5 Ups & 5 Downs From Big Cass' WWE Career

2. Friends In High Places

John Cena infamously put a bullet in Baron Corbin's main event aspirations in 2017, first flatly telling those backstage that the 'Lone Wolf' didn't have the intangible it-factor, before squashing him like a bug as punishment for the fact at SummerSlam.

By virtue of how brutal he was to somebody he felt not up for the fight, it's fair to assume he saw something pretty special in Enzo and Cass after agreeing to partner up with them for a lengthy and high profile rivalry with AJ Styles, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson.

The six-man tags were entrées for a delicious main course later to be dished up by 'The Champ' and 'The Phenomenal One', but the tandem were far more than just light bites in an otherwise meaty feud. Cena gamely put their comedy over, allowed himself to be cast as the geek of the three and even made repeated references to his position as an old man next to the two young studs and the (relatively) fresh stars across the ring.

Furthermore, Enzo and Cass emerged from the mettle-testing series as cooler babyfaces than they were before - a rarity for anybody feuding against or alongside Cena. They were clearly being groomed for bigger things, and in Cass' case, they very nearly came...

Michael Hamflett

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett

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