Cesaro - Ready Or Not?

[Jack-Hammer]

Over the past few days, there's been a fairly decent sized buzz regarding Cesaro and his performance against Randy Orton on SmackDown!. It's no secret that Cesaro is among the most consistent guys on the WWE roster when it comes to being able to put on high quality wrestling matches. It's been that way for quite a while, especially when you look at the acclaim that Cesaro has gotten for his matches against Sami Zayn, Daniel Bryan and others. Since qualifying for the Elimination Chamber, Cesaro has been labeled the "dark horse" of the match, partially as he's the only competitor in the match to have never won a singles World Championship in WWE. His consistently strong ability to help put on matches of high quality, his "dark horse" label and his matches against Bryan & Orton over the course of the past week+ have gotten some people wondering if Cesaro is ready for a main event push.

While it seems that the break up of his tag team with Jack Swagger is looming on the horizon, and as much of a fan of Cesaro as I am, I don't think now's the time. As a persona, Cesaro hasn't really had much of an opportunity to develop his own identity. Initially, he played the role of the arrogant foreigner who looks down on Americans and now he's aligned with Zeb Coulter & Jack Swagger as part of the "Real Americans" even though he isn't a naturalized American. It's a pairing that, in some ways, hasn't made much sense while, at the same time, has produced some really entertaining matches. Cesaro has a strong connection with fans while he's in the ring, but not as a persona and certainly not on the mic. Without that connection, I just don't see it in the long term.

However, his minor name change has me a little hopeful. Allegedly, the reason for his name being altered to simply as Cesaro is that "someone", according to reports, didn't think a guy with the name Antonio sounded "tough" and Cesaro's legit toughness & discipline is something that commentators frequently harp on. I think Cesaro's best shot could be by keeping his character a grounded, but passionate & determined "tough guy." Since "someone" feels that Cesaro sounds like the name of a "tough guy", then why not go the logical route of making him a "tough guy?"

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

No! Not a chance. He's the worse actor in WWE today (except for Khali). The IWC loves him, mostly because of his indy background (it started there) and now because he actually gave some good matches he's been seen as a future main eventer way ahead of far more talented people in a total package sense and in a marketable sense.

Cesaro is a good wrestler, but so is a lot of other midcarders in the WWE. I've seen Jack Swagger put out good performances, I've seen Sandow put out good performances, I've seen Wade Barrett never being fully capitalized and yet those guys are doing nothing and all of them are better talkers than Cesaro. All have a lot more personality. You also have the easy ones like Dean Ambrose so far ahead. Roman Reigns is just a star alone. Bray Wyatt is just a star alone. Antonio Cesaro is not and like I said in other threads that is not a bad thing. We need good midcarders too. He's making a lot of money on his own in the position he's been put and remember it's not like he's building his own feuds and stories - he's just been randomly put in matches with Zeb Colter as the team mouthpiece and the center of the entire gimmick.

When Cesaro turns babyface, which is REALLY hard to be he'll be in the Kingston area. People like to see him in the ring. He's fun and he has his fair share of supporters but he is not a star and everyone that believes it, is going full blind. Don't compare Bryan's success or any other. Bryan in NXT showed some great personality. Cesaro never showed anything in that regard. Never. Not even in his indy work where the stakes are not so high and where your in-ring ability matter a lot more than your personality.

I see Antonio Cesaro has the next Dean Malenko and if you look closely it makes a lot of sense. They both can't talk but they can wrestle and in some way shape or form, Malenko did leave his name in the business. He delivered some great matches in WCW that everyone that saw them, likes it. You can put Cesaro in a gimmick, where the gimmick in itself can work and he can be successful, but a great gimmick it's not always the talent's fault that it works. People genuinely like to chant "YES!" and it doesn't matter if it is for Bryan or Big Show, they just like it and it made Bryan more popular than what he really is. Cesaro will be a great midcarder and he'll put a lot of talent over. He'll be a great IC Champ one day and he'll challenge the world champion once or twice if WWE really is stubborn in pushing him and that is a fantastic career for his talents. Don't be biased because you like his in-ring ability. Being a WWE main eventer is so much more than in-ring ability and always has been. Cena, Orton, Bryan, Punk, Sheamus, Batista, Del Rio, Lesnar, Taker, HHH - those are the big guys and all of them are perfectly capable of delivering great great bouts. What we need is to care about them and we do because we know their personality and we can connect with them and because they are stars.

