Nunzio Explains Why He Wasn’t Little Guido In WWE

Little Guido was a staple of ECW in the late 90s before the company went under in 2001.

In 2002, he joined WWE as Nunzio.

Speaking to Chris Van Vliet on Insight, Guido explained the name change.

“Well, when I got there, Paul Heyman got me a job there. So he called me one day. This is when I didn’t have a job because when all the companies closed down within like a month, we all lost our jobs. I was a smaller guy. I wasn’t a top guy. I wasn’t RVD. So now I’m going against WCW closed, you got all the top stars in WCW. You got all the top stars in ECW, the Van Dams, the Dreamers, all the big guys, Ravens. I kind of got pushed to the side. I was trying to keep in contact with Paul and stuff, but he was on the verge of getting his job. He was starting with WWE, so I kind of got put on the side. They were doing this whole thing, the invasion angle, and I was just a smaller guy. So once everything faded out and they pushed people aside, I got a call one day from Paul Heyman. So I was calling him for a while. Let me backtrack. I was calling him for a while, and finally nothing was working. So I just let it go. I didn’t want to bother him anymore, a lot going on. One day, me and my wife were sitting in a restaurant, and my phone rings, and I look at it, and it says Paul E. So I haven’t talked to him in a couple of years. So I answer the phone. He goes, ‘Congratulations!’ I’m like, hey, Paul, what’s up? He goes, ‘Congratulations.’ I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ He goes, ‘I told you I’d get you a job.’ Okay? He goes, ‘John Laurinaitis will be calling you in a couple of weeks. Answer your phone.’ Okay, and he hung up. I was working for Snapple at that time. I was in the CVS or wherever I was.

“Well, when from when I talked to Paul, he was talking to how I got it. Something like he was talking to Vince. He’s like, ‘Oh, I got this guy Nunzio, small guy. He’s gonna be a limousine driver.’ He was saying something, but he came up with the Nunzio thing. So I never questioned it. I was just happy I was getting a phone call. So where Paul got the Nunzio thing, I don’t want to sit here and say it. I really don’t know. I don’t know why he didn’t keep it, Little Guido, because I think Paul owned ECW, so it wasn’t like a trademark thing.”

Nunzio would find some success in WWE, winning the Cruiserweight Title on two occasions.

Elsewhere during the interview, he discussed his time as a referee in the company. You can find his full comments here.