Antonio Cesaro crowd reaction

[Gavschenko]

Every time I go on to this site or any other wrestling site I always see push Cesaro or why Is Cesaro getting buried by the the main people in WWE he's one of the top talents in the company.There's no doubt about that but the main reason he ain't getting pushed is because nobody reacts to him at all. So if you all love him so much why can you hear a pin drop when he comes out surely you would cheer or boo for him? All you people do is whine we want wrestling but when a guy who comes to the main roster who can wrestle and is the best wrestler in the company he gets zero reaction but most people who are over cant wrestle for their lives

Two questions that I have are:

:Why does nobody react when he comes out if he's is loved by a high majority of the IWC?

: What will make him get a crowd reaction?

 

[indikah]

Well, the majority of WWE crowds consist mainly of mainstream audiences, so that's pretty much why he doesn't get the big pops. Being from Switzerland and all, it's that much harder for him to connect with American audiences.

And in order to get a better reaction he needs to be put in meaningful feuds with main event wrestlers who are over, and then beat them. Imagine if the main event of Raw was Cena vs Cesaro and Cesaro manages to pin him. The reaction he'd get the following week would be a damn sight better than what he usually gets. But that will never happen and I can only keep on dreaming...

 

[JaylisJayP]

He has no charisma, one-note mediocre mic skills and a physique that makes him look like everyone else. Unless something changes with him, he'll never be more than an IC champ. Book it. Mainstream audiences don't care about wrestling ability on its own. You have to have the whole package AND have something unique to offer. Cesaro doesn't. He's at the top of my DVR FF list whenever I see him on TV now.

Although to be fair to Cesaro, I watch about 5-8 minutes out of 3 hours of RAW these days.

 

[MWRedskins]

easy answer. his crowd reaction isnt good because he isnt being pushed right. his United States Title run was kinda forgetable because the feuds he were in werent uh...pushed like they should be and that's a problem that current IC Champion Wade Barrett is having. Cesaro wont get much of a reaction if the people dont have a reason to hate him. the only reason they had to hate him was he was a guy from Switzerland who didnt like Americans. they need to give the fans more of a reason to boo him. i still would like to see him team up with Ohno (aka Chris Hero) and re-form their old tag team in WWE.

 

[berlinbrawler]

The IWC is only a small portion of all wrestling fans. We're a quite insignificant bunch with little pull. Being chosen one by the IWC doesn't mean a whole lot. Therefore it is not surprising that the casual fans' reaction doesn't reflect those of the hardcore Internet geeks like us.

I'm not surprised by this at all for two reasons. The first reason is Cesaro is currently saddled with a really lame gimmick/shtick. "I am a foreigner and my country is better than yours." This act has about as much depth as the kiddie pool even before the toddlers have peed in it. There is no reason for the casual fan to invest any interest.

The other reason is Cesaro is not the flashy type. No colourful outfit, no pyro, no long blonde mane, no moonsaults. Just solid grounded wrestling. As JR would put it: "All steak, no sizzle." This type of character takes a lot longer to register and get over with the casual fans. But when these guys finally do get over, they tend to stay over. The best example of this type would be Steve Austin. Not saying Cesaro is going to be the next Stone Cold, but I'm pretty sure that he is going to become a lot bigger deal eventually.

 

[OneTooManyPunts]

Most fans have never heard of Claudio Castagnoli, or the Kings of Wrestling, or any previous incarnation. All they've seen is a guy that won the US Title out of the blue, dropped it out of the blue, started yodeling and has lost quick matches to just about every upper mid card or main event talent on the roster. What type of reaction should people expect?

This is WWE's problem right now. They think exposure guarantees attention, be it pops for babyfaces or heat for heels.

Cesaro won't connect with fans as a heel or babyface until he's put into a program that fans can invest in, and character development that isn't pushed along on a start and stop basis.

He's got definite long term potential in WWE given his in ring ability, but until invests in the idea of making fans dislike him for more than being foreign, he's never getting out of mid card limbo.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

I have to ask this question - since when is being a career upper mid-card guy and perennial contender for the US / IC Titles not good enough? Why is it that someone is a failure if they aren't a World Champion?

Ted DiBiase Sr., Junkyard Dog, Jake Roberts, Roddy Piper, Mr. Perfect, Tito Santana, Rick Martel - none of these guys held the WWF title and yet they are a list of all time greats. I don't think JYD held any titles in the WWF at all!

