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YMMV / Enzo and Cass

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  • Critical Backlash: As Enzo is not as good a wrestler as he is a character, some smart marks will talk about his in-ring ability as if he's completely incapable of wrestling at all. The general consensus is that he's not bad; just green, and that he makes up for it with character. This also led to a section of the fanbase to say for a long time that instead of working as a tag team, Enzo should've been Cass's manager all along or should've transitioned into said role. Following a couple of Cass's singles matches on the main roster and especially following the fallout from Cass's Face–Heel Turn, with Enzo's promo at Great Balls of Fire lasting longer than it took Cass to beat 'Zo in the ensuing match, this sentiment has only expanded.
  • Ensemble Dark Horse: The duo got incredibly popular in 2014, eventually leading to a push for the Tag Team titles.
  • Harsher in Hindsight:
    • Enzo flirting with Carmella when she clearly wasn't interested — which many believe wasn't very funny to start with — became this in light of the rape accusations against him though this died quickly when it was revealed that his accuser made everything up as an Unreliable Narrator looking for fame.
    • His entire run in the Cruiserweight division, given that he knew the whole time that there was a rape investigation looming and didn't tell WWE about it so he could stay on TV, though recently with Enzo having been ruled free of charges (He wasn't made aware of the allegations against him until the day of RAW 25) and his accuser essentially being outed as a complete liar with wild inconsistencies in her allegations against Enzo that many on social media and wrestling forums are calling for Enzo to be rehired, feeling he was unjustly fired. Fortunately as of April 2019, he and Cass have landed on their feet in Ring of Honor, happily reunited, subverting this trope for now.
    • The aforementioned "Big Ass" stopped being funny when the circumstances behind his firing came out and it turned out, he kinda was.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight:
    • When Carmella was first brought into the group, she despised Enzo but seemed to tolerate Cass. Later on, it's revealed that the two were dating in real life. And as Cass's legit girlfriend at the time and a storyline heel, she's fully approved on Twitter of Cass's Face–Heel Turn on Enzo.
    • Enzo later was romantically linked to Liv Morgan, who has a very similar gimmick to Carmella, prompting a couple of Replacement Goldfish jokes.
  • Iron Woobie:
    • Enzo is viewed as one once the allegations against Bill DeMott came out regarding his abuse of trainees in NXT. Enzo was one who suffered a lot of abuse. He was frequently bullied and slapped in the face several times. One report claims Enzo was once abruptly slammed onto his head deliberately to show how not to do it. Thus the fact that he became a star in WWE and didn't let the abuse stop him is all the more admirable.
    • Another one for Enzo. It was revealed by The Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Enzo was kicked out of the bus by Roman Reigns during the European Tour and he was given the 'Miz Treatment' by everyone in the locker room.note  While there are reports that Big Cass also got heat for being a Donald Trump supporter, it was nothing compared to the heat Enzo got from the locker room. Then it was revealed that the reason why he was kicked out is that he was overheard talking over the phone about what they thought was negative about the business while bragging about how much money he was making from the business to that person, which kind of undermines his woobie-ness and puts him into Jerkass territory.
  • Memetic Mutation: CONSENSUAL PENIS! (A memorable lyric from Enzo's first released song Pheonix.)
    • During Great Balls of Fire, one particular shot of Cass's entrance had his head in the way of the "C" behind him, making it read "BIG ASS".
  • Moral Event Horizon: Cass's eventual Face–Heel Turn and betrayal of Enzo. Granted, that kind of thing's pretty much a Foregone Conclusion in this business (especially within tag teams), but the sheer Disproportionate Retribution note  and Kick Them While They Are Down note  involved still made Cass particularly despicable for it (even General Manager Kurt Angle invoked What the Hell, Hero? in response). And if that wasn't bad enough, the very-next week showed Enzo outright admitting Jerkass Has a Point about him and genuinely offering Cass Forgiveness... only for the latter to simply exploit it and attack him once again, thus cementing Cass as a textbook example for explicitly refusing reconciliation.
  • Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: Enzo's feud with Cass has gotten these complaints. Sure, Enzo's a likable Determinator, and he's found a new ally in the form of The Big Show... but Cass still keeps coming out on top, thus making it feel like a Yank the Dog's Chain slog. However, this was finally subverted when Cass ended up a Self-Disposing Villain during a Street Fight with Enzo.
  • Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Despite being a babyface after his brutal break-up with Cass, Enzo rubs a lot of people backstage the wrong way, which also affected the crowd. His apparent obnoxiousness led to Roman Reigns kicking him off the tour bus, stories of Enzo bringing outsiders to the locker room and being a party animal in general don't endear him to the audience. Even The Miz, who was in a similar situation before, lampshaded it with contempt for Enzo's behavior.
  • Win Back the Crowd: It took a few false starts, including his fairly pointless membership in the aimless faction "The Firm", but Cass (now known as Big Bill) finally got over in AEW when he was paired as a tag team with "Absolute" Ricky Starks. The two of them even won the AEW World Tag Team Championshipsnote  and even managed to retain them at Full Gear 2023 in a 4-way ladder match against the Kings of the Black Throne, Los Ingobernablesnote  and FTR without anyone complaining. Like in WWE, Big Bill simply works best as the huge straight man muscle to a charismatic smaller guy, and it helps that Ricky Starks (a top singles star in his own right) is a much better wrestler than Enzo. It helps even more that most fans agree that Bill's ring work has improved significantly over the years, making him one of the better giants working at the moment.
  • X-Pac Heat: Their run in Ring of Honor so far has been outright rejected by the fans, seeing it as a repeat of the kind of nonsense that killed Impact Wrestling's drawing power. Not helping is the fact that their debut was a run in on the aftermath of a major tag title unification match with New Japan, who Ring of Honor didn't even bother mentioning it to, leaving the Guerrillas of Destiny stood in the ring looking confused at the brawl going on outside, while also trying to play up their own post-match segment with Toru Yano.

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