 

[The_Don]

I don't know which option to choose from the poll. Where does "not yet" goes to?

I believe he has a good chance to be a future main eventer, but it's not time yet. He needs a good feud that centralizes on him. He already has some fans cheering for him regardless of him being a heel. But still, he needs more support, turn face and then see how he goes with his merchandise sell. And besides, he still is raw on the mic, he's just good in the ring at this point.

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

Punk's departure has led to a top slot being available, and I have no problem w/ them trying to see what they have in Cesaro.

He has an interesting in-ring style and has the look of a top guy, but there needs to be some re-packaging obviously. His mic work has been average and his accent is a little thick sometimes. But they can get around that.

Are there other guy's more deserving? Only Reigns and Wyatt are really knocking on that door at the moment, so I'd slot Cesaro in behind them and ahead of Ambrose. Big E technically is still in a singles push so I'm not considering him. A year ago I'd have predicted Sandow would be in this position, but he is off the rails at this point.

 

[NtwrestlingMaster]

Cesaro is a very good talent on the whole. I personally believe he could become a main eventer, with the crowd pleasing move of the Cesaro Swing, and a deep arsenal of moves, including his vicious European Uppercut, and some moves we've only seen him do in the indies. I personally think he has more long term value than Bray Wyatt, and my reason, is that Cesaro is already considered as future main eventer, and has tons of room to grow, but I don't see how Bray can really adapt from his current gimmick.

If you have 6 Spots in the Main event, here is what WWE has so far.

John Cena
Randy Orton
Daniel Bryan
Sheamus
Batista
Open

I believe Roman Reigns will in the end get the spot, since WWE is very high on him right now, but I believe Cesaro is more than likely ready for the shot, or at least a high midcard push.

 

[ProWrestlingFan]

Antonio Cesaro is ready and he already does connects with the audience. He has a signature move that sends the crowd crazy- "The Cesaro Swing" and is something that will serve him well should a face turn come his way. Daniel Bryan's "YES!" chants has a similar effect and look at his position in the company.
With the recent name change and the win over Orton, it looks like WWE is grooming him as a future main-eventer. Cesaro will probably be a World Champion in the next 1 or 2 years.

Cena recently put over Cesaro and called him a future World Champion.

 

[M]

He's ready and I have a sneaky suspicion that they're grooming him up for it as we speak.

The push isn't going to come straight away though, what they're doing right now is building him up as a viable threat to higher level guys so in 3-4 months when they decide that it's time to give him a shot in a big feud he'll not be treated as a joke. If you haven't noticed, the crowd is slowly (real slowly but it is there) turning to his side purely because of his in ring awesomeness, and the WWE has probably noticed that. The break away from swagger will probably be on the RAW after Wrestlemania too, if they were to give him the face turn, because the WWE know that he's probably going to be cheered like crazy anyway in that crowd, and it would be smart to try and see if he could ride that wave of momentum.

Just a throwaway thought of mine, but Cena v Cesaro as a big main event blowoff of a long feud has the potential to be match of the decade.

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

No! Not a chance. He's the worse actor in WWE today (except for Khali).

That's a pretty big statement. I'm not going to go through the entire list of guys who I think are worse actors, but I'll say that I don't even think Cesaro is the worst actor in his own tag team.

 

[Blade]

Honestly, that match against Orton made me a fan of Cesaro. I never really got it before now, but then again, he's never been in the ring with someone I cared about until now. His US title run was lame, and the Real Americans haven't done a whole lot. I'd seen his 2 out of 3 falls match with Sami Zayn, but that match is really overrated. So yeah, I didn't understand the appeal of Cesaro.

Then they put him in the ring with Orton, and I got it. I loved that match. That was the first time I thought that he could be a World Champion. Even in the era of 1 World champion, I think he could do it via Money in the Bank or something.

