What the hell is going on with Antonio Cesaro?
 

He was in straight beast mode for months, and now he's jobbing all over the place. As the United States champion, no less. He wasn't on Wrestlemania. He wasn't on Raw. What's the deal? Is there something I don't know about? What did he do to deserve this de-push?

News sites reporting Vince McMahon is not high on Cesaro which could explain his Kofi Kingston like de-push.

A bad run after a push usually means something even bigger is coming up.

Who knows? I mean, in the grand scheme of things, it's not that bad. He's still US Champion.

He's boring as all hell

Tell that to Kofi...and 3MB...

He's got to show he's more than just the overplayed and typical heel foreigner who is anti-USA.

Somehow, he's got to prove he's got the charisma necessary in order to achieve more and go beyond his current status. He's got to take the necessary steps in order to kinda re-invent himself. If the don't open the door for you, bring it down.

Vince McMahon wasn't a fan of CM Punk's once upon a time, but things kinda turned out alright.

He's not really supposed to step outside of the gimmick they gave him, is he?

I love his ring work. Did he ever show charisma as Claudio Castagnoli? Does he have it in him? I never saw.

I don't know, man.

I'm just a positive dude.

"Optimistic" is my middle name.

Half-empty? Half-full, baby!

yes, yes he did. as the most money making man he had plenty of charisma. his whole "aaayyyyyy!" shtick was beautiful. still think he has charisma now, he's just saddled with a generic gimmick. and on top of that, he can literally work with any size guy to perfection. so why not push him?

I was optimistic when he was being pushed to the moon and being competitive with the top dogs. When he's not booked on the main show and they didn't even have him on Raw the next night (3MB, Truth, Santino, and Ryder all found their way onto the show), it makes me worry a bit as a realist.

Well, Dolph was on quite the losing streak.

We'll see.

At least Dolph was on TV. And at Wrestlemania.

He has horrific mic skills though

they are definitely not horrific. great? of course not. but that's part of his charm. it's not like you can't understand him. and it's not like he'll get any worse.

if that's your only reason for not pushing the guy, it's really weak.

Mic skills mean more than wrestling skills, so not really.

Workrate means more than mic skills home skillet

i wish i had as narrow a view of wrestling as you geniuses.

Duh. Work rate is serious rassling.

Mic skills is a pretty large aspect to lack for a main eventer.

But Gertner says Ryback is main event material. Has he ever cut a great promo?

What about Andre the Giant or Yokozuna? They were crap on the mic but they got huge pushes. Maybe b/c they were above average weight??

He gets the crowd to chant louder than anyone else. If the crowd is into it then I have to say yes.

I bet Monday's crowd would have gone nuts for Cesaro.

....maybe that's why he wasn't booked.

Jeff Hardy has shit mic skills and he was/is a main eventer. What got him over? Oh yeah, what he can do in the ring.

With Ryback's look all he has to be is average. Cesaro isn't even that.

Basing it off the past 6 months really. Monday was not a promo for Ryback really. Has he ever cut a amazing one? Naw. But he keeps the crowd interested and that is what will, partly, propel him. Everyone sleeps when Cesaro gets on the mic.

Jeff Hardy was also a once in a generation performer and was hugely over with women.

If Cesaro would have hit Cena with the Neutralizer on Monday, he would've outpopped DX.

Look at the journey Jeff took to get into the main event too.

And all the drugs he took, as well.

When Cesaro speaks he sounds like he's literally reading off a promo sheet. It's awful. He has zero change in his voice.

So there are other factors. I get that. You guys keep talking about his poor mic skills like that's what's holding him back. For one, there are ways around that, and for two, they're not even that bad.

You say he's boring, and it sounds like that's due to mic work for you. You can't shit on what he does in the ring. He's easily one of the most impressive and astute workers on the roster. Why do you feel the need to shit on him?

That crowd was literally a once in a decade crowd.

So is Charlie Haas. Put the belt on him.

because he is an "indy darling" and that's gertner's gimmick

who said to put the belt on him? assuming you mean THE belt.

I understand that. My point was that anybody could have gotten Ryback's reation last night.

Ryback has been getting that for months

Look at his reactions for the past 6 months.