Claudio Castagnoli says he’s happy to take the high road in regards to his WWE exit and says once he left the company he knew he wanted to join AEW.
Castagnoli spent over a decade as part of WWE where he is best known as Cesaro. In that company, the Swiss star captured the United States Championship and became known as something of a tag team specialist, capturing different versions of tag team gold seven times with three different partners.
Despite that success, Cesaro only ever had one match for either WWE or Universal Titles, this coming at WrestleMania Backlash in 2021 where he lost to Roman Reigns.
Claudio Castagnoli called time on his WWE career when his contract expired in February 2022 and had maintained a low profile until he burst into AEW at Forbidden Door where he defeated New Japan star Zack Sabre Jr.
Speaking to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, the Swiss star reflected on his time in WWE and says he’ll take the high road in regards to his time there:
“It can be hard to take the high road, but that’s the road I am going to take. All the memories, they matter. I’m grateful for everything I have accomplished and I’m grateful for all those opportunities. And they make me work so much harder to get where I want to be.”
“Once I left, I knew what I wanted and where I wanted to go, I just didn’t know if it would happen. That was also time for me to take a break mentally, recharge, and come back better. My goal is always to be better than I was yesterday, to be better tomorrow than I am today. I want to be even better now than people remember.”
Castagnoli then explained why he wanted to become All Elite and why he’s the perfect fit for the Blackpool Combat Club:
“I came to AEW for new challenges. That’s why I fit perfectly in the Blackpool Combat Club. Like [William] Regal said, ‘You either step up or get stepped on.’ I loved coming in with the BCC because I’ve known those guys for such a long time, and I know they have my back no matter what.”
“It feels like everything here is clicking in AEW. It doesn’t feel like it’s only been a couple of weeks. I’m extremely excited to find out what the future holds.”