Cesaro - Losing Streak = Greatness or Cycle?

[kadroan]

Since losing the tag titles earlier this year, the powers-that-be finally let Cesaro become a fan favorite, even allowing the Cesaro Section signs after disposing them a year ago. They let him tag with fan favorites Orton, Ambrose and Cena. Prior to Reigns defeating Rusev on Smackdown recently, besides Cena, Cesaro was the only one to beat Rusev clean. He also got big matches against Rollins and Cena.

However, lately, he's been on a losing streak, it's looking like he lost his feud against Owens. Wins hadn't seem to coming around as often. It makes me think back to after him and Heyman split last year he was on a losing streak around this time and if it wasn't for the Kidd/Cesaro tag team going well, who knows what would have happened to Cesaro which makes me wonder now is this losing streak adversity meaning they're setting up Cesaro to do something great in the near future perhaps win a title or is this just a continuation of the inconsistent booking of Cesaro. Thoughts?

 

[Aquaman6686]

Cesaro has basically become the new Christian. Both were immensely popular wrestlers who got more over than Vince's chosen ones, and were punished as a result. Christian was completely buried by Randy Orton in his only top feud, and Cesaro was buried by Kevin Owens. Hopefully Cesaro will get another shot eventually, but I don't see it happening anytime soon.

 

[Un-Bo-Lievable Jeff]

I think Cesaros ability is going against him. He never got totally over, and is used to put on good matches and get other people over.

It's a shame because he is incredibly talanted but I have never seen much persona from him. If you could connect more with him personally then he has a chance but he doesn't do a lot of promos which makes it harder.

Good guy, and love him in the ring but can't see him being more than a stepping stone at the moment. Unless he can get a character that really works

 

[Mustang Sally]

He never got totally over, and is used to put on good matches and get other people over.

That could be, yet the 'Prime Time Players Effect' might be what Cesaro can hope for in the future.

What?

PTP was set up as a team.....and all they did was lose. They were good guys, they were bad guys.....and they lost. Darren Young was out forever and a day with injury.....and when he returned, they lost. I figured these guys were headed in the direction of Three Man Band. Yet, after a long time, PTP started winning, and I couldn't help but think they had been promised some success in the ring if they jobbed for the required amount of time.

That's what I'm hoping for Cesaro, too. He came back from Vince McMahon's thumbs-down edict and has people cheering for him. That's step one.

If he's to follow the path of PTP, Vince McMahon would have had to make him a deal, as in: "Okay, Claudio, here's what we're gonna do........"

It's happened before.

 

[Mudlup50]

While I don't particularly like the guy, he is immensely over just about every week, it's hard to deny that he has earned a spot. Yet Cesaro has been losing recently, but it's not like he's jobbing out. And I think we as a community have a tendency to do this, it's win or loss and that's all that matters. If you win, you're going somewhere and if you lose you're buried.

But correct me if I'm wrong, Kevin Owens/Cesaro was the semi main event of SummerSlam? They obviously have more planned for Owens after the promo between him and Ryback last week, but also Cesaro looked good and I wasn't sure who was going to win at SummerSlam. I don't think things are as bad for Cesaro as others are thinking. Just give him some time and when Kidd returns we could be seeing them take on the Dudley's for the tag titles!


BUT! I don't ever think Cesaro will win the world title. Which I know would upset a bunch of his fans but while the WWE is trying to rectify their mistakes of not pushing him last year, I don't think they see him as a future main event star.

 

[Navi]

Yea I think Sally is right. Cesaro is too good a talent for them to lose, and he is over. He's not Daniel Bryan over, but he gets a good pop when he comes out. Plus the fact he's on TV each week, and going against upper midcarder's which is exactly where he should be right now.

Cesaro doesn't work as a heel, he's much more likable as a face. I think if he keeps going the way he is and has the support from the fans, we'll see him with a title sooner or later. Probably not the WHC, but the US or IC title is within his reach. Personally I think he's the most talented wrestler they have on the roster right now, he has almost freakish strength, and it would be a shame to waste it.

I also think that when Vince mentioned him on Austin's podcast, it was more of a message to Cesaro personally, not the put down everyone made it out to be. He mentioned Ambrose as well and he's been on a losing streak forever, hasn't seemed to hurt him. Vince doesn't strike me as the type to take note of wrestler's he's not interested in.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Just when Cesaro was getting little sniffs at the main event picture.....swish...he's back to jobbing to everyone again. It's too bad, he's better than that.

