The current Ring of Honor World Champion Claudio Castagnoli was with his former company for over ten years before he decided to leave after his contract ended.
The former WWE eight-time champion (known as Cesaro in the WWE) was in Nashville, Tennessee for an appearance at Starrcast V. Castagnoli spoke with Chris Van Vliet about never getting the chance to win a World Championship in the WWE.
Van Vliet asked Claudio if he ever thought he was close to a World Title. Claudio said he did and would explain why, “Yes, It's all about building momentum. I feel I created that momentum a lot of times with the fans.” Claudio said.
Castagnoli would explain how the fans helped make Becky Lynch's character so popular, that the WWE had no choice but to build her as a star.
“That natural thing, you've seen that with them. The last time that really happened was with Becky. Becky got red-hot and the fans made her undeniable. I feel I was on that verge a couple of times where the crowd was with me, my stuff was going awesome, and it was, 'We're going in this direction now.' Okay, back to square one. That happened a bunch of times. In the end, it all led to this. A lot of stuff in life is about the journey.” Castagnoli said.
Claudio Castagnoli is a 22-year wrestling veteran who recently signed with All Elite Wrestling. He made is debut at the AEW and NJPW co-branded Pay-Per-View event Forbidden Door on June 26th. He was the mystery opponent for Zack Sabre Jr. of New Japan. Castagnoli replaced Bryan Danielson, who was out with an injury. He is the current Ring of Honor World Champion after defeating Jonathan Gresham at ROH's Death Before Dishonor Pay-Per-View event.
#AndNew #ROH World Champion, @ClaudioCSRO! Missed last night’s historic #ROH #DeathBeforeDishonor PPV? Order NOW on @BleacherReport & @PPV_com/@FiteTV internationally pic.twitter.com/KiIt1eILZd
— ROH - Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) July 24, 2022
Claudio is set to defend the title against Konosuke Takeshita at AEW Battle of the Belts. Fightful will provide live coverage.
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