With that said, his promos don't work for me, and I can't quite put my finger on it. It's not the accent, I think that makes him cooler. It's just a weird speaking pattern he has the ruins the flow of his promos. If he does some promo training, finds a more definitive personality than "that European guy," then he could be big.

 

[L@RISANO]

I voted if he could connect with the fans then yes, he should get a chance.

However, at this time, he is only good for multi-man matches, which is what the Elimination Chamber allows. His in-ring work is brilliant, but beyond that he needs some work before he can be 1 half of a Main Event feud with someone.

 

[Kamala316]

Now is the time for Cesaro. Swagger will win the IC title at Elimination Chamber somehow (Mark Henry gets involved somehow when Zeb or Cesaro interferes in the match), which gives us 2 additional matches at WM XXX: Henry vs. Big E. and Cesaro vs. Swagger for the IC title. Cesaro wins the belt, and gets a singles push as a trial run.

 

[SmattyG]

Absolutely. And I'd go as far to say he has been ready for about a year now.

Of course it won't happen at EC, as there's no way he's headlining Wrestlemania 30. However, I do believe he could WWEWHC some time later this year. He can put on a match with anyone; from lumberers like Khali to technicians like Sami Zayn.

He works multiple shows each week and can be like Jericho where he goes from World Title matches to lower belts seamlessly.

And importantly, you never hear a bad word about him from other wrestlers. Unlike his ex tag team partner Chris Hero, he has been very patient with his push. Remember, he is still on NXT next week against Zayn. I can't imagine Orton agreeing to that....

He's had a great week. The in ring action with Sheamus was intense. The match against Orton may well just be the elevation he needs. And he still cut a good promo with Sami on NXT.

I'd love to see him in a WWEWHC match against Seth Rollins in about a year's time.

 

[GOOZEKING]

The problem is that the unification world title match has made the main event scene smaller and I don't really see cessaro a permanent member of it. I see cessaro more as a Jericho type guy.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I went with "Yes - If He Can Develop A Persona & Connection With Fans."

Cesaro has the goods in the ring. Two recent stand out examples are the gauntlet match with Bryan and the Smackdown match with Orton, and you can throw in the match with Kofi from Main Event last also. And the fans love The Swing. It's something live crowds genuinely look forward to, and it's an impressive feat of strength from Cesaro.

But I have two reasons for going the other way on "Yes - Upon His Break Up With Swagger, Push Him." First, the WWE WHC picture is too crowded, and it's going to stay that way for the duration of 2014. WWE has one world title now, and they're done with the hot potato treatment for the most part.

As much as I don't like it, I'll be SHOCKED if Batista doesn't receive a run with WWE WHC this year. Let's face facts, WWE didn't bring Batista back to float around the card and have matches with Alberto Del Rio. He won the Royal Rumble in his first match back, and it might not happen at Wrestlemania XXX, but it's only a matter of time before Batista wins the WWE WHC.

On top of that, you can't forget about Cena, Bryan, Orton's rematch (or rematches), the possibility of Sheamus as a contender, the possibility of Punk returning to WWE, there's a slim chance (i.e. his sporadic appearances schedule) of WWE using Lesnar in the WWE WHC picture, and you have to believe Roman Reigns is in line for a strong push after his split from The Shield.

Also, there's a chance WWE will give Big Show his annual out of left field shot at the main event this year. So when you factor in all of the challengers and potential challengers, Cesaro is in for a long wait in a long line of uncertainty.

And Cesaro needs to develop a more solid connection with the crowd. I don't think he's horrible on the mic, but Cesaro falls flat, when he starts to talk. For me, the big problem is a lack of strong and believable intensity. When they get worked up or pissed off about something, you can hear and feel the intensity from Cena, Punk, Bryan, and Orton. I can't say the same thing about Cesaro.

 

[boozinjedi]

I definitely think Cesaro is ready for a main event push.
Needs some mic work though..
But I think he has a much better skill set in ring than Ryback could ever have and they pushed the high,holy heck out of him for awhile.

 

[L@RISANO]

Cesaro is a very good talent on the whole. I personally believe he could become a main eventer, with the crowd pleasing move of the Cesaro Swing, and a deep arsenal of moves, including his vicious European Uppercut, and some moves we've only seen him do in the indies. I personally think he has more long term value than Bray Wyatt, and my reason, is that Cesaro is already considered as future main eventer, and has tons of room to grow, but I don't see how Bray can really adapt from his current gimmick.

