World Wrestling Entertainment has swiftly and unceremoniously fired popular superstar and current champion Enzo Amore, after allegations of sexual assault and rape surfaced online.
Amore, real name Eric Arndt, was yesterday suspended by the organisation mere hours before he was scheduled to appear as part of the company’s mammoth Monday Night Raw 25th anniversary broadcast, which took place in New York City.
Today, the WWE announced it had summarily fired Amore, confirming the decision in an extremely short and terse statement on its website:
WWE has come to terms on the release of Eric Arndt (Enzo Amore).
Yesterday, after suspending Amore, the WWE’s official statement was a smidge longer, but no less blunt:
WWE has zero tolerance for matters involving sexual harassment or sexual assault. Until this matter is resolved, Eric Arndt (aka Enzo Amore) has been suspended.
Allegations against Amore came to light on Twitter, where a woman accused him of drugging and sexually assaulting her in a hotel room in Phoenix back in October.
The Phoenix Police Department confirmed that a report had been filed on October 23rd by the alleged victim, and that they were currently awaiting lab results in the still on-going case. Social media posts place Enzo Amore in Arizona at the time of the alleged assault.
The WWE has a noted zero tolerance policy against sexual assault and domestic violence-related crimes, which dictates that it indefinitely suspends a contracted wrestler immediately after being arrested or publicly accused of an offence, with the suspension remaining in place pending the conclusion of any investigation.
However in Amore’s case, reports state that the WWE moved to terminate his employment because he was, and had been, aware of the investigation, and had withheld the information from WWE officials.
I was told this morning that Enzo Amore was aware of the allegations and didn’t clue WWE in.
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) January 23, 2018
Enzo Amore had been representing the WWE on its cruiserweight-specific 205 Live brand, and was its current reigning Cruiserweight Champion. He was scheduled to defend his title this coming weekend at the 2018 Royal Rumble event in Philadelphia against Cedric Alexander.
No charges have been laid against Amore at this time, however the investigation remains on-going.
