Claudio is now WWE's Antonio!

WWE Universe, this is the WWE newest recruit, Antonio Cesaro, who is known in the independent circuit as Claudio Castagnoli!  He is a 10 year veteran of the independent circuit and I am elated that he finally made it to the show.  It's standard operating procedure for the WWE to bring all new signees to their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) for them to learn the WWE style of wrestling.  Though the essence of wrestling is 2 men in the ring going back and forth with one person victorious over the other, the WWE style deals more with story-telling than actual wrestling form.  It's the building of your character in front of an audience and portraying that character inside the ring.  This is the reason why the Heavyweight Champion can range from a Cruiserweight, quick, high flyer type of wrestler like Rey Mysterio to a large power Heavyweight who smash their opponents like Kane.  Though many independent promotions do the same thing, the WWE is the major leagues, so looking like an amateur is not an option.  From character portrayal to feuds to promos to in-ring work, the WWE Superstar has to be great at all of this in order for them to succeed.

At any rate, I am eager to see Claudio debut on WWE TV.  Claudio is Swedish by nationality which is in line with the push of having more international talents on the roster.  As it is right now, Wade Barrett is from England, Sheamus is from Ireland, Drew McIntyre is from Scotland, Santino Marella is from Italy, Alberto Del Rio is from Mexico, and Justin Gabriel is from South Africa.  Regardless of where there from, a good wrestler is a good wrestler, and Claudio is a good wrestler.  He has the height and built of a WWE wrestler and he has both a comedic side and heel side to him, but his biggest asset is really his charisma.  He's well-spoken, funny, and loves the camera.  His matches and antics on Youtube are so entertaining that you want to keep checking all the videos of him.  This is a unique characteristic.  There are many big, tall, and atheltic guys on the WWE roster but they aren't entertaining.  For example, hamming up in front of the camera is what makes Miz more entertaining than Morrison.  Though Morrison has better athletic skill than the Miz, I'd rather watch the Miz on TV than Morrison.  Because of that, I believe that Claudio will do well in the WWE.  It'll be a couple of months before they put him in front of a TV audience, so we'll have to wait to see how the WWE handles his character.

Though I've been talking about how he will be an entertaining wrestler, I also want to include that his European Uppercut is badd-ass.  Though wrestlers like Kurt Angle and Randy Orton use the European Uppercut in their matches, Claudio executes that move amazingly.  There's this extra rotation he does in the move that makes it look devastating on it's opponents.  I hope he keeps it when he shows up on TV.

There's a lot of independent wrestlers throughout the world.   Every one wants to be the next WWE Superstar.  I like that the WWE is taking chances on these wrestlers instead of trying to make home grown talents.  Hopefully, Chris Hero will get signed soon so that the WWE can have the Kings of Wrestling, and have them take the Tag Team division back to it's glory!