W. Morrissey’s long-time tag team partner, nZo, joined Busted Open Radio to talk about the former Big Cass’ AEW appearance and the personal demons that he has had to face.
This past Wednesday on AEW Dynamite, IMPACT Wrestling’s W. Morrissey was revealed as MJF’s mystery opponent. The former WWE Superstar, making his All Elite Wrestling debut, squared off against The Salt of the Earth’s rival Wardlow in a losing effort.
nZo talked about the battle his close-friend has fought over the years. It has been well-documented that the Queens-native has struggled with alcohol addiction and his mental health in the past.
“It’s no mystery, my tag team partner William Morrissey, as presented to us on AEW television, went through a hell that is so real, that most would not understand until they see it, or they have it, or it affects them and their lives,” nZo said. “I saw it at its absolute worst, at a time when the world thought me and Big Cass were no longer friends, and we hated each other. They had no idea what Cass was going through, and that I was there to witness a lot of it.
“We’d never really spoke about it in public, but he made his fight very public, and he worked with – doing a DDP video to inspire people. Now that’s the point. Here’s a guy that tried to kill himself. And when I say ‘tried to kill himself’, man, one time I went into a hotel and I had to convince the security and the people at the hotel to let me in the f*cking door of that room, because Cass was back there trying to kill himself. And there were thirty empty beer bottles, cans and bottles of wine, and liter bottles of Jack Daniel’s completely f*cking empty.
“I threw him in my car, and we drove, because he couldn’t make it from Chicago on a flight to New York City. We had to stop at hospitals because he was withdrawing. But you know what, we stopped, and we went to Notre Dame, and I’m a huge Notre Dame fan and I just wanted to go see Notre Dame, South Bend, and I figured, f*ck it, man, ‘Cass, I don’t know what to do for you? I can’t help you, you’ve got to want to do this yourself, but you need Jesus, brother. I don’t know what the f*ck you need, but maybe there’s some Jesus involved. Maybe there’s something that could help you here. We need to go pray.’
“I drove to Notre Dame and I went to the chapel there, and I’d never seen it and it’s so beautiful. It’s unbelievable, and I’m a big Notre Dame fan, so that was weird – I always had dreams to go and see a football game there, and here I am with Big Cass, and I’m just walking around campus.”
“So Big Cass is stumbling around,” nZo continued. “We go to church, and we pray, man. I’ll never forget that day and that ride. We got back to New York City, and he checked himself into a hospital and went off the rehab. He dealt with a disease that is as real as anything that I’ve ever seen, like, to a point where I couldn’t fathom that this thing was real, and then I get it.”
