Paul Heyman Thinks Claudio Castagnoli Was a ‘Tremendously Wasted Opportunity’ in WWE, Blames Himself

During a recent interview with Insight with Chris Van Vliet, WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman recalled the instances of “Paul Heyman Guys” who didn’t work out in WWE, such as Curtis Axel and Claudio Castagnoli (formerly Cesaro). Heyman managed Cesaro for a time in 2014 following WrestleMania 30.

Heyman considered Cesaro a “tremendously wasted opportunity” in WWE, noting how all the top stars wanted to work with him, and how there is “no one for us to blame but ourselves, including me.” Below are some highlights from Insight (and also F4WOnline.com):

Paul Heyman on Why His Managing Curtis Axel and Claudio Castagnoli Didn’t Work Out in WWE

“Because I don’t think it was meant to work out. I don’t think there was ever an overall grand scheme to move Curtis Axel all the way up the ladder. Curtis Axel filled the need for there to be people around me to feed to CM Punk at the time, it’s the same thing that happened with Cesaro. You look at Cesaro, and he checked, especially at that moment in time, he checked every box to become a top star. Everyone who got into the ring with him came back into Gorilla, saying, ‘Give me him.’ Everyone, I remember John Cena worked with him on television and came back and looked at Vince and said, ‘I could main event WrestleMania with him.’ And probably could have, and should have.

“Cesaro was placed in that position the day after Brock Lesnar conquered The Streak, so that when Brock took his hiatus, I had an excuse to be on television to say my client Brock Lesnar conquered The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania, and you needed an excuse to have me out there on television, and if you put me on commentary, I can’t say it for two or three hours, I have to say it with impact once a week, just drill that into your head, reinforcement, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition.

“So Cesaro became the excuse to see me say the line. Curtis Axel was cast as Paul Heyman guy, generic Paul Heyman guy. You may as well have put a mask on him and call him the Mad Russian, Mr. X, the assassin, the punk destroyer, so that we could feed the babyface CM Punk, and that’s a shame for Curtis Axel, because he had a lot more to offer, but he delivered in those matches with Punk, and that was the assignment, and once that assignment was over, there was no plan to propel him further, and he didn’t have the cache to go in and pitch for something that would continue the momentum coming out of that program.”

On Cesaro/Castagnoli Being a Wasted Opportunity in WWE

“If Cesaro was given the opportunity to answer every question in a different language, you’d have seen a side of his personality because he will put emphasis in the dialect and you will see his mannerisms match the dialect that he’s presenting. So I think Cesaro could have been a fascinating promo if he was given the chance to do that in WWE. He wasn’t. And, that’s our fault. That is a major fumble that was a crime that was committed against the career of Cesaro and a crime that was committed against the audience for not allowing this gifted performer to do what at the time, certainly he could do better than most anybody else on the face of the planet.”

“And by the way, when you realize what he’s capable of, what an opponent he could have been for Brock Lesnar. Had I turned on Cesaro and we built him up to be a threat to Brock, the matches the two of them could have had are mind boggling. A tremendously wasted opportunity and no one for us to blame but ourselves, including me.”

On WWE Not Having a Long-Term Plan for Either Wrestler

“I don’t believe so. If there was, I was never clued in on it. When I was told I was getting Curtis Axel, my question was, what are we doing with this, and Vince’s answer was going all the way to the top. I don’t think Vince really felt that about him, and I don’t think, I mean, I could tell by the third week I was with Cesaro, oh, I understand what we’re doing here, I get it. I see how this is going to play out, that as soon as Brock is back, this is going to get discarded.”

Axel at one point became Raw Tag Team Champions with Bo Dallas as The B-Team. He was released by WWE in 2020.

Cesaro exited WWE in 2022, later debuting in AEW that same year, returning to his old ring name of Claudio Castagnoli. He still currently wrestled for AEW, and he’s signed to a dual AEW and CMLL contract.