Are WWE seriously changing Cesaro into a German?

[NotoriousWWE]

I was browsing WWE's YouTube channel a little earlier when I came across a new Antonio Cesaro titantron. Which can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWgUYZAI6L8

I find it highly disrespectful that WWE have decided to change where Cesaro is billed from as his native homeland of Switzerland was fitting his character perfectly as much as WWE creative may have found him boring. Just because they are using a perhaps more 'known' country to their fans, I still find it outrageous that they'd do so. Cesaro is not from Germany he's from Switzerland, why change that? Just because they border each other doesn't give them justification to do so.

How do others feel about this? Will it be beneficial in any way? I honestly think its ridiculous.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Heel foreigner is all the average fan sees, don't see why its a big deal. I gotta ask why you find this so disrespectful and outrageous? Did it matter when Kofi Kingston was from Jamaica only to be from Ghana? its the exact same thing in the opposite direction.

Piper is a Canadian but he wears a kilt and says he's from Glasgow.
Cactus Jack is from Long Island not Truth or Consequences.
Hogan's from Florida not Venice Beach or Hollywood.
Benoit is from Edmonton not Atlanta.

I don't see benefiting him in any way but I don't see why it matters. Maybe they didn't want him to be from a neutral country with no enemies, maybe they think Germans seem more evil because of the Holocaust (now thinking of it how many Germans were faces outside of Alex Wright?), I don't know why they did it but I don't see how it matters in any way, shape or form. If Cesaro doesn't care why should anyone else?

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

Well, maybe they thought being from Switzerland will not help his gimmick. I dunno what being a Gerry in this day and age will do also, but I digress. Lazy by WWE.


Anyway, I liked him in the beret and jacket and his matches are good. I dunno where the Deutsche makeover is heading. At the moment, I don't care.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Itll be anything BUT lazy if they somehow manage to change a gimmick which was entirely based upon being from switzerland into a german. Lolz.

In all seriousness, I suppose they felt germany is more sinister than Switzerland. Its certainley an uglier more agressive language.

Fuck it, as long as they are trying something with him.

 

[Trollol]

Itll be anything BUT lazy if they somehow manage to change a gimmick which was entirely based upon being from switzerland into a german. Lolz.

In all seriousness, I suppose they felt germany is more sinister than Switzerland. Its certainley an uglier more agressive language.

Fuck it, as long as they are trying something with him.

You do know Germany and Switzerland share an official language right? Switzerland just has a different dialect of German (along with French, Italian, and the rarely used Romansh)

 

[a member of wwe universe]

PPl need to ask thesmelves: Why didnt cesaro go over? Answer: hes character is boring. How does changing him into a german make him any different? By being a german, cesaro is going to be alot more "aggressive" than ever and that he proclaim hes going to take over the wwe as first ever german?

Hopefully im wrong

 

[Yosihait]

His finisher is about him being Swiss...

Dammit, why change it?

 

[The Butcher]

"Cesaro" doesn't sound German.

 

[owenmandias]

Triple H will be on the show soon saying, "Wait...Aren't you supposed to be Swiss...?

 

[Eyebrows]

I don't think it'll make too much different. Foreign heels usually deal in stereotypes and the usual stereotypes associated with Germans (efficient/cold) lend themselves well to a heel whereas the stereotypes associated with the Swiss (quirky/warm) don't so much. Not that those stereotypes are true of course.

Any change is good if it means a push and if the WWE have it in their minds that billing him from Germany makes him better suited for a push then I don't see anything bad about seeing more of Cesaro. If it doesn't lead to any kind of sustained push then it's a pointless change.

 

[The Butcher]

Kofi Kingston to Antonio Cesaro:

"Hey, I changed my nationality and look at what it did for my career!"

 

[Remy LaCroix]

Sounds like something they should've done from the very beginning. It's not the first retcon and it won't be the last.

"Cesaro" doesn't sound German.

Half German on his mother side maybe?

 

[Brahma_Bull9]

You do know Germany and Switzerland share an official language right? Switzerland just has a different dialect of German (along with French, Italian, and the rarely used Romansh)

He's also from the german speaking portion of Switzerland.... I mean who really cares this early in before seeing it play out...

You know this is the same show where Undertaker is from Death Valley, right guys?

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Meh, I don't really see how it's going to help but I don't see how it'll hurt either. As far as where he's from, what's the big deal? It's not like Cesaro is denouncing his Swiss citizenship. Hell, even if he was, why should anyone care? If, for some reason, it does help Cesaro further his career, then I'm all for it.

Sometimes, everything about a wrestler's persona can be tied into his ring gear, where he's from, his look, etc. It can all play something of a role. For instance, look at Bray Wyatt. Just based on pure perception, does he look like a guy who lives in a penthouse suite on 5th Avenue in New York or would be booked hailing from Beverly Hills? Given his look, his character and some of the things he says in his promos; he comes off more like someone who could be living in a cardboard box or an old cabin out in the Florida swamps. When John Morrison & Melina were first doing their thing after Morrison went solo, they were billed as being from Louisville, Kentucky. Later, it was changed to Los Angeles, California. Why? Because it fit the image WWE had for the two. Los Angeles is known for being a ritzy, glamorous town where the "beautiful people" are. In LA, Morrison could walk down the street dressed in his ring gear and people would think it entirely normal. If he did it in Louisville, many would probably laugh their asses off at him and God forbid if he came across any rednecks. Poor bastard probably wouldn't make it home in one piece. Not that he'd go out in public wearing his ring gear but, strictly from a kayfabe point of view, everything about Morrison from his looks to his character fits more with California than Kentucky.

