With his impressive strength, surprising agility, technical grace and fantastic connection with the audience, Cesaro is the ideal WWE Superstar to dethrone Kevin Owens down the road.
On August 29th episode of Monday Night RAW, Triple H betrayed Seth Rollins and helped Kevin Owens become WWE Universal Champion. It was one of the most shocking moments in recent WWE history and a big breath of fresh air for the title picture.
With Kevin Owens as champion, there are many new possibilities for main event feuds. The big question going forward now is, ‘who will challenge KO for the Universal Championship in the long-term?’
That question can be answered with several exciting possibilities. Maybe Seth Rollins will fight Owens several times, only to be betrayed by Triple H on each occasion. Maybe he’ll face Sami Zayn, in an attempt to turn Zayn into a Daniel Bryan-like underdog. Or maybe Owens will face Roman Reigns again, due to WWE’s management being insistent on making Reigns the champion.
There is, of course, another option. Instead of facing any of those above men in the long-term, Owens should feud with, and eventually lose the title to, a wrestler that has been on the RAW roster far longer than he has. A wrestler that is highly dynamic in his performance, beloved by the audience, and more than capable of delivering the goods consistently.
That man’s name is Cesaro.
Cesaro has been on the WWE roster for five years. In that time he has become one of the most versatile wrestlers on the roster. He has all the tools needed to be a world champion. From the right combination of strength and agility, to widespread support (from multiple fan demographics to WWE Hall of Famers) to one of the most popular wrestling moves in the Cesaro Swing, Cesaro has it all.
Even though Kevin Owens’ reign has just begun, now is a good time to look at possible replacements for Kevin Owens once his title reign has run its course (however far off that may be).
What follows below is a point-by-point analysis of Cesaro’s many assets and the few weaknesses he possesses. These attributes will be the evidence needed to show that Cesaro capable of being a popular, successful and financially-rewarding WWE Universal Champion.
WWE.com
6. Strength
Cesaro possesses incredible natural strength, which is something he has demonstrated on multiple occasions (hence, his ‘Swiss Superman’ nickname). Take his Cesaro Swing, for example. It requires immense strength to be able to swing someone around for multiple revolutions. At his peak, Cesaro once swung an opponent for thirty revolutions, seemingly without effort.
There’s also his modified Superplex. It’s one thing to throw an opponent off the top rope. It’s another thing entirely to be standing on the middle rope, hoist your opponent over that rope, and then drop them down to the canvas. It’s a perfect example of the superhuman strength pro wrestlers are expected to possess.
Add to this all the super-heavyweight wrestlers he has managed to lift for his Neutralizer finisher (Mark Henry, Brodus Clay, The Great Khali, etc.), and you have a superstar with nearly-unparalleled strength.
No matter how much observers might want to emphasize the importance of technique over muscles, natural strength plays a critical role in wrestlers getting over with the audience. Viewers want to see wrestlers perform spectacular feats of strength that they’re not supposed to be capable of. It’s one of the reasons why guys like Lesnar and Cena became and remained so popular; feats of unusual strength resonate with people in a major way.
Given that popularity, Cesaro has a major asset befitting a world champion.
WWE.com
5. Technique and Agility
Unlike most powerhouse wrestlers, who are usually sluggish, Cesaro compliments his strength with impressive agility and grace. He can move around with incredible speed around and outside the ring. In many of his matches, he has executed a dropkick with the skill of someone much lighter. On a regular basis, he manages to perform a picture-perfect springboard uppercut and make it look easy. Very few wrestlers on the WWE roster can do such a thing.
Cesaro also has the ability to make his matches feel unpredictable and exciting with very little effort. In recent months he has started using the Crossface and Sharpshooter as signature submission holds. What’s special about them is that you never know when he’ll execute those maneuvers. Those holds always receive loud ovations, which has translated into even louder cheers for Cesaro when he uses them.
Then there’s his Pop-up European Uppercut, which he can execute pretty much out of nowhere. The sight of Cesaro executing that move with perfection is guaranteed to lead to a more dramatic match. A more dramatic match means a more excited audience. A more excited audience is a more satisfied audience. Higher audience satisfaction leads to more tickets being sold. Everyone wins in that scenario, including Cesaro.
There’s a reason why WWE’s production team keep showing the slow-motion replay of Cesaro’ springboard spinning European uppercut or his deadlift Superplex. Those moves require incredible amounts of technique to pull off successfully, and Cesaro does so without effort.
A good Universal Champion needs to be able to demonstrate a wide variety of moves and be unpredictable in the ring. Doing so would keep fans interested while avoiding too much repetition. Given what we’ve seen from Cesaro so far, he qualifies in this department without a doubt.
Credit: WWE.com
4. Look and Charisma
In terms of physical appearance, Cesaro fits more of Vince’s criteria than many other wrestlers on the RAW roster. He’s quite tall, even for a WWE wrestler, standing at 6 foot 5 , and weighs around 232lbs. He has the muscular frame of a pro wrestler, and all of that is 100% natural. Those traits alone earn him top points with many in WWE’s top brass.
