"If Cesaro can't be put into a
position, either as a fan favourite or a villain, to be an impactful talent in
WWE, it will be a real head scratcher." - Jim Ross (Feb, 2014)
The Neutralizer.
The Giant Swing.
The Flapjack into a "Very" European Uppercut.
The Dead-Weight Gut-Rench Suplex
The Super SUPER-Plex from the Apron into the ring.
All these are trademarks of one man and one man only...
CESARO.
Not Antonio Cesaro. Just...CESARO.
There's no doubt in the minds of many that Cesaro is destined for greatness
in the field of pro wrestling. His size. His look. His strength. His presence.
His agility. His uncanny technical ability between the ropes. His ability to
gel with WWE's top stars "with the lights on bright". The list goes
on and on and on...
All of these qualities should make for an easy transition into WWE main
event status.
I emphaize the "should".
While all of Cesaro's positives ring true, "you can't make a living off
potential" as Jim Ross always used to say. Now, in most cases JR referred
to talent needing a personal drive to turn potential into legitimate success.
However, in this case, Cesaro HAS that drive. He HAS the passion. His
undeniable work rate is evidence enough of this. So why isn’t the “Swedish
Superman” currently a dominant force in the upper echelon of WWE?
The answer, unfortunately, lies with WWE itself and its obsession with what
I call the "Start/Stop" push of their talent.
Let me explain...
For many years, WWE has made a habit of getting behind particular
guys/girls...only to change their mind at a time when it feels the talent are
on the cusp of "breaking through” to the "next level".
This disruption in momentum ultimately sees the fans loose faith and
interest in the "pushed" superstar, making it very hard for them to
make it anywhere past mid-card status. Sure, a handful can overcome this
schizophrenic mentality and becoming someone in WWE. But, as we live in the age
of sound bites, most only get a handful of chances to impress. As a result of
this "Start/Stop" mentality rearing its ugly head often in WWE,
current day fans become very hard to please. This is due to most audiences
being conditioned to expect that the guy/girl they love will eventually fall
flat on their face just they are beginning to get behind them. Thus, its harder
than ever for new superstars to get over in 2014.
The hardships attached to getting over are due to history being riddled with
“Start/Stop” pushes. Look at Kofi Kingston in 2009. This is a guy who, to this
day, still has all the makings of a perfect Ricky Steamboat-esc babyace.
However, the WWE machine has "Start/Stop"ed this man so much over the
last 6 years that its hard for fans not to see him as anything but a geek.
After his gutsy win at Survivor Series 09, it felt like Kingston was on the
cusp of becoming a new star fans could invest in. Like Cesaro, he was athletic,
he was energetic and he was a helluva hand when it came to grappling. To WWE's
credit, they set up his initial push perfectly:
1) Have Kofi eliminate two former World Champions in 6 seconds to be named
Sole Survivor for his team at SS 09.
2) Make sure Kofi wins match after match on RAW and Smackdown.
3) Set up a situation in Madison Square Garden where Kofi DESTROYS Randy
Orton, setting up an eventual 1-on-1 match between the "up-and-comer"
vs the established veteran at TLC 09.
If we went by traditional booking trends, we would expect Kofi to go over.
Fans cheer as a brand new WWE hero is born right? WRONG. Instead of
establishing a new star, WWE changed their mind of Kingston, having him loose
clean to Orton via an RKO live on PPV. Backstage politics over Orton not liking
Kofi or not, timing is everything in pro-wrestling and Kofi's time had come and
gone. This PPV was immediately followed by losses to Orton's Legacy members
who, at the time, were nowhere near at the level that Kingston was. Once Kofi
was paired with fellow-floundering babyface CM Punk to pursue the Tag Team
Titles, it was obvious WWE was done with the Kingston project. Subsequently, it
became obvious to WWE fans that Kingston was nothing more than a mid-carder
after all.
To this day, Kofi gets mini-pushes that, on paper, sound great for
generating some interest back on the man from Ghana, West Africa. His EXCELLENT
match with Cesaro for the US Championship and post-match interview on Main
Event last year was WWE's latest attempt of this. However, the "WWE
Universe" responded to this latest push and US Championship win with their
remotes. As a result, Kofi's TV segments bombed in the ratings, leaving
Kingston back where he started.
Once a geek, always a geek under WWE's "Start/Stop” movement.
As stated before, there are examples of superstars overcoming this
problematic mentality in WWE. CM Punk is probably the best example of someone
fighting this crooked system and making noise in an effort to get what he
wanted. Sure, Punk's antics always walk on a thin line between arguing for
business sake and arguing for egotistical sake. But in the case of forcing the
WWE to quit "Start/Stop"ing him, many consider his actions justified.
