WWE star Big Cass recently spoke with Brian Fritz of Sporting News and below are some interview highlights:
SPORTING NEWS: There was video when you got the news from Triple H just a few days before WrestleMania 32 that you were getting called up to the WWE roster. Did you have a sense that it was going to happen then?
BIG CASS: No. So, we were at NXT TakeOver: Dallas and it was a very emotional night. We train with these guys. We weren’t even on the show, but we felt like we were part of the show because it’s a brotherhood down at the Performance Center. It’s all just a big family down there. It was emotional for us to see the show and to watch everybody go out there and light it up.
We were leaving the venue and Triple said he wanted to talk to us. He brings me and Enzo into the room and, I don’t know if it’s on the video, but he congratulated us and I said, “Thank you very much” and then I realized, wait a second, we didn’t even perform tonight. So it was pretty weird to start off the conversation like that. It was a very emotional night and you felt like you were a part of it. I didn’t know what he was congratulating us for. Then he says you’re coming up to the main roster on Monday and then I realized that’s what he said congratulations for.
It was just a very surreal experience. I’ve been signed here for about five years when that conversation took place, so I’ve been working for that moment for five years. Me and Enzo, three years together, have been working at it to get to the main roster. So when we had that conversation with Triple H, it was very surreal and a lot of mixed emotions in that moment. But I’d say the most overwhelming emotion was joy. We were just so ecstatic about finally getting to debut on the main roster.
SN: You’ve been around Enzo for a few years now both in the ring as a tag-team partner, outside the ring as good friends. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve heard him say that made you do a double take?
BG: Wow. (laughs) That’s a tough question. I don’t know. I can’t pinpoint one thing. Sometimes if you watch us on “Monday Night Raw” or on the WWE Network, when he’s doing a promo sometimes — it actually happens more times that not — he’ll say something and I’ll think to myself, “What?” Sometimes you’re just doing things off the cuff and on the fly and he’ll say something, and often times I’ll do a double-take like you said and look at him and be like, “Did you really just say that? What does that even mean?” I can’t pinpoint one particular thing, but if you watch us on TV, more often than not you’ll see me do that.
SN: SummerSlam is taking place in Brooklyn and you’re a New York City guy from Queens. What’s it going to be like for your first SummerSlam to basically be in your backyard at the Barclays Center?
BG: I’ve been to four SummerSlams all in that area. I was at SummerSlam ’97, ’98, 2002 and 2007. I was there as a fan wishing I could be a WWE superstar. Now I’m walking into Brooklyn, N.Y., as a WWE superstar in front of those fans. Right now, the excitement is indescribable, and I can’t even imagine what it’s going to be like on that evening going into SummerSlam in front of the hometown crowd, people I grew up with, friends and family against Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho with Enzo by my side. It’s a blessing to be able to do that on Aug. 21. It’s going to be amazing.
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
