Big Cass admits coming back to WWE after eight years away came with one pretty big problem — fans already knew exactly who he was. And since the version they remembered was one-half of one of WWE’s hottest babyface acts alongside Enzo Amore, getting those same people to suddenly hate him hasn’t exactly been easy.
Speaking on The Sal Licata Show, Cass was asked whether his previous success with Enzo made establishing himself as a singles star more difficult this time around. Cass didn’t hesitate, admitting that returning as a heel meant he was immediately fighting against years of nostalgia.
“It definitely does, yes, because I’m coming back into WWE as a heel, right? I think we can talk about heels and faces on your show, I’m pretty sure. I’m coming back as a heel, and the last time anybody in that viewing audience saw me, that they recognized me from, I was in one of the hottest babyface acts in the company.”
And Cass isn’t underselling how popular he believes he and Enzo were during that run. In his mind, they weren’t just over — they were comfortably among WWE’s three biggest babyface acts at the time, and he’s not particularly interested in debating it.
“Top three, I would say, at that time. And argue with a wall if you don’t agree with that. I would say at that point, we were a top-three babyface act in the entire company.”
That history followed Cass right back through the door when he returned to WWE on the August 3 episode of RAW. Instead of Enzo standing beside him and the crowd repeating their old catchphrases, Cass returned alone as a heel and immediately attacked Je’Von Evans.
Cass has since been teaming with Ethan Page, but fans clearly haven’t forgotten his old partner. He revealed that people still shout the Enzo and Cass-era catchphrases at him during matches, although he suspects they’re now doing it specifically because they know it’ll annoy him.
“And now I’m coming back by myself as a heel. It makes things a lot harder. You go out there as a heel and people are booing you, but you do hear people in the crowds saying the old catchphrases at me.”
Funny enough, Cass actually sees some upside in that. If fans are deliberately bringing up his old babyface run because they think it’ll piss him off, then at least they’re treating him exactly how a heel wants to be treated.
“And I think they’re doing that to get under my skin. And I think that’s their true intention, which as a heel is a good thing.”
Still, Cass knows things probably would have been much simpler if WWE audiences didn’t already have such a strong memory of him alongside Enzo. Instead of introducing an entirely new character, he’s trying to convince fans who once loved yelling along with him that this version of Big Cass deserves their boos.
“But yes, to answer your question, it makes it way more difficult than having a clean slate.”
That also makes Cass’ current pairing with Ethan Page an interesting test of whether he can finally build a WWE identity that doesn’t immediately lead back to Enzo. The old catchphrases clearly aren’t disappearing anytime soon, but Cass now has a completely different partner, role and attitude to give fans something new to associate with him.
Do you think Big Cass can eventually separate himself from the Enzo Amore nostalgia and establish this heel run on its own? Let us know what you think in the comments.
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