Rich Swann & Enzo Amore: Second Chances

America is all about second chances. Which is great, because a lot of people need them these days! With increased media presence, everybody having cameras on their phones & 24/7 news cycles to keep humming, things that flew under the radar years ago are front & center in 2018.

This is especially true in pro wrestling. There’s no way that today The Fabulous Moolah could do any of the stuff she’s accused of doing fifty years ago. Could you imagine Jimmy Snuka getting away with murder now? I just learned the other day that Mr. Wrestling 2 was a registered sex offender due to an incident involving a gang rape before he entered the business. He wouldn’t even get out of wrestling school now!

I embellish a little bit. 2 would get out of wrestling school. Then the first time he got booked anywhere big, somebody would do some digging & find out his past. After that, he’d get bumped off any shows he was supposed to be on, the promoter would apologize for booking him, and we’d move on to whatever the next thing was. Then, months later, 2 would get booked again. Some people would still be mad, but most of us would be cool.

We believe in second chances. We just need some time to take things in.

Rich Swann is somebody that’s looking for a second chance. He worked his way up the ladder until finally getting to WWE late in 2015. He got his big chance in the Cruiserweight Division, advancing to the quarter-finals of the Cruiserweight Classic & winning the Championship on the very first episode of 205 Live. “The Outlandish” Rich Swann was a guy that was all about dancing & having a good time. It seemed like he could have a pretty good spot in the division for years to come, if not always as champion at least as a popular figure that fans liked because he danced. We like wrestlers that dance.

That idea bit the dust on December 10, 2017. Swann was arrested on charges of battery & kidnapping/false imprisonment. It was a bizarre story. Apparently, Swann got into an argument with his wife, who wrestles under the name of Su Yung, over her performance in a match earlier that evening. She decided to get out of the car, and he followed her out, put her in a headlock & took her back to the car. Under WWE’s zero-tolerance policy for domestic abuse, they had no choice but to let him go.

At first, Swann kept a low profile & even talked of retirement from wrestling. As usual, the retirement didn’t stick. He got booked in a handful of indy promotions, including Combat Zone Wrestling, one of the feds he started out in. There was some negative feedback from fans about his booking, but there were also some fans happy to see him. He notably appeared on an Impact Wrestling Twitch broadcast of a co-promoted show they did with Pro Wrestling Revolver in Iowa. That went fine, and not long afterwards, Impact Wrestling announced that Swann would be appearing on a TV taping.

Making his IMPACT debut at our June 1st and 2nd tapings at @StClairCollege in Windsor, ON – @GottaGetSwann!

TICKETS: https://t.co/4lMCWbwjLp pic.twitter.com/cWbkEKeDHM

— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) May 15, 2018

One important thing to keep in mind: Su Yung recently started working for Impact Wrestling. She was immediately given a push towards their Knockouts Championship upon entering the company. Impact’s management certainly values her as a talent, and they would value her opinion on her husband. Any corporation or company worth its salt wants to minimize the effect their employees’ personal lives have on their work. If Su Yung is unable to perform at her best with Swann around, Impact wouldn’t be interested in his services.

She’s forgiven Rich Swann. That’s good enough for me. I see no reason to not wish him the best with his second chance & his new opportunity with Impact Wrestling. As long as he keeps out of trouble & his confrontation with Su was a one-time thing, he deserves to go as far in pro wrestling as his talent will allow.

Ironically enough, just before his departure from WWE, Swann was scheduled for a match where the winner would get to wrestle the then-Cruiserweight Champion. A man that currently finds himself in a similar situation to Swann. He needs a second chance.

pic.twitter.com/qTr5hMs3Oi

— Enzo Amore (@real1) May 16, 2018

Just before the incident in question, Eric “Enzo Amore” Arndt had found the role he was born to play in WWE. They tried to push him as a babyface for a long time, and while there was an audience for it that was willing to buy his t-shirts, his grating personality was much more suited for a bad guy. Especially a bad guy that hid behind a bunch of ass-kissers like the Zo Train. From that perspective, his dismissal by WWE was disappointing. He didn’t achieve his full potential.

It seemed inevitable in a way, though. There were constantly reports of Arndt rubbing people the wrong way backstage. The way he carried himself on & off television…let’s just say there weren’t a lot of people in WWE defending him when the allegations were made.

Arndt’s situation is different from Swann’s in several ways, including the fact that his accuser hasn’t forgiven him. His accuser isn’t in the wrestling business & can’t/won’t vouch for him with promoters. She feels that Arndt is getting away with a crime. People have gone into further detail speaking about her mental health than I feel comfortable doing. Having not been the victim of a sexual assault, I can’t comment on what victims go through. Whether the evidence is sufficient or not, she obviously feels like a crime was committed.

No matter what a victim does, they’re in the wrong. Arndt’s accuser gets accosted on social media for daring to speak out. Su Yung has faced criticism from some corners of the Internet for standing by her man. If she didn’t, people would be mad about that too. There’s no way to win in the eyes of the public. For people to imply that accusers should face some form of punishment is not something I can wrap my head around. They’ve already been punished. Even if you insist that somebody completely made up the allegations…who wants to go through life as a perceived sexual assault victim? How much money would make that amount of embarrassment & negative attention worthwhile? More than Eric Arndt has is my guess.

With all of that being said, there was a form of punishment for Arndt. He lost his job. He’s not getting it back anytime soon. From most accounts, people within WWE were looking for an excuse to get rid of him anyway. He’s had to live the last several months under the microscope of being accused of rape. If he’s innocent, that has to be unbelievably frustrating. He may not face the full brunt of the justice system, but a form of justice has been carried out here.

Somebody will book him. He’s a former WWE Superstar whose name has been all over the press. He’s got notoriety. He still has fans. It’s a tough decision to make for an indy wrestling promoter, but there are plenty that have shown the ability to go there.

I wouldn’t be shocked if Impact Wrestling goes there. Don Callis was evasive when asked the question on a recent conference call. He went the ol’ “never say never/time will tell” route in answering. This tells me that the conversation’s been had. I would expect them to wait until a few other promotions book him & see how it goes. If things go well & Arndt doesn’t run into any more problems, expect him to appear on Impact under some name by the end of 2018.

If enough time passes & he proves to be a different person, we’ll root for him. We love giving people second chances.