Antonio Cesaro

[dimice76]

So on this past Smackdown the former Claudio Castagnoli debuted as Antonio in a backstage segment with Johnny Ace. What made the debut more interesting, is that he debuted as the "old friend" of Aksana. As they are walking together of course they pass Teddy Long who was dressed as a queen's watchman in front of Johnny's office. Now of course the implication here is a)Aksana doesnt want anything to do with Teddy now that he has no power and b)Antonio is boning Aksana. If WWE is smart there is a huge chance here to get Antonio over. Teddy can call out Aksana, ask her whats going on and have Antonio verbally or even physically attack Teddy. This would instantly lead to matches with R-Truth, Kofi, Khali, possibly even with Ryder and Booker, and could even pay off with beating Santino for the U.S. Title. If done over a period of a few weeks or even a few months with Aksana as his heat magnet, this could set up Antonio to be a major player in the future. HHH did say he didnt want Talent brought up without a storyline in place for them. Any thoughts on this as a possible debut direction for Cesaro.

 

[Bland]

That's a very good idea. I do remember Antonio actually saying to aksana that she said her boyfriend had a major role and the her replying that he used to.

This would be the perfect "quick" way to get cesaro heat and then giving him aksana as a kinda girlfriend - manager role.

Cesaro is defiently a better wrestler and I'm sure his mic skills are also better than otungas, so I'm all for him as us champ over otunga.

However I reckon for this to work the us titles and ic would need to switch in draft as this is really a smackdown angle with teddy long. However, with the raw super show it doesn't mean we will just see cesaro on smackdown.

 

[dimice76]

Nothing stopping Santion from defending the US title on SD with the way the shows are run now. Show's been on raw with the IC belt. I dont think it wouldmatter what show he would be on cause the mid card guys are more or less the same.

 

[xavyer]

I think that the WWE can shoot two birds with one stone on this one if done right, Antonio can make Teddy's life a nightmare with Aksana, and Santino can get in the picture, something like Santino knows Antonio from Italy and how bad of a person he is, and defend Teddy, and start a fued right away, Castagnoli, or Antonio is very good, the WWE should take advantage of this......

 

[Bryan Danielson]

I think that the WWE can shoot two birds with one stone on this one if done right, Antonio can make Teddy's life a nightmare with Aksana, and Santino can get in the picture, something like Santino knows Antonio from Italy and how bad of a person he is, and defend Teddy, and start a fued right away, Castagnoli, or Antonio is very good, the WWE should take advantage of this......

Claudio Castagnoli is from Lucerne, Switzerland not Italy.
I am hoping that Chris Hero will be appearing next week on Smackdown to sign his contract and reform The Kings of Wrestling so they can fued with Epico & Primo, American Perfection (Jack Swagger & Dolph Ziggler) or The Usos those matches would be awesome.

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

 

[Rampage Bentley]

Claudio Castagnoli is from Lucerne, Switzerland not Italy.
I am hoping that Chris Hero will be appearing next week on Smackdown to sign his contract and reform The Kings of Wrestling so they can fued with Epico & Primo, American Perfection (Jack Swagger & Dolph Ziggler) or The Usos those matches would be awesome.

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

You went with American Perfection? Did you even consider "Perfect Swagger"

That aside, the only wrench I can see in the OP's scenario is that the whole "gold digger" type of diva is currently being done by Eve. I wouldn't mind Antonio pulling a Ric Flair from his feud with Macho Man, and claiming he and Aksana had something, even showing doctored photos...

I really hope they don't screw this one up.

 

[dimice76]

You went with American Perfection? Did you even consider "Perfect Swagger"

That aside, the only wrench I can see in the OP's scenario is that the whole "gold digger" type of diva is currently being done by Eve. I wouldn't mind Antonio pulling a Ric Flair from his feud with Macho Man, and claiming he and Aksana had something, even showing doctored photos...

I really hope they don't screw this one up.

I think the difference is Eve is gonna go for Johnny where as Aksana is gonna go for Antonio IMO. It could also lead to both thinking they are gonna get Johnny and could spring into something with both having different guys with them, which I hope wouldnt happen. I think KOW is a pipe dream right now, I hope Im wrong but I think Titus/Young are gonna be the new young heel team, and KOW cant be faces which is what they need, in the division.

 

[grantedisme]

I saw a few videos of Antonio when he was Claudio on youtube, and wow.. Amazingly talented guy, and a great pickup for the WWE. I hope he can be a major player soon.

The one problem I have with this is that every new wrestler being introduced right now with the possible exception of Ryback is a heel. Brock, Tensai, Sandow, Ambrose, and Antonio. I'm a fan of all of their characters so far, but I'm a little worried that there won't be much for them to do without a few more comparable faces.

 

[dimice76]

I saw a few videos of Antonio when he was Claudio on youtube, and wow.. Amazingly talented guy, and a great pickup for the WWE. I hope he can be a major player soon.

The one problem I have with this is that every new wrestler being introduced right now with the possible exception of Ryback is a heel. Brock, Tensai, Sandow, Ambrose, and Antonio. I'm a fan of all of their characters so far, but I'm a little worried that there won't be much for them to do without a few more comparable faces.

Its easier to get faces over than heels for the most part. All Seth rollins needs to do is come in and beat a Ziggler or a Rhodes and he's over. A Heel is a lot harder because the difference in faces that matter and heels that do is widening.

 

[Swarles Barkley]

Claudio Castagnoli is from Lucerne, Switzerland not Italy.

Claudio may be from Switzerland, but Antonio may not be. You see, he is playing a character and they can have him come from wherever they want; Santino isn't from Italy (he's from Mississauga), Roddy Piper isn't from Glasgow (he's from Saskatoon), and Kofi Kingston wasn't from Jamaica and the list goes on and on. For all we know, WWE will decide to have Antonio be Italian, and with a name like Antonio Cesaro, I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up being an Italian character.

 

[Yesiamaduck]

I marked out when he worked the dark match at the start of the Smackdown tapings, but assumed it was just them trialing their FCW pool... then he showed up on Smackdown and I marked out some more. He got LOTS of heat during the dark match when he defeated the UK Kid & he cut an awesome promo at the start

He came out as a heel from Switzerland, wearing the flag on his attire.

 

[dimice76]

His mic work is amazing. Youtube him in FCW he's awesome with the stick. I think the U.S. title is the way to go as the I-C Title I think will stay between Show and Cody. He is surprisingly strong as well with some power despite not being the biggest guy build wise.

 

[grantedisme]

So, a few months removed, what's going on with Cesaro now? He apparently has the mic skills according to people who watched him on the indy circuit, and he has a great look and attitude for a powerful heel. Is this guy going to get a feud before he gets thrown onto Superstars?

As of now, it seems like the best option would be for Teddy Long to start managing someone and getting that guy to feud with Cesaro (Zack Rider makes the most sense, but I'd rather it be with someone more entertaining in the ring). It would be ideal if Aksana is never put into the position to cut a promo on her own, though, because she's freakishly bad on the mic.

A storyline is already there, and I think it would fit very nicely into the midcard while giving Cesaro a chance to show his merits to creative.