PWTorch.com - RADICAN'S TAKE: So, Cesaro doesn't have "it" because he's Swiss?, plus Thoughts on Final Battle, NJPW World, more!

RADICAN'S TAKE
RADICAN'S TAKE: So, Cesaro doesn't have "it" because he's Swiss?, plus Thoughts on Final Battle, NJPW World, more!

Dec 4, 2014 - 11:11:29 AM

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By Greg Parks, PWTorch columnist

Vince McMahon's interview with Steve Austin on the WWE Network after Raw went off air this past Monday brought about an interesting conversation about Cesaro. Austin talked about Cesaro and wondered why he wasn’t making waves in WWE. McMahon said Cesaro didn’t have the “it” factor yet. Austin countered that Cesaro was grabbing his attention around the time he was going to split with Jack Swagger leading to WrestleMania. In response, McMahon brought up several things, which basically amounted to nothing when talking about the reasons Cesaro wasn’t over.

The peculiar thing that McMahon mentioned as a reason for Cesaro not being over was possibly because he is Swiss. Or, something about being European, which is a complete load of crap. Although McMahon said he hadn’t given up on Cesaro yet and Austin challenged him on creative having to be up to the challenge as well when pushing talent during their discussion, it struck me that all the talk between Austin and McMahon about talent needing to grab for the brass ring amount to a hill of beans given the current environment in WWE.

Wrestlers like Cesaro have no security if they leave WWE. There’s no other company to go to in the U.S. for them to make the kind of money they make in WWE. Without competition pushing WWE, and spare me Vince’s arguments that he’s competing with Disney and other forms of entertainment outside of wrestling, talent has very little security when it comes to pushing for their spot backstage. The WWE environment is tailored to screw with the minds of talent.

McMahon called out his roster to push for more and to grab that brass ring, but what the downside of pushing for more as Austin did as he was able to transition from his Ringmaster gimmick to Stone Cole will likely piss someone off. Austin pointed out in the interview before the conversation turned to Cesaro that companies like TNA don’t push WWE, so the wrestlers walk around like they’re on eggshells backstage in fear of their career. McMahon’s reply was that the solution is to not piss anyone off. It was a perfect illustration of why none of the talent in WWE is grabbing for the brass ring.

Cesaro has been a victim of the death cycle that is the WWE mid-card. He was getting hot before being paired with Paul Heyman and hasn’t been the same since then. To compound things, he made a comment that pointed out that people just might be sick of seeing Cena vs. Orton during an interview shortly before the Hell in a Cell PPV in October, which likely didn’t help his cause.

Although a lot of McMahon's interview was him dancing around questions that Austin presented him like a modern-day Fred Astaire, I thought his comments on the backstage environment and talent like Cesaro reaching for the brass ring were fascinating. McMahon certainly provided a lot of insight into the mid-card death cycle and how it impacts talent like Cesaro that don’t have many options outside of WWE.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

ROH’s “Final Battle 2014” airs on cable PPV this Sunday and I think it’s going to be a really strong show. Although the show hasn’t garnered a lot of buzz, the top two matches alone make the show worth watching. Jay Briscoe defending the ROH World Title against Adam Cole in a Fight Without Honor match could be one of the better matches of the year, as both men look to blow off their long-term feud. I would like to see Cole get the ROH World Title back. He’s easily the most well-rounded singles performer on the ROH roster right now and he was really beginning to generate some momentum when he dropped the title to Michael Elgin at ROH’s inaugural live PPV in June...

The announcement of NJPW World, which is an online streaming service that will give fans access to a library of content and air many PPVs live, was a huge announcement for hardcore fans that have been following the company from the U.S. and elsewhere in recent years. I’m willing to hop the hurdles it takes to sign up for the service using Google translate, but I believe a streaming service for NJPW in English would be even bigger in English-speaking countries. Either way, for those people that have been watching NJPW religiously and slugging through Japanese websites to order their iPPVs since Ustream dropped out of the iPPV business, this is a huge deal. The savings on live events alone is spectacular and there’s a good selection of recent content available on demand right now. This includes the incredible G1 Climax 24 tournament from this year, which you can watch for under $9.00 by ordering NJPW World. James Caldwell posted an article with instructions on how to sign up for the site on PWTorch.com earlier this week, so if you’re interested in the service, his article is very helpful...