 

[Pedigree1]

Finally someone that makes Sense! Thank you IrishCanadianFan! But in answer to the question i really dont know why Cesaro is not connecting with the fans. But the IWC only makes up a tiny piece of the pie. Antonio is a beast a throwback if you will. Most mainstream fans (not hardcore but mainstream dont like old school throwbacks)

Antonio doesnt have flashy entrances does not wear flashy colors he is a blue collar type of worker. Goes in there does his job and gets out. Could it be he is not american thats why he is not connecting? Maybe but i really think the fans dont appreciate what he has to offer.

If Antonio is stuck in mid-card status for the rest of his career well not a bad spot to be. MR Perfect HOF never held the WWE title,MDM HOF,never held the WWE title,Roddy Piper HOF,never held the WWE Title! But i think great things are in-store for Antonio

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

I have to ask this question - since when is being a career upper mid-card guy and perennial contender for the US / IC Titles not good enough? Why is it that someone is a failure if they aren't a World Champion?

Ted DiBiase Sr., Junkyard Dog, Jake Roberts, Roddy Piper, Mr. Perfect, Tito Santana, Rick Martel - none of these guys held the WWF title and yet they are a list of all time greats. I don't think JYD held any titles in the WWF at all!

That's not a bad point, but times have changed and you have to evaluate the way the WWE works today.

Case in point: In today's WWE, DiBiase, Roberts, Perfect, Piper...all of those guys would've held one of the two World Titles at some point today.

The acceleration of storylines and the number of PPVs per year would've almost demanded that these guys get those titles. Honestly, we saw a little bit of that as time wore on. Piper eventually got the IC title to get him into his match with Hart. DiBiase eventually won the Tag Team title. Perfect, had he not been injured, and left, I think could've come back to win the World Title at some point.

Now, I think it's a fair estimation to say that if you don't hold one of those two titles, you really haven't "made" it. It's not like the 70s or 80s where in any given decade, only 5 or 6 guys would hold the title.

 

[entertainer101]

Cesaro doesn't get a reaction because like pretty much anyone else on the roster not in the main event, he hasn't been given much to work with. WWE hasn't given us a reason to cheer or boo him. He just kind of wrestles pointless matches then leaves.

He reminds me A LOT of Chris Benoit. Benoit was the best technical wrestler in the company when he first arrived in WWF. One can argue the same about Cesaro. Benoit had no mic skills or charisma when he first arrived (something he acquired as the years went by). Cesaro is the same.

Here's the difference though: Benoit was given meaningful matches/feuds week in and week out for months at a time. Cesaro, not so much. He had a long run as US champ but never really had a legitimate competitor and definitely not one that people truly wanted to see take the strap from him. And then they took that title off him very suddenly in the most anti-climactic form one could think possible.

Cesaro doesn't get reactions not because people don't care to see pure wrestling and wrestling only. Cesaro doesn't get reactions because he hasn't been given an opportunity to make the fans want to invest in his character. A quality wrestler with no charisma can only draw reactions if he's given the opportunity to fight in meaningful matches with meaningful opponents.

In short: He's been set up to get no reactions.

 

[JakeAdams]

I have been reading about him being dubbed as "boring". I think thats an unfair assessment of his ring work which I has been exceptional.

However, the problem is that he has had no real direction. The fans no that the us title is meaningless because the "E" has presented it that way to us. Cesaro is a big guy but loses to dominate top stars. How can anyone take him seriously after that? I know some guys in the past have beaten their gimmick and got over huge. But that can't be the case in 2013, because it hasn't been the case in 3 years. I can't think of another star that has really broken out before hitting the glass ceiling. You could make the argument for Sheamus, Ryback or Daniel Bryan. But I would retort that out of the 3, Daniel Bryan has atleast been booked in a way that his character isn't stale.

I am not booking the federation and I am only an outsider but I'd like to think I am not alone in my opinion. I also know that I didn't mention The Sheild or Big Langston, but I am sitting on my hands to see how soon before they derail their own train.

 

[gk11973]

I have to ask this question - since when is being a career upper mid-card guy and perennial contender for the US / IC Titles not good enough? Why is it that someone is a failure if they aren't a World Champion?

