Antonio Cesaro - Unlimited Potential

From the dizzying heights of headlining Ring of Honor as the Swiss banker Claudio Castagnoli, to the drudgery that is WWE mid-card. Poor Antonio Cesaro. It is hard to see where it all went so wrong. Cesaro is one of the most gifted wrestlers I have ever had the privilege of watching. His move set in the ring is phenomenal. His strength is uncanny. Watching his workout regime is inspiring:

After purchasing DVDs from Ring of Honor, and watching Cesaro's matches, I was hooked. Much like CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, Cesaro's performances on the independent scene made a believer out of me. He showed a natural talent in the ring. A natural charisma too. Some call it the 'X factor' or the 'It factor'. The same 'factor' that was noticeable with Daniel Bryan and CM Punk.

So, how could the WWE take such a talented performer, and waste him away? They have something rare in Cesaro. A man that can wrestle and entertain at the same time. His verbal skills are good - not great. That is enough. His ring work does the talking. He does not need to be Steve Austin or The Rock on the microphone.

Interestingly, Steve Austin's recent endorsement of Cesaro should be an eye-opener for WWE Creative. Austin endorsed Cesaro's talent. Austin also derided his poor gimmick. The failure with Cesaro's character is more of a reflection of the failures of WWE Creative. If you can't book for someone as talented as Cesaro, then you certainly can't book for anyone else. He started out as a rugby player - not the easiest gimmick to pull off. He made it work though. The passion and determination was there.

Then came the US title reign. So far so good. Several months as champion. Then it all fell apart. He starts yodelling. He then loses the title with no build up to Kofi Kingston. As much as I appreciate Kingston's talent, a loss with no build-up was foolish. Incredibly foolish. It exposed two things. Firstly, WWE's neglect of Kingston and Cesaro as characters. Secondly, it exposed WWE's unwillingness to take the US Title seriously. Cesaro had held the title since last August. His loss should have meant something. Anything.

It was rumoured that after a rematch with Kingston, with Cesaro carrying the match, WWE Creative took notice.  Cesaro beat Zach Ryder in two minutes and cut a promo, putting the WWE roster on notice. Fans rejoiced. He faced Randy Orton in a nineteen minute match. He lost, but still had a fantastic outing. Fans rejoiced.

Oh wait. Here we go again. Cesaro loses in two minutes to Orton on WWE Raw. Rumours surface that Vince McMahon finds Cesaro boring. So his push is derailed. Wonderful. Your roster is depleted. Top stars are injured. You take a bright prospect such as Cesaro and can't see his value. In much the same way you did not see the initial value in CM Punk or Steve Austin. Look at what happened with both of those wrestlers. Give them the right gimmick and story, and they excel to superstardom. 

That to me is evidence of one thing. Vince McMahon needs to look to the past. If he had noted Punk's ability in ROH and Austin's charisma from ECW/WCW, he would have known what amazing talent he had to work with. It is worrying that Vince does not seem to pay attention to these past performances. Evidence of this? Watch CM Punk's WWE DVD documentary. Vince gave Punk a challenge - a challenge of playing a heel. He did not think Punk could do it. It was patronising. If Vince had done his homework, he would have known that in 2005, through the 'Summer of Punk', Punk played one of the most hated heels on the independent scene, using a WWE contract as a way to rile up Ring of Honor fans. His 'snake' promo is infamous.

So WWE Creative has Cesaro on the roster and appears clueless as to how to best utilise him. So what is the solution to this problem? The solution is Paul Heyman. Put Cesaro with Heyman. Let Heyman talk for Cesaro - similar to what Ric Flair did for Batista in 2003 (before Evolution was formed). Let Cesaro be a machine in the ring. Let Heyman do the rest. What will this lead to? The potential for a Cesaro, Punk and Lesnar coalition. That would be something which would rock the foundations of the WWE. Paul Heyman was rumoured to have proposed such a coalition last year. CM Punk was wearing a Cesaro t-shirt during Wrestlemania weekend. 

Vince, please make it happen. lf not for my entertainment, then do it for the future of your company.