Dutch Mantell finally reveals what WWE told him when he asked the reason for Cesaro split (Exclusive)

Now known as Claudio Castagnoli in AEW, Cesaro became a popular name in WWE thanks to his alliance with Zeb Colter, aka Dutch Mantell. The legendary manager recently opened up about the split and the company's reasoning for the move.

Paired alongside Jack Swagger (Jake Hager), Cesaro formed a memorable tag team called The Real Americans, with Dutch Mantell as their manager. After spending a year together, WWE decided to break up the alliance, and at WrestleMania 30, the 43-year-old star won the inaugural André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.

During this week's Sportskeeda's Smack Talk, Dutch Mantell recalled being surprised by WWE's decision to pull Cesaro away from him and Swagger. When Mantell confronted the company for some answers, he was just told that there were "plans" in place for the Swiss superstar.

As history suggests, Cesaro briefly worked with Paul Heyman but never really cemented a spot in the main event scene. Dutch Mantell felt WWE may have made a mistake ending the Real Americans a little too early:

"Oh yeah, I asked them, I said, 'What is the reasoning behind pulling him [Cesaro] away from me and Jack?' They went, 'Well, we've got plans for him.' The plans lasted, like, a week. I said, 'Damn, he could have done the same play with us.'" [From 25:00 onwards]

These days, Cesaro seems to be doing quite well for himself in AEW, where he is a member of the star-studded Blackpool Combat Club and amongst the most experienced members of a stacked roster.

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