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AEW star Claudio Castagnoli talked about how he came close to winning a world title in WWE. He also cited Becky Lynch, who garnered a massive following that eventually catapulted her to main event status.
During his WWE career, Claudio held his only singles gold, the United States Championship, which was a secondary title. Despite being over with fans, his lone world title shot was the Universal Championship match at WrestleMania Backlash 2021, where he lost to Roman Reigns.
The Swiss Cyborg spoke to Chris Van Vliet on Starrcast V and discussed how he came close to becoming a world champion in WWE. He thought he had enough momentum, especially with his fans, the Cesaro Section.
Furthermore, Claudio likened his situation to that of Becky Lynch, who quickly climbed to the main event ranks due to immense popularity from fans. Contrastingly, Lynch was pushed to the moon while Castagnoli kept getting held back.
"That natural thing, you've seen that with them. The last time that really happened was with Becky. Becky got red-hot and the fans made her undeniable. I feel I was on that verge a couple of times where the crowd was with me, my stuff was going awesome, and it was, 'We're going in this direction now.' Okay, back to square one. That happened a bunch of times. In the end, it all led to this. A lot of stuff in life is about the journey," Claudio said. [H/T Fightful]
Nevertheless, Castagnoli's 21-year career paid off when he finally won the big one, the Ring of Honor World Championship. He defeated Jonathan Gresham for the belt last week on July 23 at ROH Death Before Dishonor.
Claudio Castagnoli on former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon being "wrong" about him
During the same interview, Claudio Castagnoli felt that former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon made a mistake by not pushing him.
He then added that he was still able to make himself known to worldwide audiences despite the perceived "lack of charisma."
"I thought he [McMahon] was wrong. I feel charisma comes in different forms, shapes, sizes. Not everybody has that over the top Ultimate Warrior, shaking the ropes, crazy yelling, screaming type of charisma. Not that I'm sitting here telling you how awesome my charisma, but I felt I had a connection with the fans in the United States and all over the world."
Meanwhile, Castagnoli will be defending his Ring Of Honor World Championship for the first time against Japanese sensation Konosuke Takeshita at the AEW Battle of the Belts III this Saturday, August 6.
What are your thoughts on Claudio Castagnoli falling short of a WWE World Title run? Sound off in the comments section below.