If you have 6 Spots in the Main event, here is what WWE has so far.

John Cena
Randy Orton
Daniel Bryan
Sheamus
Batista
Open

I believe Roman Reigns will in the end get the spot, since WWE is very high on him right now, but I believe Cesaro is more than likely ready for the shot, or at least a high midcard push.

That open spot can also, in addition to an up and comer(Reigns, Bray, Cesaro,etc.), be used for a part-timer(Brock Lesnar, the Rock,etc.) or even the likes of the Big Show and Alberto Del Rio. The chances of CM Punk returning seem slim, but not gone completely,lMO.

 

[zomigosh]

No! Not a chance. He's the worse actor in WWE today (except for Khali).

That's saying quite a bit, don't you think? He's not the best around, but it's not like he's Eva Marie or Jack Thwagger levels of shit.

Oh and, I myself give no shits about his Indie background, and I'm sure most others too. I've never seen a match of his from the indies, and probably never will. Yes, I like him because he has fantastic matches, what's wrong with that? Should I instead be liking him because he has a marketable look and makes lots of money for a company I'm not employed by instead? That's what all the "smarter" smart fans do, right?

 

[Pedigree1]

The thing with Cesaro IMO,is i think he will be a main eventer but not right now... With Punk gone,a slot is available and i have no problem with them seeing what they have in Antonio. I think in a way the fans have connected with him,we all look forward to his swing everytime he wrestles. The man pound for pound is the strongest guy in the WWE IMO.

He really hasn't been given a chance to speak only because,Zeb does all the talking. Especially that match with Orton,turned a lot of people into Antonio's corner. The man has a certain way about him. He was a wonderful US Champion,made the title mean something IMO and thats saying something..

I think another year or so,Antonio will be in the main event!

 

[sbattsjr]

Yes he is just keep him a mouthpiece ie Brock lesnar. With the right manager and great booking he could be a star..imagine cesaro vs Bryan...

 

[TheVolFan52]

I like Cesaro a lot and I do feel like he is starting to connect with the audience. I wish they'd give the mic more and let him shine and I do see him winning the title for a brief period of time later this year. A "main eventer" though? Not really. Great talent but still not on the level of Cena, Bryan, Orton, Batista. This will put Cesaro in the same position as the likes of Del Rio and Sheamus. They both can claim they're former world champions but neither will ever Main event a WM. Defiantly sucks but I totally see WWE going this way with him.

 

[backwardsrko]

Cesaro will be injured by a secret assilant on Sunday, causing Swagger to take his spot. Swagger will win . The later on Cesaro will find out that it was Swagger who took him out. Leading to a Cesaro vs Swagger at the PPV. Im telling you all, these two are ready. I know Swaggers been there and done that, but this time, hes got more experience.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

Cesaro isn't ready but he has a ton of potential. Right now I can see the WWE give him a consistent mid card role perhaps being a long term IC Champion and having great matches will increase his stock. I think Cesaro is the type of guy where you need a steady build up for, he's not going to win over the entire fanbase overnight but he's so good that I can see many fans warm up to him.

 

[The Eighties]

I voted yes given how I perceive he'll be used in the main event scene. I don't see the push being designed to make him a Champion, I think his in ring work is very over and the crowd respond for his big moves, he's also one of the best workers in the company and everything with him looks legit.

So I see him as a main event mechanic, a guy who'll consistently beat the guys in the mid to upper card and then be used to have great matches with the guys they put Championships on at the very top and help get them over inside the ring.

 

[Kliq69]

I voted yes, with the connect with fans/persona stipulation.

However, I don't think the time is now. The main event scene is so crowded at the moment. Cena, Orton, Batista, Bryan, Lesnar, HHH, Punk(if/when). Then you have the sometime main event crowd like ADR, Show, Kane, Christian, and Ziggler. Then the budding stars like Wyatt and Reigns are in much better positions to transition to the top. I think a solid year of dominating the upper midcard tier: Ziggler, ADR, Christian, Henry, Show, Kane, Miz, etc would put him in the best possible position to go after the true "top talent".