 

[Headman]

Next thing you know they're going to have a white American write kanji all over his face and hail from Japan. I guess it's better to have your character re-tooled than have your contract terminated.

 

[Brahma_Bull9]

Next thing you know they're going to have a white American write kanji all over his face and hail from Japan. I guess it's better to have your character re-tooled than have your contract terminated.

lol now this is a great comment, I know you probably disagree with my first but yea that is ridicolous and now all the sudden he's hanging out dancing with a fat gingerian

 

[CanadianDeviant]

Cesaro has not been in any proper program yet, and that is probably a result of creative not knowing what to do with him.
A heel manager or tag team partner is exactly what would help get him noticed

 

[mrfantastic111]

You do know Germany and Switzerland share an official language right? Switzerland just has a different dialect of German (along with French, Italian, and the rarely used Romansh)

English is an official language of the US, does that mean that Swagger is eligible to bill himself from Manchester?

I won't lie, his German titantron is way more badass. Maybe WWE creative thinks that all Swiss are friendly watch-makers, and all Germans are angry militia?

I really dislike when WWE decides to suddenly change the billing of a wrestler that is already well-established, just like when they decided that we were all stupid enough to ignore Kofi dropping his Jamaican accent. I mean, I'd let it slide if Antonio cut a promo explaining that he is of Swiss-German descent and that he needs to tap into his more 'strict' German lineage in order to succeed in WWE.

However, what was wrong with the Swiss persona? It's not 1945 anymore so I can't imagine how Cesaro is expected to gain heat from this? He'd get more heat by pulling an Alberto, I could imagine him driving to the ring in a German car like an AMG SLS or something. Not that I think that is a good idea either.

Still, it does frustrate me when WWE thinks that it's fans have the memory of a fish. Whether you're a 'casual' fan, IWC, or in-between, it's just plain weird when a wrestler turns up on TV as a German after spending the previous two years Swiss.

 

[d_henderson1810]

Heel foreigner is all the average fan sees, don't see why its a big deal. I gotta ask why you find this so disrespectful and outrageous? Did it matter when Kofi Kingston was from Jamaica only to be from Ghana? its the exact same thing in the opposite direction.

Piper is a Canadian but he wears a kilt and says he's from Glasgow.
Cactus Jack is from Long Island not Truth or Consequences.
Hogan's from Florida not Venice Beach or Hollywood.
Benoit is from Edmonton not Atlanta.

I don't see benefiting him in any way but I don't see why it matters. Maybe they didn't want him to be from a neutral country with no enemies, maybe they think Germans seem more evil because of the Holocaust (now thinking of it how many Germans were faces outside of Alex Wright?), I don't know why they did it but I don't see how it matters in any way, shape or form. If Cesaro doesn't care why should anyone else?

Chris Jericho is being hailed from Manhattan, NY, when they used to say he was from Canada.

The Undertaker is billed from "Death" Valley (geddit), but when he was the biker, he was hailed from Texas.

Kane hailed from "Parts Unknown", which is actually not a place.

 

[Eyebrows]

English is an official language of the US, does that mean that Swagger is eligible to bill himself from Manchester?

I think the poster was just referring to the other guy implying that speaking German would make him sound more heelish than speaking Swiss, even though there is no such thing as a Swiss language and he's already routinely been speaking German.

Still, it does frustrate me when WWE thinks that it's fans have the memory of a fish. Whether you're a 'casual' fan, IWC, or in-between, it's just plain weird when a wrestler turns up on TV as a German after spending the previous two years Swiss.

This is the only main issue. Hopefully he'll address it in a promo but it's just as likely they'll not reference it. The part about driving a BMW made me laugh though. BMW drivers are natural heels.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

He's playing a basic Euro trash character. I'm actually surprised they didn't move him to France.

 

[Duderino]

I'm just really glad they haven't given up on Cesaro. A change in his entrance video seems pretty insignificant when you figure he rarely gets a televised entrance anymore.

He beat Justin Gabriel on Main Event. That's not a huge victory, but he had quite the losing streak prior to that (with the exception of one pointless squash match against Zack Ryder). Maybe they're finally going to give Cesaro a decent push as a German. They could make him Saudi Arabian for all I care as long as he is in more televised matches. He's one of the only performers currently in WWE that I really mark out for.


EDIT: I figured it out. They are going to bring him into the tag team scene as a German, but not with his former partner Kassius Ohno/Chris Hero. The German Cesaro will form yet another dominant heel tag team with his partner ADOLPH ZIGGLER

 

[jrush1978]

A random out of left field thought. Maybe they think he can bash America more supposedly being from Germany. We have all the debt/financial problems and Germany is the supposedly the financially strongest country in the EU.

 

[Canadas Greatest]

He's not a very talented wrestler, so does it really matter where he's billed from? There's nothing about that receding hairline that screams main event to anyone.

Gotta do sumpin' 'bout that hair, girlfriend.

 

[Duderino]

A random out of left field thought. Maybe they think he can bash America more supposedly being from Germany. We have all the debt/financial problems and Germany is the supposedly the financially strongest country in the EU.

hmmmm.....and all that talk about currency surely seems like it would line up nicely with a Money in the Bank angle. I'm pretty sure that's just wishful thinking on my part though.