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a fine line
WWE superstar Enzo Amore fears letting hardcore character take over his life like hero Ric Flair
Wrestling legend is a 16-time champion with 10,000 notches on his bedpost but recent film on his life revealed torment
WWE superstar Enzo Amore fears letting his extreme wrestling persona eat into his life like his hero Ric Flair.
The 16-time world champion Nature boy is the focus of a tear-jerking ESPN 30 for 30 documenting his unrivalled career highs – and desperate personal lows.
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Flair was one of the most outrageous stars of the 1980s - famed for a jet-setting and lifestyle surrounded by booze and beautiful women.
But he blurred the lined between person and persona and battled bouts of alcoholism, lost his son to a drug abuse and suffered bouts of crippling depression in the latter stages of his career when his iconic status was winding down.
And Amore – the OTT character and cruiserweight champion – is using the WWE legend to make sure he gets the maximum out of his persona without losing himself.
In an exclusive SunSport interview, Amore said: “It is a fine line to be this PG superstar and also a role model and a bad guy and playing off our personality.
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“They have just done a 30 for 30 on Ric Flair – that I am dying to watch - and apparently it reflects how much the character he played reflected his real life.
“It’s a tough line to walk when you turn it up to 12 or 13 and you walk backstage and you have a business meeting or you have to meet a seven-year-old child who is desperate to see you.
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“2017 is a very different time. It’s a different time that Ric was in, it was the Wild West back and that’s why I loved it.”
Amore is a throwback to the envelope-pushing Attitude Era when factions like DX used sexual innuendo and characters like porn star Val Venis tested boundaries.
But his poetic script-writing and pitch-perfect delivery have helped make the 5ft 8in fighter a huge star in the industry of giants
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And he is combining the best parts of his past heroes with some modern day sensibility to ensure he remains at the top of the roster.
Amore said: “Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Shawn Michaels, The NWO, The Invasion, the wild stories, and the Attitude Era.
“All the crazy stories you love them and you get addicted to them and the lifestyle.
“But you have to separate them and toe the line and separate yourself from what is real and what is not.”
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