 

[timothy26]

For -He's an immensely talented very classic heavyweight but athletic style wrestler. He's the closest thing to a traditional professional wrestler on the WWE main at the moment. He can work with pretty much anyone and give a quality match, really useful guy to have for house shows especially.

Against Slightly bland look, kind of looks middle aged, doesn't have that "bad ass" factor. Not sure what the deal with the beats headphones is. Isn't American and doesn't speak English as a first language so he's speaking with an accent and doesn't have the greatest mic skills in the first place, which can hurt his ability to create a compelling character on American tv.

Overall I am a fan of Cesaro. I want to see him succeed. I like traditional pro wrestling and am a fan of the style from the UK and the NWA from the 80's. I enjoy watching Cesaro in wrestling matches but when I watch him I don't really feel either way about his character, he's not particularly aggressive, it isn't clearly defined what his goals are, there is very little emotion behind his character and what he does. Whilst I would enjoy seeing him as a World Champion I think those issues will keep him out of the main event scene, he will hover around it as he's a good wrestler who can go with your top guys every night but until something changes he won't be seen as a contender.

 

[Slash-LN]

They're allowing the Cesaro section signs now because they decided to exploit it and make it a WWE thing. Now Vince with his twisted logic can somehow take credit for it. They wouldn't be mentioning it on commentary every week and having wrestlers make passing comments about it if it was just about signs. It's about a catchphrase for a lack of better term.

Cesaro is likely never going to be a main event guy, or at least not the world champion.

I said it in another topic and I'll say it here. I feel like the only reason he's a singles wrestler now is because his tag partner got hurt and he can make the wrestlers they want to push look good.

That's not a bad thing. He's getting plenty of TV time and he gets to showcase his ability.

He may rack up losses but that's fine. At least he gets to have competitive matches and they didn't turn him into Iron Mike Sharpe.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

Against Slightly bland look, kind of looks middle aged, doesn't have that "bad ass" factor. Not sure what the deal with the beats headphones is. Isn't American and doesn't speak English as a first language so he's speaking with an accent and doesn't have the greatest mic skills in the first place, which can hurt his ability to create a compelling character on American tv.

I can't see this being a bad thing. I mean the entertainment industry relies so much on the overseas market more than ever. And the WWE does have a Global presence they can capitalize on.

This is why so much of Hollywood is pandering to the Chinese Market.

 

[TDFG]

I'm a fan of Cesaro. I think if the Brand Split was still going he may well have already been a World Champion.

He works great matches, is immensely strong & is over with the crowd. His only downfall is he's not great on the mic, I thought having Heyman as his manager would have worked and it probably wasn't given enough time for it to work.

 

[timothy26]

I can't see this being a bad thing. I mean the entertainment industry relies so much on the overseas market more than ever. And the WWE does have a Global presence they can capitalize on.

This is why so much of Hollywood is pandering to the Chinese Market.

The Chinese market emerging as a major consumer for US entertainment won't have anything to do with Cesaro getting over, if the WWE reaches new audiences, they won't immediately gravitate to the technical wrestlers hardcore fans such as ourselves like. It will be the Cenas and the Lesnars and the larger than life guys.

Having a Swiss guy might bring some eyes onto the product in his home country and the surrounding areas but I'm not altogether sure of the pro wrestling scene in Europe at the moment. I know it was once a big thing in France and I know Germany have their scene but I'm not sure if those equal big markets for WWE.

I'm based in Australia and Nathan Jones was pretty well unknown here, outside of wrestling fans, I wouldn't say his presence brought any new fans to the product even though he had a reasonable run in WWE. Emma is virtually unknown, her pop wasn't even that big at the recent house show here, considering we tend to be very patriotic.

Whilst it is good to have the global presence and international talent I don't think too many foreign guys will get a main event push. You could say Sheamus and now Finn Balor are but that's in part due to the fact that Vince thinks he is Irish (for some reason alot of Americans do) so the Irish kind of get a pass in a way.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Having someone of a particular nationality isn't a guarantee of success - the most over guys like Davey Boy Smith, Dynamite Kid & Regal had been fixtures on TV wrestling since their teens, especially Davey who had teamed with Big Daddy aged 15 when wrestling would get 15m viewers+ a week. Even UK casual fans knew who Davey was by the time Summerslam 92 rolled around, because they remembered him. But in that period prior, Davey was almost the 3rd face internationally behind Hogan and Warrior - WWE really used his image to go "global" in 1991, even having him win at The Royal Albert Hall on a PPV Battle Royale... He was doing big in the Rumbles etc... kind of where Cesaro is now.

