You’ve heard it a million times and likely will a million times more, so let’s kick things off by stating the bleeding obvious right away. Cesaro is one of the most underrated wrestlers in the history of the business, regardless of promotion or era.
But I’ve started to almost doubt that statement recently. Hear me out for a moment… if so many people are saying that someone or something is underrated, can that person or thing truly be classed as underrated? If such a large number of people recognise and rate a wrestler so highly, surely they aren’t underrated anymore? Could it not now be argued that Cesaro is in a sense overrated? Anyway, I have digressed. Back to the matter at hand.
The one thing that cannot be doubted with Cesaro is his often unparalleled in-ring ability. By far one of the most athletic superstars on any roster, his pound for pound strength is unmatched and he is one of the best hot-tag merchants in the business today. As one of the best in-ring workers to ever grace the squared circle and one of the most popular superstars on the roster, it’s stunning to think he hasn’t reached a higher level on WWE’s main roster. Instead of fighting the top performers for championships, Cesaro has been relegated to putting over Superstars like Mansoor in the past because of his ability to carry matches and make anyone he fights look like a bonafide top star.
In terms of Championship gold, on paper it doesn’t seem as though Cesaro bas been treated too badly. As a former United States Champion, 7 time Tag Team Champion and the inaugural Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner you could argue that Cesaro has had more than enough time to shine. However it is in singles competition where the fans really want to see him succeed. There were moments throughout Cesaro’s career when he looked destined to break through the glass ceiling and become an upper-level talent, but those pushes have stalled or been abandoned altogether. At some point, the reality of not being considered a top star has to become obvious.
Cesaro was the victim of bad luck and bad timing where his partner Sheamus picked up his latest injury. This left Cesaro directionless as he floated around the lower mid-card, teaming with random guys and occasionally competing in 1 on 1 action without it meaning much. The next two programmes of note that Cesaro was involved in were both very odd to say the least and felt like they had been thrown together at a moments notice. First of all teaming up with Sami Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura as The Artist Collective, before briefly joining his Japanese compatriot at the side of King Corbin. Both entirely nonsensical booking choices.
Cesaro would then go on to fork a lasting team with Shinsuke Nakamura and go on to capture the, you guessed it, Smackdown Tag Team Championships. The Swiss Superman seems destined (or doomed) to remain a tag team specialist until his final days.
Now I’m not one of those fans who thinks Cesaro should be world champion, but he certainly should be at least competing for a mid card championship. I am under no illusions as to why he hasn’t held a world championship, and anyone who believes he should be needs a harsh reality check. This business is simply not about your favourite guy getting to be the face of the company. I love Cesaro, but in what world does he make WWE more money than Roman Reigns or John Cena? If you don’t get people watching the show, you don’t get put in the top spots. Simple.
Talent only gets you so far in modern day wrestling and unfortunately for Cesaro, he lacks two of the other qualities that help any WWE superstar reach the upper echelons – charisma and personality. Cesaro has certainly shown glimpses of this within WWE and is also a hoot on Xavier Woods Up Up Down Down YouTube channel, but never anything even close to consistent enough. He just isn’t a natural talker. So surely giving him a mouthpiece would help him to climb the WWE ladder? Well… no. His brief spells as a Zeb Colter guy, before becoming a Paul Heyman guy did show promise but the sudden return of Brock Lesnar cut short any push that may have been on the horizon.
I’m afraid that Cesaro seems doomed to float around the mid card for the rest of his WWE tenure before likely returning to Europe, maybe even as a big name on NXT UK, to find moderate success there. Once he is gone we will certainly cry and protest his poor treatment and lack of backing from the higher ups, but it seems that the Swiss Superman has once again been derailed by his own kryptonite… himself.
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