Whether you prefer to call him the King of Swing, the Swiss Superman, or even his now-forgotten first name of Antonio, it is hard to deny that Cesaro is one of the most impressive athletes in the WWE today. He has shown on countless occasions that he is not only one of the best technical wrestlers in the company, but that he is also arguably the pound-for-pound strongest competitor as well.
Unsurprisingly, it did not take Cesaro long to get over with the crowd, especially after joining the Real Americans last fall. One could argue that he almost single handedly got the entire stable over, which is no small task when considering he was able to convince the crowd to cheer a group of xenophobic border protectors.
However, since leaving the Real Americans, it seems as if his momentum has waned. It appeared that there were big plans for Cesaro, especially after he was inserted into the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match earlier this year. Fans were showing up each week with “Cesaro Section” signs and were cheering the Real Americans even though they were still being booked as heels.
He did not win the WWE Championship of course, and is now paired with Paul Heyman. Despite Heyman’s recent failures with Ryback and Curtis Axel, he has a history of putting guys over the top, and Cesaro becoming a Paul Heyman guy seemed like a great idea. However, it does not seem to be working, in my opinion.
The problem is not Cesaro, but instead Paul Heyman. Instead of promoting Cesaro as the next big thing in the company, he continues to harp on the fact that Brock Lesnar, who is currently absent from television, ended the Undertaker’s streak at WrestleMania.
Heyman goading the crowd is a great way to draw himself heat, but unfortunately it does not do much for Cesaro. In fact, it seems like Cesaro is an afterthought during most of their appearances, as Heyman rambles on about Lesnar for a few minutes and then finally says something like, “Oh yeah, and this guy to my right is also pretty decent too.”
Therein lies the problem with Heyman as a manager though. He is great at drawing heat, but is usually more concerned with sucking up the limelight instead of promoting the guy he is representing.