The guy they DO have floating around the system who will get a lot of European exposure is Tim Wiese - if they can get his training right and he can go, then his football career would make an impact.

The biggest thing against Cesaro is that there isn't a proper opponent from Europe he could square off against at the moment. Barrett and he have already tangled to death, and so have he and Sheamus... The character is almost there now, but it needs the killer feud.

IF Cesaro is gonna get a push, I think they are waiting till Balor comes up... Balor v Cesaro could be a money/main event feud in a couple of years... working with Owens now, even losing is good cos it gets Claudio back into that "zone" of working with the Indy guys... I could see he and Balors title futures being very closely linked...

Whatever you think of Cesaro's fortunes right now, he's better placed than Barrett, which is very sad as BNB is the better all rounder and more over than Sheamus, the guy they are cramming down our throats... that's not a bad position to be in when Sheamus bombs...

 

[Navi]

Against Slightly bland look, kind of looks middle aged, doesn't have that "bad ass" factor. Not sure what the deal with the beats headphones is. Isn't American and doesn't speak English as a first language so he's speaking with an accent and doesn't have the greatest mic skills in the first place, which can hurt his ability to create a compelling character on American tv.

While I agree with the fact that he has a slightly bland look, the fact English isn't his first language isn't something I would use against him. He speaks it perfectly. And from what I understand he is fluent in a few other languages as well. That would only help the WWE as they are now a global company, and if he were to do interviews in other countries, chances are he could do it in their language.

Also agree his mic skills aren't the greatest, but it's because he wasn't really a talker, it's only been recently he's on the stick more. I do think he is getting better, and his accent while noticeable doesn't take away from what he's saying.

I blame the WWE for his character development. When he was a face they let him use the Swing. After winning the Andre the Giant Battle Royal they turned him heel and took the Swing away from him. Huge mistake as he was hugely over at the time. They bounced him around from being a Paul Heyman guy, to teasing he had joined the Authority. I didn't know what he was doing for the longest while there.

If they give him a good character this guy can run with it. He's great in the ring, mic skills will come. God knows we've all given Reigns the chance, and Cesaro can wrestle rings around him. I do believe that he'll do quite well, and Balor might be a great opponent for him when he gets called up. Their matches could be epic.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

Whilst it is good to have the global presence and international talent I don't think too many foreign guys will get a main event push. You could say Sheamus and now Finn Balor are but that's in part due to the fact that Vince thinks he is Irish (for some reason alot of Americans do) so the Irish kind of get a pass in a way.

I am not saying that someone should get a main event or even a big push because of his or her foreign nationality, what I was saying is that being a foreigner or having a strong accent should not be a deterrent of getting a push.

While I agree with the fact that he has a slightly bland look, the fact English isn't his first language isn't something I would use against him. He speaks it perfectly. And from what I understand he is fluent in a few other languages as well. That would only help the WWE as they are now a global company, and if he were to do interviews in other countries, chances are he could do it in their language.

Agreed on the English part.

Regarding his bland look, I am still trying to figure out why most here think he's bland. I mean when I see bland I see guys Ted Debiase Jr., someone who is very vanilla.

I don't see that in Cesaro he has a very competitive look and he has a very athletic presence. I mean if used right can be marketable to an older male audience that likes to watch MMA and UFC. I've always said Cesaro resembles Geroge St. Pierre and GSP is a marketable personality.

 

[Slash-LN]

I am not saying that someone should get a main event or even a big push because of his or her foreign nationality, what I was saying is that being a foreigner or having a strong accent should not be a deterrent of getting a push.




Agreed on the English part.

Regarding his bland look, I am still trying to figure out why most here think he's bland. I mean when I see bland I see guys Ted Debiase Jr., someone who is very vanilla.

I don't see that in Cesaro he has a very competitive look and he has a very athletic presence. I mean if used right can be marketable to an older male audience that likes to watch MMA and UFC. I've always said Cesaro resembles Geroge St. Pierre and GSP is a marketable personality.

It's his hairline. I guarantee you that 90% of people who have an issue with his look have an issue because of his hairline.

Although I don't really think Ted Dibiase is a bland looking guy.
He's better looking than your average person. His physique isn't the best though. But given people are up in arms about Kevin Owens physique, Ted's shouldn't matter either.