For too long, Punk was given the proverbial "Brass Ring", only to
have a sub-par effort put behind him to make him credible in the eyes of the
fans. For example, his 1st World Championship reign was a joke in all respects.
Yes, he got the belt, but its all about how your portrayed after the fact that
truly counts. His only decisive win on PPV was against JBL at The Bash 08 and
it wasn't even THE main event of the show. After that it was lame DQ finishes
against established stars like Batista. Worse yet, he never officially lost the
World Title, having to relinquish the belt after a lame injury angle involving
Orton that was never properly paid off. Include his brief/insignificant run as
leader of "The New Nexus" and the sudden dispersion of "The
Straight Edge Society" and you had a career littered with
"Start/Stop" antics.
What turned it around for Punk was, of course, the infamous promo pre- Money
In The Bank 2011. The promo was as real as it gets, as he boldly ran down the
company for many idiotic decisions and truths that we could all relate to when
it came to WWE's flippant direction. What’s important to note here is that it
took Punk getting to the point that he didn’t care if he was fired or not to
get WWE to take him seriously as a legit pro-wrestling draw. In short, he had
to RISK HIS JOB to wake Vince and Triple H to what we already knew about Punk:
that he was a bonafide main eventer. The end result? Punk went on to Money In
The Bank 2011, won the WWE Championship from John Cena in his hometown of
Chicago, and solidified himself as a legit star in the company.
We have to ask ourselves, is that what it takes to avoid this
"Start/Stop" mentality in WWE? Risking one's livelihood to get a
proper push in the company?
Lets fast forward to current day. When it comes to Cesaro and his recent
ascendance in WWE, it certainly seemed to many that the man was on the cusp of
greatness. We had seen the former "Kings of Wrestling" member match
up against Kofi on Main Event last year and we all took notes on this man’s
incredible ability in the ring. From there, it was almost like Cesaro was
building a portfolio of moves that fans could relate to when they thought about
the Swedish Superman. From The Neutralizer to The Giant Swing, fans began to
come to live events looking forward to cheer on these feats of strength.
These elements were all great, but most fans properly took noticed of Cesaro
when he pinned World Champion Randy Orton clean with a Neutralizer 1-2-3 on
Smackdown (Feb 14th, 2014). The booking seemed simple and "old
school": have an up-and-comer defeat the champ in convincing fashion so to
establish an effective "rub". Fans were shocked and suddenly saw this
“Real American” tag team wrestler in a completely different light. They followed
this tremendous performance with another tremendous performance from Cesaro
against "Mr. Main Event" John Cena on RAW the next week. Just like
his previous encounter with Orton, Cesaro held his own and looked incredible.
Sure, he lost, but Cena gave him a massive "rub" on prime time
television and Cesaro's in-ring skills did the rest. Cesaro, to the "WWE
Universe", was, seemingly a made man.
All that was left was to break him away from the stagnant "Real
Americans". As far as storytelling goes, it was the most logical thing to
do: turn Cesaro babyface, fight Swagger and WIN at Wrestlemania and then go
from there into the main event picture. For the first couple of weeks, Swagger
and Cesaro seemed to be moving down that road. Then, all of a sudden, plans
changed and Vince shifted the whole Wrestlemania undercard around. Tag teams
were taken out of the Andre Battle Royal and put into different matches, The
Shield stopped breaking up and suddenly, there was no animosity between
"The Real Americans". In fact, Cesaro and Swagger were added to the Wrestlemania
card. NOT as adversaries, but as a TAG TEAM in the Tag Title 3-way.
Cesaro had been "Start/Stop"ed due to a lack of foresight by
Vince and WWE creative.
You might be saying that this example of "Start/Stop"ing isnt as
bad as Kofi's or Punks. But, if history is anything to go by, this is where problems
could start forming for Cesaro's eventual rise. Putting the man back into "The Real
Americans" does nothing but slow down the great momentum gained from the
two career making matches he had with WWE's two top stars. We go from
considering him a hot new singles star, back to seeing him as a guy that's been
part of a team that’s come nowhere near winning the Tag Titles. It’s a terrible
move on WWE’s part and one they need to rectify ASAP.
Yes, the cream should rise to the top in most situations. But, like i said
before, you get a handful of opportunities to impress and take that next step.
In the end, when it comes to Cesaro, one fact still remains in spite of WWE’s “Start/Stop” fascination:
"If Cesaro can't be put into a
position, either as a fan favorite or a villain, to be an impactful talent in
WWE, it will be a real head scratcher." - Jim Ross (Feb, 2014)
Thanks for reading folks!
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