Ted DiBiase Sr., Junkyard Dog, Jake Roberts, Roddy Piper, Mr. Perfect, Tito Santana, Rick Martel - none of these guys held the WWF title and yet they are a list of all time greats. I don't think JYD held any titles in the WWF at all!

All the guys you mentioned though were incredibly over with the fans. They got loud vocal reactions when they came out. They also were not booked to lose constantly. Cesaro, of whom I am a huge fan, does not connect with the audience. As others have said, his skills in the ring are very good, but he has no real flash to him. If he had been booked more solidly, with a meaningful US title feud, and was continuously beating other guys on his level and above, then he might at least be taken more seriously by the mainstream fans.

 

[#heel420]

I was at Raw a few months back and he got a good response from people that knew of his indy past, you could tell because they all still call him Claudio. Other than that it was a lot of families wondering who is this guy without kneepads.

And theres your answer, the majority of people that go to live events aren't informed fans. They only know and see what the WWE tells and shows them. And from that perspective I wouldn't give Cesaro a reaction either. He has no character besides the fact that he's a former rugby player. And that's the problem with everything in WWE. No stories, no character development, no interest.

 

[JakeAdams]

I forgot about his abysmal ring attire. I get that he played "rugby" but come on.

Anyways I agree with #heel420,WWE:No stories, no character development, no interest.

 

[Duderino]

Cesaro's fan reaction does come down to the way he is booked and the way his character is developed. There's nothing else to it. The man's ring work is superb. Unfortunately we can't work for WWE.

With all of that aside, the important question is this could any of you think of a good way to develop his character? WWE creative obviously cant. I'm not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I can't think of a good character arc that would make him appeal to the casual fans.

Antonio Cesaro is without a doubt my favorite wrestler to watch in WWE right now, but the way they're using him, I've got the feeling he's going to wind up in TNA sometime over the next 2 years.

 

[MWRedskins]

Cesaro won't connect with fans as a heel or babyface until he's put into a program that fans can invest in, and character development that isn't pushed along on a start and stop basis.
but until WWE invests in the idea of making fans dislike him for more than being foreign, he's never getting out of mid card limbo.

exactly what i am thinking and what i was trying to say. that's the issue with Cesaro. some will say it's his mic work. i cant answer how his mic work is because he rarely speaks and when he does it's either saying a word in 4 different languages, saying something about America (when he was the US Champ) or he's yodeling. that's the issue, he doesnt have a character who fans want to boo or even care about. his matches usually are easy to predict. example, his last 3 matches were against Orton and he lost (not a shock) and Zack Ryder and he beat him. the way to get him over is to have him in a feud that means something.

 

[Mustang Sally]

When it comes to evaluating how WWE regards a wrestler, wins and losses aren't necessarily the vehicle that counts..... constant exposure in the ring is what you're looking for. Sure, Cesaro went on a rather odd-looking losing streak immediately after winning the IC title, but he wasn't losing to lower card performers; he was getting beaten after giving a good accounting of himself to main eventers, or guys on the fringe of it.

I admit to not caring for Antonio Cesaro when he first arrived. I thought he was awkward and a little sloppy in the ring. Since then, though, he's come into his own, as measured by ring performance and a more confident persona. He knows what he's doing and he's doing it better than before.

I have no idea whether the fans are cheering him or not, but the company must like him, or they wouldn't keep putting him in there week after week. Don't look at his losing the IC title as a sign the company is down on him. Actually, he held it longer than I thought he would.....the more bizarre factor is how few times he actually defended it.

But Antonio is here to stay; if he's "just" a mid-carder, that's still a good place to be.

 

[HBK89Bill]

The issue with his crowd reaction is more than half the time no one knows who he has been, they only know who he is now. I watch him and I see Claudio turned Cesaro who is still the same badass he has always been and I want him pushed to the moon in WWE.

Someone with no history sees Antonio Cesaro at face value. He is a hell of a wrestler with little to no mic time and backstory. He likes Rugby and is from Switzerland? What does that have to do with anything? He speaks five languages? Great, can he entertain me in five languages? No one cares about Cesaro because they don't know Claudio. Cesaro doesn't get a reaction because no one has any real reason to hate or love him. Wade Barrett has this problem too. WWE is struggling to control their audience, which is the simplest of problems to find and so hard to solve.

