Will Cesaro catch a break and be treated seriously or will he be branded as WWE’s movie extra?
Cesaro defeated Jinder Mahal in an impromptu match at WWE Fastlane — the same guy who’s feuding with Rusev for no apparent reason. He also hasn’t won a match since this year.
A man of Cesaro’s caliber shouldn’t be thrown in filler matches against men who barely win matches. That’s the paradox of his journey on RAW since the WWE Draft last year. This man is a future world champion. Now he’s a tag team specialist because the WWE have no faith in him.
In their mind, they believe he’s good enough to put someone over like Samoa Joe or fill up a PPV match without being advertised like Fastlane. To sum it up in the eyes of the WWE brass, he’s good enough to entertain the fans but he isn’t good enough to carry the company as champion.
That lack of respect the WWE shows in Cesaro is alarming, to say the least. It’s their lack of direction and long-term growth of developing their superstars is what making them do silly things. This includes making two part-timers fight for a major world title at the main event of WrestleMania, while the Swiss Superman will eat dirt trying to claw his way for a spot at WrestleMania.
Cesaro is stuck teaming with Sheamus with no clear path of capturing the tag titles. I could be wrong and they might face Gallows and Anderson for the championships, but that wouldn’t be helpful in re-establishing the former ROH star as a major threat on RAW.
Cesaro must break out as a singles competitor on the road to Wrestlemania or shortly afterward. He’ll need to position himself as a dark-horse challenger for the WWE Universal Championship. At the moment, Kevin Owens is feuding with Jericho, Rollins is dealing with Triple H and Roman Reigns might be facing The Undertaker at WrestleMania. So this is the perfect opportunity for Cesaro to show the WWE Universe that he can be a future world champion.
When WrestleMania arrives, Cesaro should win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal for the second time. It will give him instant credibility but also position him to challenge for the Universal Title right away after the PPV concluded. This is the only way to legitimize the Swiss Superman as a serious challenger in the main event picture.
WWE shouldn’t beg guys like Goldberg or Brock Lesnar to carry WrestleMania in a potential 2-5 minute main event match. They should lean on guys like Cesaro who are incredible wrestlers and have unique personalities that the fans gravitate to.
Cesaro shouldn’t be a surprise opponent for a guy who hasn’t won a match since last summer. He must be a force that can dominate RAW after WrestleMania 33.
Next: WrestleMania 33 Card Projecitons 8.0 After Fastlane
The question is if WWE would start giving Cesaro opportunities to capture the brass ring? Or lend it off to a 40-year-old part-timer?