In 2014 the pairing of Cesaro and Paul Heyman seemed like a match made in heaven.
Coming off the back of winning the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 30, Cesaro declared that he was now a ‘Paul Heyman Guy.’
With the legendary manager now in his corner it seemed Cesaro was destined to climb to the top of the mountain. However, things didn’t quite work out as everyone had hoped. The Swiss Cyborg challenged for the vacant WWE Title, The United States Title and the Intercontinental Championship but came up short on all counts.
The Paul Heyman and Cesaro partnership was broken up in mid-July.
While steering Cesaro into the Summer of 2014, Heyman was still working with Brock Lesnar. The Beast was arguably at the peak of his powers during this period having broken The Undertaker’s streak at WrestleMania. Reflecting on that portion of his career, Heyman has previously said that his link-up with Cesaro came at the wrong time.
Responding to those comments in a recent interview with DAZN, Cesaro said that he agrees with his former manager. Adding that he felt he was clearly “second fiddle” to Brock Lesnar.
“I’ll say this much. I learned a whole lot from Paul, and I still do. But I agree 100 percent with Paul’s assessment because that’s 100 percent right. Paul used that opportunity to talk about Brock Lesnar and, I was second fiddle at that point. He even said that in the Talking Smack interview that he did. He said that he knows that alliance was more beneficial to him than it was for me. But you know what, despite that, I’m here today, challenging Roman Reigns on Sunday. I’m here despite not being picked, not being “The Guy” chosen by powers that be. I’m still here because of what I bring to the table. I feel that speaks for itself.”
Fast-forward to May 2021 and Cesaro is preparing to challenge the current ‘Paul Heyman Guy’ Roman Reigns for the Universal Title. The Swiss Superman earned his shot at Reigns by defeating Seth Rollins on a recent episode of SmackDown.
Cesaro heads into WrestleMania Backlash after battling with Jimmy Uso on the latest edition of the blue brand. The final show before the pay-per-view ended with Cesaro and Reigns staring down, setting the scene for what is arguably the biggest match of Cesaro’s career.