 

[klunderbunker]

Well let's see: he held the US Title for months on end and rarely got to defend it, he lost far more often than he won as champion, and once he lost the title he became a yodeler. That was the major gimmick of the guy who was put in the main event of Tribute to the Troops to face John Cena: He yodeled.

Why in the world would the fans care about this guy? He was treated like any other jobber and the fans stopped caring about him. Cesaro wasn't the biggest star in the world, but he puts on solid matches and plays the smug foreign heel to perfection. There's money in that kind of a character and there has been for years. The solution from WWE's creative team? Make him a yodeler.

It's a self fulfilling prophecy.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

Part of the issue with Cesaro is that he's kind of soft-spoken which is just not the WWE style. But there's no reason that cannot be overcome. Like KB said, the guy's gimmick is written all over him, and he's been practicing it for years. He's European! He's condescending! He makes fun of American traditions while puts over his own as superior!

Rugby? Why rugby? You ask people if they hate rugby and I'm sure they don't have an opinion.

But instead have the guy come into a place like Boston or Pittsburgh kicking around a soccer ball and telling the fans how stupid they are for not following "real" football....

It's all in the presentation and hitting the right notes. Rugby? No boos. Soccer (Football)? Boos.

The guy is ready made to hate.

They should've made more of his U.S. Title run. Would it have killed them to put him in the ring for a couple of one offs with guys like Hacksaw Duggan or Sgt. Slaughter? Again, evil foreigner vs. old American hero.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The problem is they got it wrong with him since the start...

Take music... when he debuted he had an instrumental version of "Chelsea Dagger" by the Fratellis, it wasn't even a Jim Johnston rip off they'd clearly raped or paid for the track... it didn't fit a heel as the song had a proper "sing along vocal" that a crowd could love, if you don't know the song here's a link that proves my point. Had he come in as a face with that song, the crowd would have sung along, chanted and he'd have been instantly over... it'd have been impossible to fail.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAi38vYkL-g

It almost seems like they were betting on him getting a face pop in spite of heelness and it didn't come, so ever since he's been in limbo.

The rugby player thing was wasted, that should have been Mason Ryan's and he would have gotten over with it as Wales is a big rugby nation...

The problem they have with him is they have someone with easily top 5 ability on the roster but they have botched him so badly that it's almost ruining him... his best bet is to retool the Kings Of Wrestling, make him rebel against his "slave name" along with Ohhhnooo and the fans will react again to him.

 

[TheStraightEdgeSociety]

I think that Antonio Cesaro is a great in-ring wrestler. He has potential to be one of the WWE's top heels. But the WWE creative team seems that it can't make a mid-carder look relevant in any way. Mid-carders mostly get stale, but because the WWE makes it like that. Wade Barrett, Antonio Cesaro, Cody Rhodes, etc. These guys might not have it all, but to make the mid-card anyway relevent, they need to create ANY type of storyline. Wade Barrett could easily be in the main event picture, but the E seems bipolar on how to handle him. Rhodes and Sandow both have potential, as a tag team and as singles go, but, they are in a rivalry with Tons of Funk. Seriously? Rhodes is a great in-ring wrestler, has charisma, but is sub-par at best on the mic. Sandow is great on the mic, has fun with his gimmick and is a good in-ring wrestler. The WWE could start reshaping the tag division with Rhode Scholars, but have them job to Tons of Funk, etc.

Sorry, I rant a little. Back to Cesaro, if the WWE would stop being bipolar, and push the guy, I would say put him in a program with a fresh, returning Cm Punk. Have Paul Heyman betray Punk, and join with Cesaro. This would easily be a top story line of the summer. It would give Cesaro the needed mouthpiece, relevancy, a ton of heat if done right, and at the end of the program, you have a main event heel with Paul Heyman by his side. With Paul Heyman, Cesaro has great in-ring skill, a great manager/mouth piece, and a little more charisma.