 

[BaconBits]

He is never going to be a main eventer in the E. He just isn't. He's not charismatic enough. He has no real gimmick. He's awful on the microphone. His entrance theme is amongst the worst in wrasslin' history.

Cesaro is in his lane. He's a very capable and steady midcarder/gatekeeper. He can work heel or face. He can put on a good match with just about anybody. He's a favorite amongst the internet crowd.

There is a lot of honor (and money) in being a career midcarder/gatekeeper. You can work on TV for years with just about anybody and make the occasional foray into the main event scene. I mean, look at how much mileage Kane has gotten out of it....

 

[LascoX]

I think he has really stepped it up since Vince made his remarks on the pod cast. To his credit he said that after he heard what Vince had said his first words to Vince was "Challange accepted" That said. It's easy to get over if your being pushed and winning all the time, it takes true guts and tenacity to get over when you are being handed losses. Daniel Bryant got over while being forced to lose and in fact he got over while they were trying to bury him. A few losses is not a bad thing and as it's been said , he hasn't been squashed and has looked good in the matches he has lost. Since Vince's comments he has really started to get the crowd behind him, he is engaging the masses with good effect. While I agree, I don't see a world title in his future anytime soon I personally wouldn't rule it out. If he can keep building on momentum it's not out of the realm of possibilities that at some point on a European tour he took the strap at some point. I personally like how he has developed and I am impressed that he took Vince's Challange to heart and built on it. Lesser men would have let Vince's comments bury them but he took the criticism and learned from it. Him and Tyson were doing good together and as much as I hated to see Tyson get injured it has been a positive on Cesaro's career. I can easily see see him and Tyson doing another run as tag champs on Tysons return. A run with the intercontinental or the US belt isn't out of the possibility either. Cesaro has the phsicality and the wrestling ability to be a strong player in the game. If he can keep building on his interaction with the crowds and work on his mic skills a bit more then who knows what he might obtain in time. Cesaro is a solid worker and delivers good matches against pretty much whoever you put him in there with. At the end of the day that's a big factor in how far you go and how long your career runs.

 

[Navi]

Regarding his bland look, I am still trying to figure out why most here think he's bland. I mean when I see bland I see guys Ted Debiase Jr., someone who is very vanilla.

I don't see that in Cesaro he has a very competitive look and he has a very athletic presence. I mean if used right can be marketable to an older male audience that likes to watch MMA and UFC. I've always said Cesaro resembles Geroge St. Pierre and GSP is a marketable personality.

What I mean by him being bland is there is nothing about him that really stands out. Like Bacon said, there are a few cons about him. His entrance theme is terrible, those sirens give me a headache. Don't know why he wears the earphones or the towel over his head. Quite honestly it's a little ridiculous, and thank God he got rid of the sweatbands he wore around his thighs.

Guys like the Shield stood out because of the riot gear, Bray Wyatt stands out because he looks the part of a bayou cult leader. Miz tries to look like a Hollywood A lister, you get my drift. Cesaro unfortunately looks like generic wrestler (insert number here).

Despite all that, I like the guy a lot. He needs a gimmick though, not a corny one, just something for the fans that are on the fence about him to get behind him. Let's face it, he's gotten himself over, the WWE didn't do him any real favours, and if he hadn't started tag teaming with Kidd, God knows where he would be now.

He doesn't need a manager, his mic skills will come along he just needs practice. But he does need a solid gimmick and the sooner the better.

 

[MartialHorror]

While he hasn't been booked particularly well, I can't hold it against WWE because it's not like they have a good spot for him right now. There's a lot of talent who are just...there. Does the Rusev-Ziggler feud benefit anyone? If Ziggler loses, he's still in the exact same spot. If he wins, he's probably going to remain in the exact same spot.

If Cesaro beat Owens, what then? Would that be enough to have him to face Rollins for the belt? Since Kidd is out, that would leave only Ryback- Whom WWE has more faith in. There would be no way to capitalize on that momentum, unless he competed for the MITB contract...even then, as much as I don't like Sheamus having that, Sheamus has been consistently booked to be strong enough for the belt. Cesaro has been booked as a strong midcarder.

Owens losing would hurt Owens more than help Cesaro, if anything. So I don't really know what they could do with him right now.

