More than seven weeks after the closure of the case, processing was completed on the 44 page Phoenix Police Department report on the rape allegation against Enzo Amore/Real1 (real name Eric Arndt) on Thursday evening. The delay was due to the fact that while the accuser went public about her identity to Fightful, her name still had to be redacted since, officially speaking, none of that matters. In fact, even though the Phoenix PD had given the report number (which was needed to file the request) to Fightful back in January when we inquired about the Arndt case, his name is redacted, as well, as are those of the witnesses. All of this means that it can occasionally be hard to follow, but the new information in the report is fairly clear.
Back in January, when Enzo was suspended right after the story broke and then released a day later, what our own Sean Ross Sapp reported, citing multiple sources, that WWE was "livid" at the news. More specifically, this was because "they believe Enzo was aware of the allegations, and didn't inform them before it broke Monday, which led to the firing." According to the report, Enzo, though, was insistent—as he was later, that he had no knowledge of the investigation until it went public the day of the Raw 25 special. A note on page 13 of the police report appears to confirm as much (emphasis ours)
During the course of this investigation and without approval or knowledge of the Phoenix Police Department, the victim posted a statement about the incident on several social media outlets. She also gave an interview to a news program and news outlets. The victim's posts stated that not only was [redacted] involved but implicated Mr. [redacted] in the incident as well. The victim stated she was drugged and left for sexual assault. The social media posts differed from her original statement.
After the victim public disclosed the active investigation, the suspect [redacted], now had knowledge of the investigation and all contact was directly to his attorneys.
Later, on page 40, is what appears to be the explanation of why, three months into an investigation that started three months earlier on October 23rd, the accused could have no knowledge of the investigation (emphasis ours):
On 102417 I attempted to contact the victim but I was unable to reach her on her primary phone number. Upon calling her secondary telephone number, I spoke to the victim's father, [redacted]. He informed me that the victim was currently in an in-patient lock down rehab facility and was currently unable to be contacted.
Mr. [redacted] gave me the name [redacted] as an administrator for the facility and a telephone number of [redacted]. He stated that I would have to contact [redacted] to facilitate any contact with the victim. The facility in question is the [redacted] facility.
This investigation is ongoing and pending contact with the victim. The victim's sex crimes evidence kit has been impounded and forwarded to the crime lab for processing.
The implication appears to be that the investigation was paused pending further contact with the accuser; the report does not appear to mention anything about speaking to her again in the next three months. As for Enzo, once he found out in January, while he agreed to submit a DNA sample (a buccal swab taken by Los Angeles police in March), he declined to be interviewed and stated through his attorney that the sex was consensual.
We have reached out to WWE for comment on how this information relates to what the company was aware of at the time of the firing and are currently awaiting a response. This article will be updated when we hear back. One source with knowledge of the situation, meanwhile, was insistent that the rape investigation was not the only factor in Enzo's release, regardless.
The rest of the report largely outlines what has already been report, like some contradictory statements that made the case onerous to prosecute. There is, however, one note that could be nothing, but could also potentially contradict Enzo's narrative: A reference to an email exchange with a witness who "did deny any involvement in a sexual assault." When he appeared on Steve Austin's podcast last week, Enzo mentioned that he learned around Christmastime that a friend (implied to be Tyler Grosso's girlfriend Layla Shapiro) had gotten a vague email from "a person claiming to be an investigator" seeking "more information" about "a wrestler involved in a night," but was insistent that he knew nothing about it being a sexual assault investigation. Amore claims that his attorney followed up on the situation. It's entirely possible that the friend could have told him about the email while omitting details, though, or even that the "investigator" wasn't the Phoenix PD detective. We have reached out the Enzo's attorney to see if he can provide any further clarification and will update this article if we get a response.