 

[Vault08]

He needs a face turn and a title win to stay relevant, he's been jobbing and it's really hurting his image

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I think that Antonio Cesaro is a great in-ring wrestler. He has potential to be one of the WWE's top heels. But the WWE creative team seems that it can't make a mid-carder look relevant in any way. Mid-carders mostly get stale, but because the WWE makes it like that. Wade Barrett, Antonio Cesaro, Cody Rhodes, etc. These guys might not have it all, but to make the mid-card anyway relevent, they need to create ANY type of storyline. Wade Barrett could easily be in the main event picture, but the E seems bipolar on how to handle him. Rhodes and Sandow both have potential, as a tag team and as singles go, but, they are in a rivalry with Tons of Funk. Seriously? Rhodes is a great in-ring wrestler, has charisma, but is sub-par at best on the mic. Sandow is great on the mic, has fun with his gimmick and is a good in-ring wrestler. The WWE could start reshaping the tag division with Rhode Scholars, but have them job to Tons of Funk, etc.

Sorry, I rant a little. Back to Cesaro, if the WWE would stop being bipolar, and push the guy, I would say put him in a program with a fresh, returning Cm Punk. Have Paul Heyman betray Punk, and join with Cesaro. This would easily be a top story line of the summer. It would give Cesaro the needed mouthpiece, relevancy, a ton of heat if done right, and at the end of the program, you have a main event heel with Paul Heyman by his side. With Paul Heyman, Cesaro has great in-ring skill, a great manager/mouth piece, and a little more charisma.

You have to bear in mind that not everyone SHOULD be a main eventer. One of my pet hates about modern WWE is the conveyor belt system that started once Shawn and Bret had the belts... if you get an IC title or US and don't get a world title within 2 years, you get viewed as a failure by the fans or dismissed as "can't get over" cos the implication is it's a given and a process that is followed by WWE.

In the Hogan/Bret era you had Upper/Mid carders who never got close to the World title but were still massively over and integral to the show like Jake Roberts, Tito Santana, Tatanka, Rick Martel, Greg Valentine, IRS, Quake...the list goes on into the noughties with guys like Matt Hardy. They weren't "boring" cos they didn't get the title, they just had their place and it was great for WWE at the time to have those who did make it do so specially.

To me Cesaro is in that Valentine/Ted DiBiase role, he could easily move up but it's not essential that he does, he could have a HOF level career without a world title run, much like Kofi could... but the conveyor system now makes that nearly impossible as both are considered "underperforming" by the fans than then eventually WWE.

With AC there is plenty of time, they could still pair him with Hero/Ohno before he ever gets that title shot - a year as the tag champs for the Kings is something realistic and that would elevate Cesaro. His biggest problem at the moment is there are guys like Barrett and Kofi who really are ahead of him in time served - Barrett is a definite main eventer, and had Dolph not got him hurt he'd be where the Zig is now... Where as Kofi and Cody too are probably ones who should remain midcard and be proud of that. It's hard for Cesaro who isn't as charismatic to leap ahead of those guys who have more of an overall package. If you're gonna compare Cesaro, he's gonna be a Bret Hart - it'll take time for him to get there, but he will... it's just whether WWE can make that happen for him.

 

[Trance Metaphor]

Antonio Cesaro is a very good wrestler. I've mentioned it before, but I've watched him wrestle in ROH with Chris Hero and they were a great tag team. I enjoyed what he did. The problem with Cesaro is that he just doesn't belong in the WWE. He's certainly good enough to be in the WWE, but he doesn't have the right tools for the WWE to get over. Yes, I'd probably blame creative for misusing him and giving him lousy gimmicks, but it's not even that. A wrestler should learn to experiment with what could work. Look at Daniel Bryan for example. He said that he took the "YES!" from Diego Sanchez, altered it a bit and look what that did for him. Cesaro needs to find his catchphrase or distinction. All he has for that are his leg wraps. We've already seen enough strength-based wrestlers so that's nothing new. He does lack charisma and it does make me cringe whenever he's in the ring against someone and there is no crowd reaction whatsoever. In Japan, this would be understandable but in the WWE? No way. Some people in the IWC seem to think he's over, but unless I'm deaf, I really don't see how that's the case. The arena is silent unless he hits an uppercut on Justin Gabriel or a Neutralizer on the Great Khali. The IWC (god I hate that term by the way) apparently thought that Antonio Cesaro was getting a 'push' when he cut a very decent-at-best promo about how he felt like he wasn't getting any competition (shades of Kozlov), but it was all fodder for Randy Orton. He should probably get a gimmick where he poses as the alpha male and crushes his opponents' prides and makes them his lackeys to escort him to the ring. Who knows? Maybe Kassius Ohno really is the last resort answer to the problem.