I just don't want to see him go the way Swagger did. Win the belt then fade into obscurity.

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

That's a pretty big statement. I'm not going to go through the entire list of guys who I think are worse actors, but I'll say that I don't even think Cesaro is the worst actor in his own tag team.

That's saying quite a bit, don't you think? He's not the best around, but it's not like he's Eva Marie or Jack Thwagger levels of shit.

[YOUTUBE]XyG-ra44p_s[/YOUTUBE]
This is probably the best Cesaro promo I've found. Watch this with sound and then with no sound. He's facial expressions are bad and yes, way worse than Swagger's. He's trying to "smirk" but when you look at him, he looks like he's going to tear up laughing at any point. He looks somehow embarrassed and you can clearly see that. He has no intensity whatsoever and his thick accent doesn't help. Also his timming and voice doesn't help it either. He's really bad and Swagger has delivered far better promos. Even though they were bad, they were not that bad.

Oh and, I myself give no shits about his Indie background, and I'm sure most others too. I've never seen a match of his from the indies, and probably never will. Yes, I like him because he has fantastic matches, what's wrong with that? Should I instead be liking him because he has a marketable look and makes lots of money for a company I'm not employed by instead? That's what all the "smarter" smart fans do, right?

You read it wrong, I said that at the beginning the ones that pushed for him are the ones that loved his indy work and just because he had a successful tag team run at ROH he's already made out of gold and best shit since sliced bread. Not saying that's what happens now, but some actually bought it.

Second of all, I enjoy Cesaro's work as much as you. By work I mean his in-ring work. I've seen his great matches against Kassius Ohno at FCW, against William Regal, Samy Zain, Kofi Kingston, Daniel Bryan and now Randy Orton. All of it great, great bouts and there's a space for great workers in the WWE. However I'm not going to tell all of you, that because I enjoy his work in the ring, I see him as a future World Heavyweight Champion because I don't and specially now where the title is so much more important.

I've listed the main eventers in the WWE and they all can sell me a rivalry. Antonio Cesaro can't sell me a rivalry. He had segments with Ric Flair and he was embarrassing to watch, to a point where myself as a fan just wanted to see him drop the US title to ANYONE and to get repackaged, therefore he failed and he failed big.

Now he added The Cesaro Swing to his repertoire and the crowd does indeed love it. But they love it as much as they love Sheamus pounding on his opponents. They love it as much as they love Ziggler's elbows to the chest. Etc... That's what a moveset needs by all wrestlers. They still give the "Woo Woo Woo" to Ryder's boot. Therefore it means absolutely nothing. It's a move, a funny one.

But in realistic terms that's not what's gonna put you in the main event scene. My opinion is unbiased here and as much as I enjoy him wrestle, I also enjoy a lot of other cats as well. It's not like I would rather see a Sheamus vs. Cesaro instead of a Sheamus vs. Swagger. Both matches have potential to steal any show. Wrestling matches usually are not what makes people buy and tune in. Usually it's the storyline and the way wrestlers connect with them. And if a wrestler can develop a persona and get the crowd behind them any one can have a real shot at being a main eventer. List me any midcarder and you'll see that with the right gimmick and the crowd support he can be a main eventer.

Putting Cesaro in an environment where he does not have the skills to thrive on (charisma, promo skills, acting, etc), in this case the main event scene, will just reveal his weaknesses and the casual viewer will shit on him. Look no further than Del Rio. Del Rio is a wrestler's wrestler, he's just one of the best workers in the whole world. Dominates psychology, as a great moveset shows intensity and what not - but look at the crowd reactions... He started out by being an internet darling and as soon as he was exposed to the main event scene, everyone turned on him and declared him flat out boring. The only reason he was fed was because of his drawing ability for the latino community, Cesaro does not have the "latino community".

Not trying to sound a hater here because like I said, he's a fantastic wrestler but he's not going to be World Hvt. Champion in the current WWE. I'm pretty sure WWE sees it. Some said MITB and well it could happen but it will be a shitty move by WWE's part and we'll talk when and if that happens.