Cesaro is one of the best technical pro wrestlers in the world today. He has everything, he’s one of the best mat wrestlers in WWE, he has superhuman strength, he can have a good with just about anyone and he has the backstage support of some of the biggest names in WWE today, including John Cena.
Cena has come out public in the past, praising Cesaro, saying that WWE need to give him a much more prominent position on the card. The only thing that has held him back in the past is that Vince McMahon was not reportedly a big fan of him. In 2014, Vince criticized Cesaro on the Stone Cold Podcast, lambasting his promo skills, European wrestling style and he even said that he didn’t have the “it factor”.
WWE fans and Stone Cold disagreed and continue to do so. A start-stop push with the U.S. title didn’t help. Even winning the inaugural Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 30 didn’t lead to a push.
Before his injury in November, Cesaro had finally started to rise back up the card after a successful tag-team run with Tyson Kidd and two incredible matches with John Cena. The timing of the injury was terrible for Cesaro, leading to him missing WrestleMania 32.
With Cesaro finally back on the Raw after WrestleMania, and challenging The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship at Payback, it looks like WWE might finally be getting behind Cesaro. In this article, I look at 5 possible angles for Cesaro in the future.
5: Raising the Intercontinental Championship
At the end of Wrestlemania 31, John Cena was US champion and Daniel Bryan was Intercontinental Champion. The idea behind the move was to elevate the midcard championships which had long been ignored. John Cena’s run with the US title definitely elevated that belt till Kalisto’s disastrous current title reign which included a Wrestlemania 32 preshow title defense.
The IC title however, was another story. Daniel Bryan had to vacate it because of injury after which Ryback did nothing interesting with it. Recently, Kevin Owens and Dean Ambrose elevated the title including a scintillating feud against each other. However, the recent debacle with Zack Ryder and The Miz has once again threatened to undo all the good work done by Ambrose and Owens.
With Cesaro now being the number one contender for The Miz’s title, WWE has a chance to elevate the belt again. As entertaining as The Miz is, he isn’t a credible champion for a credible championship. Cesaro can beat The Miz at Payback and go on a long run with the belt.
He’s a great wrestler and can have great matches with anyone for the belt. Whether it’s a grizzled veteran like Jericho or newcomers like Sami Zayn or possibly Apollo Crews, the possibilities are endless. The matches will both be technically good and entertaining and can help Cesaro rise up the card to a possible future near the main event slot.
4: A long unbeaten streak
The long unbeaten streak is one of those classic booking techniques to elevate a wrestler. After all, in the eyes of fans, wins and losses matter. The most well-known unbeaten streak in wrestling history is Goldberg’s unbeaten streak following his WCW debut which led him to quickly becoming one of the most top wrestlers of the time.
With Cesaro’s history of start-stop pushes, a long unbeaten streak can finally reassure fans that Cesaro’s time has finally come. To be a genuine main eventer, perception is the key. Cesaro’s already immensely popular with fans and all they need to get behind him in full force is assure them that the company is behind Cesaro.
A proper storyline Cesaro can be a start. They could even book his unbeaten streak in a match against someone like Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania. A major victory like that will instantly make Cesaro a star.
3: The one to end The Authority
The Authority storyline started at SummerSlam 2013 when Triple H helped Randy Orton beat Daniel Bryan. Since then Triple H and Stephanie have dominated WWE programming cutting the same generic promos and insulting fans for watching.
In case if they hadn’t thought of this, demeaning fans who paid to be at the arena and fans who are watching from home isn’t best for business. With Shane McMahon recently taking control of Raw and rumours of The Authority coming back to feud with him. This is the best time to finally end the Authority storyline. Seriously, how many more ‘evil general manager vs good guy wrestler’ feuds do we need to see?
With Shane’s recent praise of Cesaro on Raw, who better than Cesaro to be Shane’s in-ring representative during the feud? Imagine a SummerSlam showdown between Cesaro, with Shane in his corner, versus Triple H, with Stephanie in his corner. That’s big enough to main event the show.
2: Cesaro IS Money In The Bank
In 2015, Sheamus won given the Money In The Bank briefcase. Sheamus!!? Why? What did that achieve? Even Roman Reigns winning the briefcase would have been better. Atleast, fans care enough to boo him.
After Seth Rollins’ incredible Money In The Bank storyline, which ended with him cashing in during the WrestleMania 31 main event, calling the 2015 Sheamus storyline a dud would be an understatement. No one cared when he won the briefcase. No one cared when he repeatedly threatened Seth Rollins that he would cash in. And, no one cared when he finally cashed in against Roman Reigns at Survivor Series.
The Money In The Bank ladder match and the briefcase are supposed to elevate newer superstars and give them a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. A Cesaro run with the MITB briefcase would, unlike The Authority, be best for business.
As a babyface, Cesaro could change the dynamic of the heel cash-in that have played out in recent years. He could challenge the World Heavyweight Champion for a match and that victory would elevate him even more in the eyes of fans. Alternatively, he could also turn heel with a post-match cash-in on a babyface champion.
1: Royal Rumble winner
The last few Royal Rumble’s have not been the best. Triple H’s victory last year got a lukewarm response and Roman Reign’s 2014 victory was a dumpster fire and he got booed out of the building. Even The Rock couldn’t save Roman that night.
With WWE’s recent history of not pushing fan favourites during Royal Rumbles, WWE can finally turn the tide at the 2017 Royal Rumble with a Cesaro victory. The Royal Rumble is one of the most prestigious matches in pro wrestling history and a victory would cement Cesaro as a main event player.
He would instantly become a part of WWE history as a Royal Rumble winner and also be a part of the WrestleMania 33 main event. Whether Cesaro wins at Mania or loses valiantly, he’ll be a main event star from then on either way. Oh, and Cesaro would make sure that the main event would be a great match after a disappointing main event at WrestleMania 32.
