Antonio Cesaro has turned into the new Dolph Ziggler among pro wrestling fans in the social networking community. Recent squashes and reports reveal that WWE Creative find him boring which is ironic because I could say the same thing about WWE Creative.
[adinserter block=”2″]The crusade for Antonio Cesaro has replaced the “push Dolph Ziggler” campaign and its predecessor “push Daniel Bryan” campaigns among vocal fans on the Internet. A growing community fans have become outraged and disappointed with Cesaro’s push in the WWE. I am one of them. A new report sheds some light on it and also reveals a situation that is much more disappointing than Cesaro’s run.
Dave Meltzer on recent F4Wonline.com podcasts and his Wrestling Observer newsletter revealed that WWE Creative isn’t pushing Cesaro for a reason. They find him boring. Meltzer reports that while Cesaro has plenty of support inside the locker room, the team with the pencils is not enamored with his solid ring work.
“There are those who think he should be in the top mix right now but there are others who find him boring, including some of the most important people, and that’s why he’s in the position he’s in even with his size and in-ring.”
I thought I was being ribbed by Meltzer when I first read that on his site. How can anyone find Cesaro boring? In my opinion, Cesaro is one of the top five workers in the ring today and probably for the last few years. The real issue to worry about here is that you have a team of writers led by Vince McMahon who are not only unable to see talent, but they find it boring. That is scary to me.
I have been a fan personally and professionally of Cesaro’s for years. I first met Cesaro as an announcer for Combat Zone Wrestling. Chris Hero mentored him and brought him into CZW once Cesaro, then Claudio Castagnoli came to the United States. I was immediately enamored by Claudio and always looked forward to calling his matches. Immediately I saw a guy that should be headlining shows in the WWE.
Cesaro traveled a long road since then and after solidifying himself as one of the premiere talents in the sport in ROH, finally landed a WWE deal. I was excited and expected him to climb the ranks quickly. How could he not? The second he steps into the ring he is one of the best in the company. Yet here we are and he is not much further ahead today than he was when he first signed.
I honestly don’t get it. A lot of fans were upset when he was not booked on WrestleMania 29. Even CM Punk wore a Cesaro shirt to a Mania presser as what appeared to be a sign of support. I wasn’t as angry as those fans. I saw it as the company keeping Cesaro off of WrestleMania to preserve him before a headlining run post-Mania. As a matter of a fact I probably would have argued with you at the time that he was gearing up as Cena’s first challenger to headline shows coming out of Mania. I mean that would be the only reason you’d keep him off right? Boy was I wrong.
Cesaro was not only kept off of Mania, but he wasn’t booked consistently at all. Finally he was given time on WWE Main Event and had a fantastic match against Kofi Kingston. The match reportedly opened up some eyes in the WWE. How could they not see the talent in this guy after such a great match? Go ahead and ask them because two weeks later he is getting squashed on RAW.
[adinserter block=”2″]Look I understand that there will be times that I become a fan of someone who just doesn’t fit the headlining mold in the WWE. But come on! Cesaro is boring and yet I still see guys like The Miz getting booked in bigger spots than Cesaro. Quite frankly I’d say about half of the roster are boring these days. The company’s perception of boring is troubling if they can completely miss the boat on someone as talented as Cesaro.
At the end of the day Cesaro is still employed by the WWE and making a good wage. For that, I am not outraged or sympathetic to him. I just wonder if the right people are writing these shows when they label someone as talented as Cesaro, boring. That to me is the biggest problem here.
What is WWE Creative’s job anyway? Aren’t they supposed to oh I don’t know…create! If Cesaro is as boring as they think he is, whose fault is that? You have a guy with a good look, charisma, and outstanding ring work who you perceive the fans are finding boring and you blame him? What am I missing here because I have to be missing something?
Is there still time for Cesaro? Of course. He can shoot back to the top with a Money in the Bank win, a reunion with Chris Hero, or maybe something hot with John Cena. We have seen the WWE go hot and cold numerous times on guys for years before they finally give them the confidence they need for a big run. Unfortunately I have less faith in that happening now than ever before.
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It took awhile, but I really like Cesaro. I don't understand WWE booking sometimes. Great job, Eric.
When I see Antonio, I see a badass. The guy has impressed me more and more with each match. I fail to see what WWE Creative is thinking when they call Cesaro boring. Oh, just because the crowd is not into him, that automatically labels him as boring? Whose fault is that!? I mean, an ex-rugby player? Seriously? No offense to Americans but what do Americans care about sports that aren't popular in the US? For Pete's sake, the US is the only country (don't correct me here) in the world that calls football, soccer.
They should have started with the cliche anti-American foreigner gimmick and then go from there.
I fail to see why WWE cannot let a wrestler who is famous in the indies for being himself, try to make a name for himself in the WWE using the gimmick that made him popular in the first place. Stop changing famous indy wrestlers' gimmicks already.
Heaven knows WWE has been severely lacking babyface tweeners for years now.