Add as a preferred source on Google Cesaro, now known as Claudio Castagnoli in AEW, has become a talking point around WWE again after strong comments from Paul Heyman.
During a recent appearance on Insight With Chris Van Vliet, Heyman said WWE wasted a major opportunity with the Swiss star, especially after WrestleMania 30, where he won the first André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
The night after the event, Cesaro became a “Paul Heyman Guy,” in a moment that seemed to put him on a path toward a major push. According to Heyman, however, the partnership was used more to keep him on television while Brock Lesnar was away.
The strongest part of Heyman’s comments came when he recalled what John Cena told Vince McMahon after working with Cesaro on television.
“I could main event WrestleMania with him.”
Heyman also said WWE made a mistake by not doing more with Cesaro’s ability to speak several languages. In his view, that could have shown a different side of the wrestler’s personality, especially in promos.
The WWE Hall of Famer also took some of the blame for how things played out, saying the ideal direction would have been a feud between Cesaro and Brock Lesnar.
“Had I turned on Cesaro and we built him up to be a threat to Brock, the matches the two of them could have had are mind-boggling.”
Cesaro left WWE in 2022 after more than a decade with the company. A few months later, he debuted in AEW as Claudio Castagnoli at Forbidden Door and went on to win the ROH World Championship.
Despite winning major titles in WWE, including the United States Championship and tag team gold, Cesaro never reached the main event level that many fans and wrestlers believed was possible.