WWE News: Enzo Amore Further Removed By WWE After Recent Rape Allegations & Firing
This past week, the WWE removed Enzo Amore from their company due to rape allegations he hadn’t disclosed and now they’re removing him further. The company is looking to distance itself as much as possible from the former WWE Cruiserweight Champion by cleaning up their image, literally. While Enzo Amore’s pictures are still a part of WWE’s website, his picture won’t be seen in a few prominent places any longer.
At the live shows that WWE hosts around the country, fans who attend often see a number of large tractor-trailer trucks depicting WWE superstars on the side of them. On Saturday, Josh Foster of the Still Real To Us website reported that Enzo Amore’s image is now being removed from those WWE trucks. At least one fan took a photo that was posted online via Twitter yesterday showing the removal. That picture shows off a WWE truck with Randy Orton, Naomi, a blank spot, and Big Cass. That blank spot was previously occupied by Enzo Amore’s face as part of the side of the truck’s billboard style poster.
Enzo, real name Eric Arndt, was the former tag team partner of Big Cass on both the NXT and main roster at Raw. After the duo seemed to have run its course in terms of popularity, the WWE’s creative team split them apart with Big Cass turning heel. Cass ended up being legitimately injured during a Street Fight match against Enzo on Raw but is expected back in the next several months.
By removing his image from the trucks, WWE is wisely distancing themselves from the image issue associated with Enzo Amore. While he has yet to be convicted of any charges, he hadn’t informed his employer of the allegations or investigation which he had known about a while ago.
The WWE also had a major week in terms of public announcements and news with WWE Chairman and COO Vince McMahon announcing the return of the XFL in 2020, and the WWE revealing that Phoenix, Arizona will host the Royal Rumble in 2019. Phoenix was also the location in which the alleged rape involving Enzo took place in.
To top it all off, the latest Royal Rumble pay-per-view takes place this weekend in Philadelphia with the first-ever women’s Royal Rumble match on the card. The Cruiserweight Championship is currently vacant awaiting a future champion to take over the reigns and restore some credibility to the title.
Whether Enzo is found innocent or guilty, WWE needed to act fast in terms of making sure they continued with a clean image going forward. By hiding a known investigation from the WWE, it meant Enzo circumvented a suspension and was able to carry the Cruiserweight title for a good amount of time. As of this report, his images and videos are still showing up on the WWE website and YouTube channel, but it is probable that WWE would fix that based on the outcome of the allegations and investigation.
The WWE has a “morality clause” that their employees are bound by which allows them to dismiss an employee under such conditions. WWE is now doing what is best for their business as a publicly-traded company by removing Enzo further based on his non-disclosure of the serious allegations against him.