Finally, there’s his new gimmick of entering the arena in a suit, looking like a combination of Hitman’s Agent 47 and James Bond. This look suits him perfectly (pun intended), considering RAW’s roster seems to be lacking in the wrestler-that-takes-themselves-seriously-by-wearing-a-suit-in-public department, as the trend has been for most top guys in WWE to either wear their own merchandise (Cena) or garish clothing (The Miz).
Simply put, Cesaro has the look of a world champion completely taken care of.
As for Charisma, Cesaro’s actions speak for themselves. Whenever he does goes on his ‘uppercut train’, the crowd roars in approval. When he goes for the swing, the crowd erupts and counts each revolution as he swings them along. In fact, when Cesaro does pretty much anything, he gets cheered. The man never gets booed, and rarely is the crowd silent when he’s on screen or in the ring.
Given that vocal support, he would make an excellent Universal Champion. The louder the fan reaction, the more they are entertained. The more they are entertained, the more likely they are to spend more money on subsequent tickets, WWE merchandise, and on PPVs and Network specials. That makes everyone happy, from the wrestlers to the top brass.
If WWE were to give Cesaro that much-deserved push, that could lead to increased fan interest and better numbers for the company.
WWE.com
3. Match History
It’s often said that history repeats itself, and many people look to the past as a means of predicting the future. If both those statements are true, then Cesaro is destined to have fantastic matches in the years to come.
Over the last few years, Cesaro has been involved in some of the best matches in modern WWE history.
Some of his most impressive matches so far include:
Many of those matches are still discussed routinely as some of the finest in-ring contests ever produced in WWE. Even if he loses, Cesaro manages to not only make himself look better, but he also make his opponents look like bigger stars. When challenging for a title, Cesaro made those matches feel so much bigger, improving the reputation of that title.
When comparing Cesaro to Kevin Owens in this category, the two are almost neck-and-neck in terms of high-quality match history. Both have wrestled against the best WWE has to offer. Each one has been praised by fans and professional wrestling observers for their work. They’ve both gotten standing ovations from the audience after their matches.
In fact, the only real differences between them is their basic style. Owens is a brawler who uses power moves to sell his viciousness. Cesaro, meanwhile, tells the story of his versatility in his matches. They’re similar yet different, which would make a lengthy feud between them incredibly entertaining.
2. Speaking Ability
Cesaro is one of many wrestlers on the RAW roster who has limited freedom in cutting promos. Most of his promos are 100% scripted, which hinders his ability to stand out as a character Maybe it’s because of his accent. Maybe it’s because WWE won’t let him cut a promo in German. Whatever the case, Cesaro is in the same boat as Brock Lesnar. He excels at letting his words do the talking, and would benefit from having someone else do the speaking for him.
The problem is, promos are often over-emphasized in WWE at the expense of the in-ring product. When wrestlers talk too much, fans get bored. They tune in to see wrestling matches, not scripted conversations. If that was what they were looking for, they’d all be tuning into the soap opera channel.
There are two ways to make Cesaro into a better promo cutter. Option one is to give him more freedom in his promos like Kevin Owens or John Cena. Both of them are capable of cutting outstanding promos when they aren’t limited by scripting constraints, and can do wonders to further feuds and sell major upcoming matches.
Cesaro has already shown how well he can speak when it’s from the heart with his now-famous post-Draft promo. In two minutes, he vented his frustrations and sold the audience on how great he is and why we should be watching him. A perfect promo.
The second one would be for him to have a manager cut his promos for him. The manager would do all the talking and Cesaro would do all the wrestling. The ideal candidate would be someone who already has experience in working with a powerhouse wrestler that isn’t the best on the microphone themselves.
But charisma is about more than just saying words in front of an audience. It also includes…
1. Popular Appeal
At the end of the day, it all comes down to money and how many tickets a wrestler can sell. Based on that metric, Cesaro is in the top tier of WWE’s locker room.
Cesaro has one of the widest fanbases in all of WWE. You can find everyone from young children to hardcore internet fans all cheering for him. Every week, enormous segments of the live audience bearing ‘Cesaro Section’ signs. This phenomenon has been going on for months, and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. It takes considerable devotion for fans to get this coordinated on a regular basis, which shows how much support Cesaro has.
Cesaro’s popularity isn’t limited to fans and online observers. Several wrestlers, alumni, and legends have all spoken very highly of him. He’s believed to be friends with John Cena, who is reported to have vouched for him in the past. CM Punk was once asked why he was wearing a Cesaro shirt, he replied, ‘because he’s awesome’.
Both Ric Flair and Mick Foley have gone on record praising Cesaro’s abilities, and both have suggested he deserves a more prominent position. ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin has also voiced his support for Cesaro several times, and argued that the only thing holding him back in WWE is management itself.
Each one of those is an incredible stamp of approval. These are some of the biggest, smartest, and most financially-successful champions in wrestling history. Each one of them is giving Cesaro their own personal endorsement. WWE’s management would be incredibly foolish to ignore these great pieces of advice.
Ever since that infamous ‘brass rings’ comment by Vince McMahon, Cesaro has been showing Vince just how wrong he was. He has improved in every respect, and has grown into one of the most versatile wrestlers on the entire roster. With all these assets, he is undoubtedly capable of carrying the RAW brand as the next WWE Universal Champion.
The only thing that’s stopping is that daunting challenge called Kevin Owens.
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