John Cena hands Enzo Amore his first WWE break in 2012 NXT dark segment

John Cena handed Enzo Amore his first big break in WWE on a 2012 NXT dark segment after spotting him at a tryout.

Enzo Amore revealed how Cena, then a 14-time world champion, pulled him aside at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando. Amore had just finished a poor showing under Bill DeMott when Rob Naylor told him Cena wanted to see him. Amore sprinted across the parking lot to find Cena waiting with the locker-room crew already clapping.

Cena told Amore he’d spent three hours watching tryouts and Amore was the only performer who’d caught his eye. He offered Amore a spot in a dark segment and Amore accepted instantly. With Cena’s approval and Triple H’s sign-off, Big Cass joined the segment as Amore’s seven-foot-tall tag partner.

Cena’s intervention came at a pivotal moment for NXT’s 2012 class, which included Charlotte Flair, Baron Corbin and Mojo Rawley. His public endorsement gave Amore and Cass immediate credibility. The dark segment aired with Amore’s new catchphrase “SAWFT,” short for “Solid And Well-Founded Toughness,” after he ribbed Cena about dimples on a golf ball.

Within weeks, Amore cut a televised squash match on NXT. Four years later, he and Cass debuted on the main roster in summer 2016. Their rise culminated in a six-man tag at WWE Battleground in July 2016 where they teamed with Cena.

Amore called Cena’s words the push he needed. “John Cena got me and Cass over, gave us the rub,” he said. “Triple H gave me a squash match. Don’t know if it was supposed to be a one-time thing, but I lingered there for seven long years.”

He credited Cass as his mentor who taught him in-ring basics and promo psychology. Amore also named Dusty Rhodes his best promo instructor, insisting Rhodes drilled him weekly to stand out.

Amore left WWE in 2022 after seven years on the main roster. Cass departed in 2018. Cena remains retired from in-ring competition but still appears in WWE as a corporate ambassador.

*Quotes transcribed by Emilio Sparks; credit Wrestling Inc.*