Cesaro believes actions speak louder than words and that is why he has put so much pressure on himself going into WrestleMania 37.
Cesaro has been a member of the WWE main roster since the summer of 2012 and in that time, he has been a yodeler, a rugby player, a Paul Heyman guy, and somebody with the first name “Antonio.” Through it all, he has built a body of work and consistency that has allowed him to be universally praised as one of the most underutilized performers on the roster, and this year, he will finally have a singles match at WrestleMania.
Cesaro will face Seth Rollins, the person he most wanted to face, at WrestleMania 37 in the first event in front of fans in over a year. Cesaro and Rollins will have their match on the first night of WrestleMania, Saturday, April 10, 2021.
Speaking to Renee Paquette on her podcast, Oral Sessions, Cesaro spoke about the pressure he feels every day to not only prove himself but not disappoint the legions of fans and peers that have lobbied for him to have this opportunity.
“I feel that pressure every single day. They're so many people that I feel support me and want me to do well that I represent, in my mind, from all over the world, and this is my first WrestleMania singles match, so of course, it's like the pressure is on, because I want to make everybody proud. I want to show everybody that I deserve this I want to show everybody that what they believe in can happen oh, that what they believe in is happening and I am worth their support and I can actually do this, so there's a lot of pressure. I always do but if even more because I'm like ‘Okay, I need to do this.’ I'm always under the impression of like, what can I do to get better?’ I'm never like, ‘I'm freaking awesome.’ I'm always like, ‘Oh no. I'm not that good oh, I need to do this to get better. So there's a lot of pressure.”
He continued, “Also, with the whole thing with Rollins with the promos and stuff... It's like, ‘Oh, your potential...’ I'm not the one that's telling everyone I deserve it or this is my potential, I just want to earn it. I want to be there and prove everybody, so the pressure is on immensely but the trick with anything is, do it with grace. You go out there and do it, and hope for the best, and just be true to yourself and make it the best you can.”
Renee then referenced the many times that ate appeared Cesaro was poised to break through the glass ceiling only for momentum to be halted. Cesaro would say that while it does get harder to build momentum over time, he believes that he has become well versed in building momentum “out of nowhere” and that he always has something to prove, which keeps him motivated to do the work.
“It gets harder and harder to build momentum, I feel. But I also feel like I've been pretty good at building momentum out of nowhere, or [through] Talking Smack, thank you, Renee. I always need to prove to somebody, even if it's me, that I can do it.”
Regarding the Vince McMahon quote about Cesaro grabbing the brass ring from the Stone Cold podcast in 2014, Cesaro said that he feels that the fact that he is still employed by WWE nearly seven years later is proof in and of itself that what he is doing is working.
“I'm still here, we're like almost seven years later, and I'm still here and I'm doing well. That just speaks for itself. Again, that's one of those [things] that I feel actions speak louder than words because there's a lot of people that can come out the next day and go public or on Twitter or whatever, and be like, [mocks a rambling rant], and I said that Talking Smack promo that I did would not have worked 5 years ago.
"It worked now because people see my body of work and they know that what I say is not just what I believe in but also what I live by and what I do every day. I'm not the one that says like, ‘I work really hard. I train every day’ No, they've seen me on TV and off TV for the last eight or nine years doing it all the time, every time. So, I feel like actions do speak louder than words, and if you actually say something that just backed it up. I was always under the impression that I don't want to be the one that's cheerleading myself, that's just lame. I'm just not that guy. It's very kind when other people say it but that's why I feel like there's so much pressure on me because so many people believe in me and I do not want to let them down. I do not want to let my friends down who helped me. There's a lot of people who either put in a good word about me or spoke nicely about me. I don't want to let those people down."
Thus far, Cesaro’s defining moment as a singles competitor at WrestleMania was his victory in the first-ever Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal back in 2014. This year, the Battle Royal will return but will take place on a special WrestleMania-sized SmackDown on Friday, April 9. Learn more here.
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