 

[whoopin' ass]

Who knows? Maybe they are building him up for something - we have seen this in the past where it has lead to something bigger. But then again, we have also seen this a lot in the past where it lead to nowhere. Given that Vince doesn't really care for Cesaro, I think it was just a way to capitalize on a situation - Kydd was out with a neck injury that people knew about, he talked about how supportive his tag partner was which caused more people to get behind Cesaro so wwe pushed him as a face. I think his push was good timing but wwe never really intents to push him more. In regards to the PTP, don't forget how long they have been a team too. They were a losing tag team for years and it went nowhere, wwe tried splitting them up and turning them on each other and no one cared either. wwe only just started pushing them and I think it has more to do with a lack of established tag teams than anything else. My guess is if they had a couple more teams, or the Dudley's were back sooner, PTP still would be just a losing tag team. I mean, The Dudley's are not feuding with them, they are feuding with New Day. Cesaro is in a similar spot but the title scene is different for him so he won't benefit like they did.

 

[Sexcellence of Sexecution]

Cesaro is midcard 4 lyfe, get over it.

The fact of the matter is, not everybody can or should be in a main event spot. Some guys are just going to be midcard workhorses that give you a good match, and that's exactly what Cesaro is. And by the way, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that at all. Look at Ricky Steamboat. He still had an extremely successful career in the WWE, and he never held the World Title. He made for a great IC Champion but was never a WWE main eventer and that's fine. Cesaro is in great condition and he knows how to work a solid match with just about anybody. He also is generic on the mic, and lacks a well-defined character. He's not a charisma vaccuum by any stretch, and he tries to let his personality shine through when he's in the ring, but he doesn't have the natural charisma or presence needed to be a true World Champion. I'm not saying that he shouldn't be pushed, and I'm not saying that he should just flounder in the midcard. He deserves to be booked in prominent matches, he should be in actual feuds that build from week-to-week, and he should be in the IC/US Title picture. But that doesn't mean he should be a top guy.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

Cesaro is midcard 4 lyfe, get over it.

The fact of the matter is, not everybody can or should be in a main event spot. Some guys are just going to be midcard workhorses that give you a good match, and that's exactly what Cesaro is. And by the way, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that at all. Look at Ricky Steamboat. He still had an extremely successful career in the WWE, and he never held the World Title. He made for a great IC Champion but was never a WWE main eventer and that's fine. Cesaro is in great condition and he knows how to work a solid match with just about anybody. He also is generic on the mic, and lacks a well-defined character. He's not a charisma vaccuum by any stretch, and he tries to let his personality shine through when he's in the ring, but he doesn't have the natural charisma or presence needed to be a true World Champion. I'm not saying that he shouldn't be pushed, and I'm not saying that he should just flounder in the midcard. He deserves to be booked in prominent matches, he should be in actual feuds that build from week-to-week, and he should be in the IC/US Title picture. But that doesn't mean he should be a top guy.

Yes there is nothing wrong with being mid carder especially a upper mid carder though WWE seems content as a gloried Enhancement Talent.

Unless you have a crystal ball it's premature to claim he's a mid carder for life.

I think a lot of people made that assumption because of Vince McMahon's comments about Cesaro and it does seem Vince isn't high on Cesaro. Really I think this is the only obstacle Cesaro has to climb, that the top boss doesn't think much of you. I don't think it's even about talent or even "the look" to be honest, I mean The Miz, Mabel, Alberto Del Rio, Jack Swagger and The Great Khali all had main event runs and you can't say they were leaps and bounds beyond what Cesaro is right now.

 

[MCMG]

Cesaro can lose matches and still be relevant. The fans are behind him and his ability in the ring is so incredible that he gets you invested every time.

Cesaro losing to Owens wasn't a big deal. Someone had to lose the feud and Owens was the right choice to go over. Owens was the one who just feuded with Cena and is seemingly going into a feud with Ryback. Cesaro's can regain some momentum and will be able to move up the card, no problem.

There isn't an obvious place for Cesaro at the moment. Feuds with guys like The Miz and Show will keep him ticking over and on TV. That's a start. Long-term, you'd expect he could feud for one of the mid-card titles.

If you want Cesaro to win big matches, however, then there is a bit of an issue. Any big feuds will be against guys like Sheamus, Owens, Rusev and maybe Wyatt. I can't see Cesaro getting victories over those guys. Over Barrett, Stardust, Miz, Show? Absolutely but I'm not so sure they are major PPV matches. A very interesting position but I enjoy Cesaro regardless of his position in the card or his win/loss record.