If you haven't seen Stone Cold Steve Austin's interview with Vince McMahon that aired about a month ago on the Wwe Network, I strongly suggest you check it out. It's a very intriguing inside look at McMahon along with some interesting stories. However, while I thoroughly enjoyed the interview, there were many things said in it that I feel are inaccurate.
One of these statements was related to Cesaro, Stone Cold questioned McMahon on Cesaro and why he's not higher up on the card by now. Vince responded saying that Cesaro is missing something but he doesn't know what it is. He went on to cite a lack of it factor, lack charisma, and the fact that he's Swiss as possible reasons why Cesaro is not connecting with fans. He also spoke about the millennial's lack of ambition and went on to say that you can give wrestlers all the tools but it's ultimately up to the fans whether or not they get over. The fans, whom he also said, he listens to.
When you look at what Cesaro has done in 2014 it's strikingly obvious, at least to me, that what Cesaro is missing is not ambition or charisma but good booking and good writing.
At the start of 2014, Cesaro had begun to gain popularity which culminated at Wrestlemania 30 when the fans got completely behind him. During the show he broke up with Jack Swagger and went on to win the Andre the Giant memorial battle royal, receiving a huge baby face pop. That, was good booking, Cesaro got a great mania moment that appeared to be a launching point for a major baby face run.
However, the following night wwe surprisingly paired him with Paul Heyman, who was coming off of his client Brock Lesner beating the Undertaker's streak the night before. Now in theory this could have elevated Cesaro by having him managed by someone with as much success and importance as Heyman. On the other hand though, it was obvious by his Wrestlemania reaction that people were behind Cesaro and wanted to cheer him, so aligning him with one of the most hated guys in the company perhaps wasn't the best idea.
At the time though it seemed wwe had an endgame in mind and this was just the prolonging of a face turn. It would allow for a war of managers, Zeb Coulter's guy vs Paul Heyman's. Then they could decide whether Cesaro was working as a heel, in which case they'd keep him with Heyman and go from there. Or they'd decide the face turn was best and start process of splitting them apart. Then perhaps they'd start building toward a match with Lesner, which would put Cesaro over in a huge way, even if he lost. If Lesner was busy then maybe they'd give Heyman a new client and have Cesaro fight him. At the very least they'd break up Cesaro and Heyman in a big way that would launch Cesaro into a major babyface run. At least, that's what I thought.
Unfortunately Cesaro received none of that, what he got was a mediocre feud with Swagger that didn't even result in a one on one ppv match between the two. Next it seemed Cesaro was headed toward a feud with Rob Van Dam, which could have been good for him as the match quality likely would have spotlighted him. Unfortunately, yet again he never got a one on one ppv match with Van Dam, and the feud fizzled out. Then after a somewhat forgettable program Sheamus and some great spots in the MITB match, wwe split up Cesaro and Heyman. Instead of the big launching point type break up one may have hoped for, he got a forgettable split that came out of nowhere.
Furthermore the break up didn't even result in a face turn for Cesaro. So basically he left the partnership worse off than when he'd entered. After that Cesaro fell into irrelevancy, being taken off ppvs and now jobbing anytime he appears on raw.
So with the booking of Cesaro throughout 2014, I find it ridiculous to hear Vince McMahon say that he hopes Cesaro gets over soon. That statement is similar to me saying "I hope my car starts" when I'm not turning the key. How is Cesaro supposed to get over when he is off ppvs, jobbing whenever he's on raw, has a heel character with no depth, and is the complete opposite of what fans want him to be. It is very unlikely Cesaro will ever get over if wwe doesn't book him properly, much like my car won't start unless I turn the key.
I also find it somewhat ridiculous to hear McMahon act as if he's given Cesaro all of the tools, and that it was up to Cesaro and the fans whether or not he'd get over. How is putting someone who fans want to cheer with Paul Heyman, then giving him mediocre feuds and eventually splitting him off in an irrelevant way, considered giving him all the tools.
The fact is Cesaro had managed to get over organically and wwe took the reigns and completely screwed it up. I don't see how you can blame any of that on lack of mic skills, lack of charisma, or lack of ambition.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not disputing the fact that Cesaro has some problems. It is true that he's lacking in the talking department, and isn't oozing with charisma. However, that doesn't mean he can't be successful in the wwe. Look at a guy like Ryback, someone who also lacks mic skills and charisma but still managed to rise to the upper midcard and even the main event at one time. Cesaro wouldn't have be the next Rock, his in ring skills would get him over with fans much like they did at Wrestlemania 30.
I also find it ridiculous for McMahon to say that he listens to the fans when he still hasn't tried turning Cesaro face. The most Cesaro has ever connected with fans was as a face earlier this year, however wwe insists on keeping him heel. Once again how can you blame Cesaro for not being booked properly.
Now some would say that he should take control of his career and demand to be turned face. However in the same interview, when questioned about the locker room feeling like they're walking on egg shells, Vince simply said "don't piss anyone off." So Cesaro is supposed to go to wwe and tell them they are booking him wrong, but yet he's not supposed to piss anyone off.
Vince McMahon's answer regarding Cesaro seemed like a blatant attempt to pass the blame of the wwe's poor booking decisions onto Cesaro.
If Vince McMahon truly believes that he gave Cesaro every tool to succeed and that he listened to the fans then maybe he is in fact, out of touch.
Be sure to let me know your thoughts on Cesaro and the rest of the interview in the comments below. Merry Christmas and thanks for reading.
