Claudio Castagnoli On His Reaction To ROH World Title Win, Having More Freedom In the Ring

Claudio Castagnoli won the ROH World Championship at Death Before Dishonor, and he talked about what he was feeling after the win and more in the post-show media scrum. Castagnoli, who won the title from Jonathan Gresham at Saturday’s PPV, and he answered questions about his creative freedom in the ring and more. You can see some highlights below:

On what kind of ROH Champion he sees himself being: “A great one. [laughs] “This is my — this is my first world championship. And I said this before, I could be here and tell you guys all what I’m gonna do, and this and that. I feel like there’s a lot of people that talk a lot. I like to let my actions speak, so it’s gonna be hell of a run. Hope you guys are ready.”

On what he was feeling immediately after his win: “Yeah, I don’t know. It’s just — you know, the the years of hard work and that moment. I actually just talked to Tony about that on the way up here that, you know, I had a had a hell of a run in this first month. It was like, Forbidden Door, Blood & Guts, Fyter Fest and now Death Before Dishonor. So I think that’s, I want to say like a Hall of Fame, or like an All-Star first month of of things. And topping off with the my first world championship, what what made me so happy is the reaction of everybody. To me, wrestling is about the fans. It’s about the interactiveness, it’s about feeding off the energy. And that’s what’s always been so much fun. And to hear the crowd, to see it… I just wanted to take it all in, and just soak it in. Because you know, no need to rush, just sit there and enjoy it. I waited for a long time. So yeah, I just just wanted to enjoy it and it was amazing.”

On having more creative freedom in his wrestling style in AEW: “Yes. Very short [answer], yes. I’ve had so much fun here, it feels like I’ve been here for years. It feels like this is the place that I’m supposed to be at. All the matches I’ve had were so different. Which is for me, that’s a lot of fun, like styles make matches. And to have that challenge and to have that freedom to express yourself in the ring, on the microphone, everything is just, it’s a gift. And I’m very happy to be here, and I’m very happy to represent Ring of Honor as World Champion. So yes, I love it and I have a lot more freedom and I’m enjoying it.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Ring of Honor with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.