Enzo Amore Talks WWE Fines For Marijuana And CBD, How Many WWE Stars Smoke Pot

As previously noted, former WWE Superstars Enzo Amore and Big Cass were guests on Talk Is Jericho. Among many other things, Enzo shared a story about waiting 7 months to get his WWE ring name. According to Enzo, he was not given a ring name for several months into his FCW/NXT run. Apparently, more high profile signees such as pro footballers Mojo Rawley and Baron Corbin and pro wrestling royalty Charlotte Flair received their ring names much sooner.

"I remember when we were in the WWE, I was told I was going to be fired, so I didn't think I was ever going to get a name," Enzo recalled. "Do you know what I mean? So Mojo [Rawley] got a name, like, 2 weeks in. Like, Baron Corbin who came from the NFL got a name like 3 weeks later. Charlotte [Flair] got a name like 4 weeks later. I get a name 7 months later."

Cass said that Enzo, whose real name is Eric Arndt, used to say 'EA all day' all the time, so all of the WWE names he suggested would have EA as initials.  

"So when you first get there you have to suggest, like, 10 names that you would like, so he was always known as 'EA All Day' and in all his promos on YouTube I had seen before he even came down for his tryout, it's just 'EA all day,' so all of the names he suggested had a first name with an E and a last name with an A. And the best one by far was Esteban Apples. So he put 10 names with EA and then his 11th name was Canyon Ceman. Canyon Ceman was like the head of talent development at that point for NXT and developmental." Cass remembered, "so his only name that wasn't EA that he wanted was Canyon Ceman, the name of the guy who was pretty much our boss."

Enzo claimed that WWE did not want an EA name, so he pitched the name Canyon Ceman as a joke.   

"It was a joke!" Enzo exclaimed. "They told me that I needed to submit a name that doesn't have EA, so I submitted 9 names with EA and one name was Canyon Ceman, which is the real name of the boss at NXT. So when I submitted the name, I thought it would be funny!"

Also during the podcast, Enzo divulged that he was fined $250 for farting during a Baron Corbin promo. Although the Real1 was supposedly fired for the incident, he showed up for work the next day. This, of course, would not be Enzo's last run-in with WWE brass.

"One time in promo class with Dusty Rhodes, dude, Baron Corbin was up there cutting a promo and Baron Corbin was trying to get help and Dusty was helping him. I just raised my hand and everybody looked at me. And I just farted loud as hell. They fine me $250 and fired me that night." Enzo said, "and then, I got back into work the next day and they rehired me."

On the subject of WWE's wellness policy, Enzo indicated that he consumes cannabis, but not a big drinker of alcohol. Enzo revealed that WWE talent get fined $2,500 for using cannabis, even using CBD topical cream, which causes no psychoactive effect, will result in a fine for WWE Superstars. Enzo went on to estimate that about half of the locker room consumes cannabis to deal with aches and pains on the road.

"I'm a huge pothead and I'm open about it now. Now that I'm out of the company and I can talk about it. For 6 years with the company, I was never in a picture with a beer in my hand, never. I couldn't smoke pot in the WWE for 5 years. They fine you for it. They fined you for it $2,500 and I was broke. I started off making $600 a week in the WWE for a year, so I was taking out credit cards just to pay my bills. So when I finally looked at my bank account, probably like 6 months into the main roster, I was like, 'do you know what? I can take a fine right now.' And I lit up a blunt again for the first time. And, to me, that is my medicine, bro."

Enzo continued, "marijuana, I don't know if anyone has ever smoked a joint and then beat his wife. A guy got hammered drunk and something happened, but this is legal. So it helped me. I'd rub the CBD cream all over my body when I was with the WWE. That'll get you fined $2,500. Yeah. And that's the thing a lot of people don't know. Probably half the locker room smokes pot. And why do we do that? You can't do pills. You can't do drugs. If you drink, you might end up like Cass. [Imitating Cass] Whoa, whoa, whoa. I don't want any of that stuff to happen to me."

Check out podcast here or via the embedded player below. If you use any of the quotations that appear in this article, please credit Talk Is Jericho with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.