if we’re wrestling or cutting a promo or both. So I show up to the WrestleMania hotel Sunday night. So I found out Saturday night I’m going to Raw, so we watch WrestleMania all day knowing we’re going to be on Raw tomorrow. I get to the hotel after Mania is over and the lobby is just riddled with all of the greats in pro wrestling because it’s the WWE hotel.
As I’m walking up to my room, because I’m debuting the next day, I’m not going to the WrestleMania after party. I have no desire to go drink or anything. I’m going to rehearse my promo. I don’t know if I have a match. And I see Stone Cold in the lobby at the bar, and he’s with DDP. So I walked over to say hello to Stone Cold.
I just said ‘Hey man’, and he just turned and popped for me, at the time Austin loved Enzo and Cass in NXT. So I just wanted to let him know I’m going to Raw tomorrow. If you don’t mind, I don’t know what you’re doing tomorrow, maybe you can tune in, it’d be cool if I know that Stone Cold is watching me debuting.”
Continuing, Amore recalled the advice he was given by The Texas Rattlesnake:
“So I went up to Stone Cold. And I just wanted to say ‘Hey, man, can I get some advice?’ The moment I asked Stone Cold for advice. Mind you, there’s a glass wall with a bunch of marks standing outside of the hotel who can all see inside the hotel lobby. There’s so many marks out there trying to get an eye view to see who’s talking to who and sh*t.
Bro for an hour Stone Cold looked at me and [said] ‘Oh, you’re debuting tomorrow?’ Laser beam [eyes] sucked me right in. I was sitting there and he just wouldn’t look at anyone else in the whole bar the night after WrestleMania for like an hour straight giving me advice, and it was gospel.
But the gist of this advice was pretty much like DTA, get your sh*t in, pull no punches, and if you’re going against the Dudley’s tomorrow then f*ck them. Do whatever the f*ck you think is necessary to get yourself over. Don’t even think about them at all. And this is Stone Cold talking to me. [He said] They had their time, it’s your time, go take it. And I’m like, holy sh*t.”
As the conversation went on, Amore recalled Shane McMahon arriving halfway through with his family and how Austin would not detract his gaze from the former WWE star:
So now I’m in the hotel after that night talking to Stone Cold and Shane McMahon walks up. Shane McMahon is standing behind Stone Cold. And Stone Cold is dead set on talking to me. And I’m like, I’ve never met Shane. This is the boss of the company’s son, how do I tell Stone Cold that Shane McMahon is waiting to talk to him for about 10-15 minutes with his kids and his wife?
I’m not joking. It’s getting very awkward and DDP is standing there. And I feel him [McMahon] looking at me and Austin. But Austin is so good at giving me this great advice and I’m just like, trying not to be rude to Shane but at the same time, I’m taking the advice.”
“I’m Trying To Teach You How To Get Over”: Steve Austin To Enzo Amore
Finally building up the courage to interrupt Austin, the former Cruiserweight Champion told Austin that McMahon wanted to speak to him before Austin ignored the request before finally acknowledging McMahon, having known he was there the whole time:
“Finally I kind of like break, and I’m like, Hey Austin, I want to tell them that Shane’s there. And he goes ‘Son, shut the f*ck up and look at me. I’m trying to teach you how to get over.’ That’s what he says, and DDP will attest to this. So I’m standing there and I’m like, okay, so I just shut the f*ck up. And he goes on for another 10 or 15 minutes.
Then all of a sudden he goes, ‘Hey, Shane, how are you brother?’ He knew he was there the whole time, bro! He was big leaguing him! He was big boying him, he was being Stone Cold! But I’m just a young boy, not realising what’s going on. And to this day, like the most awkward, weird wildest scenario to find yourself in.”
The next day Enzo and Cass are about to make their debut on Raw. Running into McMahon, Amore felt compelled to set the record straight on the night before:
“So the very next day, I see Shane McMahon at Raw, we’re debuting and I walk up to Shane McMahon. And I’m like one on one with him in a hallway. So it’s kind of like I gotta say hello. And I’m like, Hey, man, how are you? I wanted to introduce myself. [I say] ‘I’m Enzo Amore, I was with Steve.’ He goes ‘I know.’ I was like, ‘I’m sorry I didn’t [mean anything bad].’ He’s like, it was just Steve being Steve, don’t worry.'”
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