Claudio Castagnoli (Cesaro in WWE) departed from the company in February when his contract expired. He signed with AEW last month when he made his promotional debut at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door as Bryan Danielson’s replacement against Zack Sabre Jr.
During an interview with Justin Barraso of Sports Illustrated, Claudio expressed gratitude for his time working for WWE and won’t knock them.
“It can be hard to take the high road, but that’s the road I am going to take,” Castagnoli said. “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 also spoke about being part of the Blackpool Combat Club and leading them to victory in Blood & Guts against the Jericho Appreciation Society.
“I came to AEW for new challenges,” Castagnoli said. “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 weeks. I’m extremely excited to find out what the future holds.”
Claudio will wrestle Jake Hager on tonight’s episode of AEW Dynamite.
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