At WrestleMania 30, Brock Lesnar defeated The Undertaker’s undefeated streak, and Cesaro won the first ever Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. The next night Brock Lesnar disappeared, and Cesaro was paired with Paul Heyman.
It seemed that having Paul Heyman as a manager would only lead to big things for Cesaro, but that wasn’t the case. Some would argue that being paired with Heyman only hurt Cesaro, as it didn’t bring any new opportunities his way, and in the end there was absolutely no payoff when they went their separate ways. It turns out that WWE didn’t really have a plan for the Cesaro/Heyman pairing.
During a recent appearance on the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast, Paul Heyman opened up about why WWE officials put him with the Swiss Cyborg, and he said that the only reason they were put together was so he could appear on TV and remind fans that Brock Lesnar ended The Undertaker’s streak.
“We beat The Undertaker at freakin’ WrestleMania. Okay. So, what do we do? You put Paul Heyman back on television. On every show, any show I can go on, so I can say one thing, ‘My client Brock Lesnar conquered The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania’ and drive that point home every time. Cesaro gets paired with me, to be blunt, as an excuse for me to be on television and remind everybody that Brock Lesnar beat the streak. The hope was that we could rub some of that credibility, that we could rub some of that star power, that we could rub some of that spotlight on Cesaro. The unfortunate part for Cesaro is it relegated him to being a supporting player for a guy doing a promo about something else.”
Heyman went on to say that the pairing was a gift and a curse for Cesaro, as it hurt him on TV, but it forced Vince McMahon to notice him.
“The fortunate part for Cesaro is, it put him in the same frame on television with that guy, so Vince McMahon had no choice but to notice him. Because before that night, I don’t know how much Vince actually noticed Cesaro. So, in front of the camera it was a curse for Cesaro. It was terrible for him. But behind the scenes at least it brought him into the spotlight so that down the road he could get the push, and the marketing that he deserves.”
Unfortunately once Vince McMahon did start noticing Cesaro, it didn’t do the former United States Champion any good, because Vince has made it clear that he doesn’t think the Swiss Cyborg knows how to connect with the audience.
Right now he’s one half of the Raw Tag Team Champions, but hopefully there’s a decent singles run in his future somewhere down the road.
If you use any of the quotes from this article please credit the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast with a H/T to Still Real To Us.
