Top 10 Interesting Facts about Cesaro

Cesaro at Wrestle Mania Photo By Megan Elice Meadows. Wikimedia.

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Cesaro

Born Claudio Castagnoli on 27^th December 1980 in Switzerland. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he performs under his real name.

He also performs for AEW’s sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), where he is the current ROH World Champion in his first reign.

Castagnoli is best known for his 11-year tenure in WWE from 2011 to 2022, where he performed under the ring names Antonio Cesaro and Cesaro. He is one of the most exceptionally talented wrestlers in the world.

He is also one of those performers who’ve been tremendously underutilized.

Given the talent he possesses, one could easily picture him holding the biggest prize in wrestling. He’s had a few pushes that have gone nowhere, but watching Cesaro wrestle is a treat on its own, even if he loses.

If you heard the name Claudio Castagnoli, you wouldn’t think much about it.

It must be tied to someone of European background, but honestly, we wouldn’t spend time imagining the person who has that name.

Claudio Castagnoli has spent the better part of 15 years developing his craft inside and outside the ring.

He has also gone by various aliases in the past. Today, he is referred to as The Swiss Superman, Cesaro.

1.His career started in Europe

Cesaro’s career began in his native Switzerland. He began to train under the tutelage of Singmaster Rappo and first wrestled in Germany. He was also trained under English wrestling legend Dave Taylor. His move set is based on fundamental wrestling, with his array of uppercuts and Greco-Roman wrestling.

2 He is known for his 100-Swing Maneuver

Castagnoli performing the giant swing. Photo By Spinning. Wikimedia

During his time wrestling in independent promotions, Castagnoli was known for his refined Greco-Roman wrestling style and his ability to captivate an audience due to a diverse skill set and unrelenting attack. He was being noticed and it was only a matter of time before he transitioned from the independents onto a much grander stage.

The giant swing is a professional wrestling maneuver that has been used for decades. It is simply performed by grabbing your opponent around his calves and, well, swinging him.

While it may appear simple, the giant swing takes a lot of strength and both the attacker and the victim can get very dizzy.

3 Cesaro Spent the Majority of his Early Career as Part of the Kings of Wrestling

Left to right: Claudio Castagnoli, Sara Del Rey and Chris Hero as the Kings of Wrestling. Photo by Steve Wright Jr. Wikipedia.

It seemed like such a blip on the radar in his career, but before Cesaro was who he is today, Claudio Castagnoli competed with Bruderschaft des Kreuzes for a couple of years. During the 2009 King of Trios, Cesaro teamed with English wrestling legend Dave Taylor, and they allied with Bryan Danielson, now known as Daniel Bryan. Together, they worked as a team Uppercut. They advanced to the finals of that tournament but didn’t ultimately win. It’s incredible how much life has changed for both Bryan and Cesaro since then. Cesaro was a long-time partner with Chris Hero and won numerous belts throughout their time together.

3 He Joined Raw as a Police Officer

This is a reminder of how wrestlers can take on the smallest roles in a company to earn a job in the WWE. In 2006, Cesaro signed with the WWE and was used as a character that you would seldom recognize today. During McMahon’s feud with D-Generation X, Cesaro acted as a police officer, along with former WWE NXT talent Michael Bateman, now known as Ethan Carter III in TNA. The police were there to protect Shane McMahon during a particular segment, but this moment didn’t turn into anything, as he was later released.

4 He Trains Other Wrestlers.

Cesaro is very talented in the ring. He uses a large variety of holds and techniques to dominate his opponents.

Cesaro is so good in the ring that the 31-year-old has even trained quite a few other wrestlers.

Some of Cesaro’s trainees include Green Ant, Frightmare, Tursas, Vin Gerard, and Kodama.

6 He was once Billed from the United Bank of Switzerland

Professional wrestlers have been billed from a lot of strange places. Sin City, Parts Unknown, and the Boiler Room (among others).

Cesaro’s billing location as a member of Swiss Money Holding was one of the most curious. Cesaro and his partner, Are$, were billed from the United Bank of Switzerland.

They played Swiss bankers turned great tag team, as strange as it was, it worked pretty well.

7 He has Competed in Ten Different Organizations

He started his Wrestling  career with Germany-based Westside Xtreme Wrestling, Combat Zone Wrestling from 2004 to 2006, Ring of Honor from 2005 to 2011, and MXW Pro Wrestling’s Capital Collision show in Albany, New York, and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (2005–2008, 2010–2011), Pro Wrestling Noah, WWE, All Elite Wrestling and current with Ring of Honor

8 Cesaro has Performed in over Ten Different Promotions in More than Five Countries

He’s been a part of Chikara, Ring of Honor, CZW, the Swiss Wrestling Federation, and many more.

Cesaro appeared in Darren Aronofsky’s drama The Wrestler, the film which starred Mickey Rouke and captured the sacrifices made by so many wrestlers to prolong their careers. It was a dark look at what takes place for several athletes as their careers draw to a close. While Cesaro’s role wasn’t a major one

9 Speaks in More than Five Languages.

Cesaro boasts how well traveled he is every week, saying different phrases in different languages. Judging by his professional wrestling career, that isn’t too far off.

The Swiss Superman can do more than display incredible feats of strength. He is about as well-spoken as anyone in wrestling. He is so well-spoken, that he can engage an audience in several languages. Italian, Swiss, German, English, and French are the five different languages he is most fluent in. The Swiss he speaks are called a ‘German-Swiss’. Cesaro is a cunning linguist in multiple languages and his fluency in each has been shown onscreen. He was born in Switzerland and his exposure to various European countries likely led to this impressive knowledge of various languages.

10 He Competed as “Mr. Ice Cream”

Cesaro as Mr. Ice Cream Photo By Daysofthundr46.Wikimedia.

One of the unique stories about his career is the different personalities or characters he portrayed in his early days as a wrestler. When he returned to the promotion Chikara in 2007, he wrestled under a mask, and competed under the name ‘A Very Mysterious Ice-Cream’. It was under that name that he was a part of Los Ice Creams. The team was rather uniquely dressed, with masks that had tips on the top of their heads to resemble the tip of an ice-cream cone. It’s remarkable to see where Cesaro has come from then to where he is now.