“Badda bing, badda boom, the realest guys are in the room.” 

These are the words coined by the brash tandem of  Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady. Since making their debut, the duo has used their gift of gab and eccentric style to capture the eyes and ears of the NXT Universe. So how did the pairing of Cassady and Amore come to be? WWE.com takes a closer look at their careers and the surprising twists that brought them together long before their days inside the ring.

At first glance, you might find Cassady and Amore to be significant opposites. After all, Cassady stands nearly 7-feet tall, while Amore is just around a foot shorter. Trained by WWE Hall of Famer Johnny Rodz, Cassady learned the secrets of the squared circle from the same man who produced future WWE Superstars like Tommy Dreamer, Tazz, Matt Striker and WWE Developmental Head Coach Bill DeMott. Amore excelled in everything from track to football, and even worked for the New York Jets as a DJ. How did they end up a tag team? The story begins during a chance meeting nearly 10 years ago.

 “I first met Enzo when I was 15 years old” Cassady told WWE.com. “We used to have pickup basketball games at a place called The Cage in the West Village of Manhattan, N.Y. He ended up being one of my teammates and we pretty much bonded from there.“ 

Check out Cassady's NXT photos.

Amore recalled one moment in particular: “During a game, I drove the lane and got clobbered but the referee never called the foul. A little scuffle almost ensued with some players on the opposing team, but Colin had my back the whole time. “ 

Both men struck up a friendship that included sports, pizza and laughter, but as is the case with many teens, time and distance became inevitable obstacles.

“I ended up getting a scholarship to NYU, where I was pre-med and studied economics,” Cassady revealed. Amore went on to play football at Salisbury University from 2007 to 2009, where he lettered and started every season. A couple years later, the two friends lost contact as each pursued individual endeavors, only to be reunited in the most unlikely of places: the WWE developmental system.           

“I knew ‘Zo had gone off and played football, but I had no idea we’d end up trying to make it to WWE,” Cassady said. 

From that point on, both men – now in their mid-twenties – picked up seemingly right where they left off 10 years prior. 

“It’s one of those rare happenings, but here’s a dude I knew from my neighborhood and now we’re working together for biggest entertainment company in the world,” Amore said. 

With their friendship rekindled, they quickly became one of the more entertaining acts behind the scenes of NXT. Admittedly, their loud behavior often caught them in more trouble than desired, but Amore and Cassady were hungry for an opportunity to display their abilities in the ring.  

“We knew we had something to offer. We did it when we were 15 and we knew we could do it again,” said Amore, aka the self-proclaimed “Certified G.”  

Check out Amore's NXT photos.

Fast-forward to a series of not-so-pleasant run-ins with Mason Ryan, and the New York/New Jersey natives find themselves in the pressure cooker of putting their proverbial money where their mouths are. 

“On NXT, you’ve got a locker room of men and women who are afraid to say the wrong thing or offend the wrong person,” said Cassady. “We’re past that stage. We are who we are and we’re proud of it. How can you be real if you’re not real with yourself?”

Will being “real” be enough to climb the ladder of NXT? The verdict is still out, but Cassady and Amore have one assumption when it comes to their next opponents:  “If we had a spelling bee challenge on the name of our next opponent, it’s pretty simple. We’d spell him S-A-W-F-T … SAWFT!”

(That would be “soft” for those of you reading at home.)

Follow Enzo Amore on Twitter:  @WWEAaLLday21

Follow Colin Cassady on Twitter:  @BigCassWWE