Big Cass On What Movie Inspired His Ring Name, John Cena's Initial Reaction To Enzo, Dusty Rhodes
WWE Superstar and Fozzy frontman Chris Jericho recently spoke with the heavy of the duo Enzo and Cass, Big Cass. Among other things, Cass talked about getting his ring name, the influence of the late great Dusty Rhodes, and working a dark segment with sixteen-time world champion John Cena in NXT.
When asked how he got his ring name, the real life Bill Morrissey explained that he was told to make a list of 25 first names and 25 last names in FCW and the powers-that-be selected a first name and a last name from his picks and he ended up with the name Colin Cassady.
"I pitched so many names because when you get there, you just have to be pitching names. Yeah, and I'm just pitching. They asked me for a list of 25 first names and a list of 25 last names, so I pitched all these different name combinations." Cass recalled, "so I gave them a bunch of names I would have liked and just they chose one random first name from a name that I gave them with a different last name, but just a random last name from another name I gave them."
While 'The Babe Ruth Of Beatdowns' wanted the last name Costigan due to his fandom of the film, The Departed, its lead character, Billy Costigan, Rhodes' mind was set on the name Colin Cassady.
"I really liked the last name Costigan because my favorite movie is The Departed and Billy Costigan is the character in the movie. That's [Leonardo] DiCaprio, Billy Costigan. I really liked that last name and I was really pushing for that one. But, lo and behold, Colin Cassady, that was the name I was given. And, of course, you roll with it." Cass stated, "and then, I remember I went in to [see] Dusty and I was like, 'I don't know if I like that. I don't know if I like the name.' And he sits there and he looks just into midair as if he's looking at a billboard and he goes, 'Colin Cassady. That's it. Yes, that's what we're doing. Colin Cassady.' Dusty put the stamp on it. I was like, 'alright, let's do it.'"
On the subject of Rhodes, Cass claimed that words cannot express how influential
'The American Dream' was to everyone that went through FCW and NXT. Moreover, the NYU graduate professed that Rhodes' role at WWE Performance Center cannot be replaced.
"You can't put into words, man, just how influential he was to everyone. Anyone who went through FCW that's on the main roster and everyone in NXT that sat down with Dusty, tremendously influential and inspired by him. Just character-wise, promo-wise, he was always hands-on. He always had time for everybody even if you just knocked on his door and sat down. Sometimes I would just like to knock on his door adjust kind of shoot the s–t with him. Like, not even talk wrestling, just go in there and chat and talk movies and stuff. He loved movies. We would always talk about movies after promo class." Cass added, "anybody that went through NXT or FCW, just tremendously influenced by him. [Filling his role in developmental] can't be done. It can't be done. And just some of the stories he would tell. He's going to be missed forever, man. You can't replace that guy."
In 2012, Cena asked Enzo and Cass to do a dark segment with him at NXT. According to 'The Queens Cowboy', that night was the first time a live audience heard the 'sawft' catchphrase and the pair was booked on NXT consistently after that.
"[Enzo] cut a promo on the way to the ring [in a match versus Mason Ryan] and Cena was there, backstage, because, back then, NXT needed some WWE guys to draw the house. Cena was there and he said, 'oh, who's that guy? Great promo.' And then, he started asking around and then I remember it was Tyler Breeze sitting there and Tyler Breeze was like, 'oh, that's Enzo. Him and Big Cass, you should see this schtick that they do. It's really funny.' And Cena was like, 'okay, are you kidding? Are they actually really good?' And Breeze said, 'yeah, I'll put my stamp on it' and [Cena] goes, 'which one's Cass?' and [Breeze] pointed to me. So Cena was going out there at the end of the night to do a dark segment with Sandow. They had nothing? Damien Sandow and they had nothing planned. So five minutes before [Cena] went out, he came up to me and Enzo in the viewing area and he asked us, 'would you mind coming out and doing the dark segment with us, me and Sandow?' And we were like, 'well, yeah, of course, yeah!' He was like, can you get your gear on real quick?' So me and Enzo [replied] 'yep', so me and Enzo ran down to the locker room, we put our gear on, and we ran through the auditorium, through the viewing area, all the way to gorilla [position] and Cena was already out there with Sandow. We don't know what's going on. We have nothing planned, but me and Enzo just know that we have so much material from promo class. We go out there. We had endless material because me and Enzo used to sit in my living room every Tuesday night down in Tampa [Florida], pretty much how we're sitting right now, I'd be on the couch and he'd be on the chair and we'd just stay up till we had a promo for the next day. We had so much material from those Tuesday nights."
Cass continued, "so we went out there. Our music hit. And Cena's like, 'here are my two friends.' And we came out. The fans at Full Sail [University] had no idea who we were. They recognized Enzo as the guy who cut a promo and got his head smashed in. Never. Yeah. We walk out there and we pretty much start cutting a promo on Sandow and Cena joins in. And then, Enzo said something about Sandow having a soft ass, like, 'there are more dimples in your ass than there [are] in a golf ball.' And he said, 'you're S-A-W-F-T, soft.' And the fans kind of started saying 'sawft'. And then, Cena was like, 'what, guys? What did you guys just say?' 'S-A-W-F-T, soft' and we kept repeating it. And then, Cena was like, 'that's right, S-A-W-F-T, soft.' So that segment ended, Sandow went through a table, everyone went home happy. As we were leaving Full Sail, the fans there, they stay for autographs and stuff, and we were walking to our car and me and Enzo were leaving together and everybody was just saying 'sawft' and 'S-A-W-F-T' as we were leaving the building, so we knew something had caught on there and from then on we started getting booked on NXT."
Hear the Pod Of Jericho – listen in, man. If you use any of the quotes that appear in this article, please credit Talk Is Jericho with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Talk Is Jericho