prophet wrote:Cesaro isn't at all ready to make the next big step up. He's a phenomenal wrestler and when he does turn face the crowd will be right behind him like they were during the run up to Wrestlemania so my first point really (like it was in the other Cesaro thread of this nature) is that people need to be patient. You're right - nowhere is it written that you can't push more than one person at a time but they're not doing that. Sure Roman Reigns is being groomed as the next mega-babyface but they're also pushing the likes of Ambrose, Rollins, Miz, Swagger and even Ziggler at the moment. The simple fact is that there's no room for Cesaro at the minute.
I don't agree with this at all. There's definitely room to push Cesaro at the moment. There are a lot of wrestlers he could feud with and win, without having to roll over the other up and comers like the Shield guys, Ziggler or Wyatt. It's a large roster and if they were willing to make the effort, it'd be easy to keep Cesaro climbing without damaging Reigns and the others.
What's more necessary right now though is that they give him some direction. That's far more important than wins and losses. Kofi Kingston has won more matches than Bray Wyatt lately, but I don't think there's any argument about which of them is higher on the card. Consistency, screen time and intent is all that's really needed to make a talented wrestler look like a star. They need to be showing a bit more focus when it comes to Cesaro. I reckon they just don't have any particular goal in mind for him at the moment. That needs to change.
prophet wrote:It's easy to suggest that they give him something meaningful to do but what could that be? If you look at the Summerslam card (the one we're assuming is going to happen at least) where can you fit him in? Disregard the main event calibre feuds going on right now and the only spot I can see him in is challenging for one of the mid-card titles and even if that were to happen I doubt people would be happy. I actually think the WWE is going well at the minute with how they're trying to make lower-card feuds relevant and feel worth watching.
I think this is WWE's normal booking practices rubbing off on you. How can you fit him into the Summerslam card when you disregard the main event calibre feuds? A million different ways. Like I said already, it's a big roster and WWE barely scratches the surface of what they could do in terms of utilizing them effectively.
It's funny that you should mention that the only thing you can imagine him doing is challenging for one of the midcard titles, because that's a very WWE way of thinking too. You don't need to have a title on the line to make a match or feud interesting, even lower down the card. In fact, usually lower down the card the titles are just used as an excuse to put no effort into the story. Cesaro doesn't need to compete for any titles at all in the near future to look like a star.
Anyway, just to demonstrate my point, here are a few ideas off the top of my head of what Cesaro could have been doing at Summerslam. Cesaro is face for all of these examples, to demonstrate why he should have been turned after Wrestlemania:
1) He could have feuded against a spare Authority member such as Kane. Sick of being manipulated by Coulter, when the Authority tries to convince him to work with them, he doesn't take kindly to it. There's your feud.
2) He could have feuded with Rusev. He's the perfect candidate. He's a strong guy who can toss Rusev about a bit which is impressive to see. And the fact that he's European would make the evil Russian angle easier to digest. It's not quite as cliche and nauseatingly patriotic. When Cesaro split up from the Real Americans, how the fuck did he end up being the only one that
didn't turn face?
3) He could have had a potential match of the night against Sheamus. The Irishman needs a heel turn as much as Cesaro needs a face turn and these two work great in the ring together.
prophet wrote:You could have pushed him as a face following Wrestlemania but would he really be in a different position right now if that were the case? I don't think so. Reigns was always going to be the big face they pushed heading into the Summer so even if Cesaro were also a face he still likely wouldn't have a spot higher up the card and would still be floating around a mid-card title spot. That's my take on it anyway, if you feel differently I'd love to hear why so we can have a bit of a debate on it.
He's over as a face so he should be a face. It's as simple as that. Reigns might be the big face they're pushing heading into the summer, but that's fine. It doesn't matter if Cesaro is lower on the card. At least he'll be playing the role he's supposed to play. When he slammed Big Show out of the ring at Wrestlemania, that was my biggest mark out moment of the whole night. It was a brilliant star making moment, and should have catapulted his face run. It was kind of mind boggling when they decided to go another way.
From a narrative point of view, it was hideously unsatisfying to see Cesaro remain a heel after Wrestlemania when his face turn had been foreshadowed so obviously. It was also terrible storytelling for him to liberate himself from the control of one evil manager in order to sign with another evil manager.
And from a character point of view, he's better as a face. His moves are all face moves. The Cesaro Swing is not something a heel would typically do and it's over like rover. His strength is something that the fans love to mark for. He'll get bigger reactions working as a face than as a heel, that's just the truth. And that's why they should have turned him. That and the fact that he actually has more potential opponents as a face, even if they don't push him towards the main event.
