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WWE News: Cesaro’s Time On ‘Raw’ Coming To An End?

By Mark Suleymanov
Published on: 19:52 PST, Aug 13, 2016

After his most recent match, a pinfall loss to Rusev in a match for the WWE United States championship, Cesaro’s days on the Raw brand may be numbered, according to Daily Wrestling News.

During his in-ring segment on Monday with Rusev, Raw general manager Mick Foley, and SmackDown Live general manager Daniel Bryan, Cesaro was given his desired championship match. However, before Foley made the match official, Bryan gave his input, telling Cesaro that he feels his talents are underutilized on Raw.

With the crowd in a frenzy, Cesaro nearly won his second United States championship until Sheamus provided the key distraction. Based on DWN’s report, Bryan’s comment was the start of Cesaro being “traded” to SmackDown Live.

On the night of the draft, Cesaro was asked about being drafted to Raw and his placement in the draft. He was not pleased with either and stated his desire to be on SmackDown, a show that Bryan and SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon promised would be wrestling-driven.

“First of all, I’m not too happy to be drafted 17th in the sixth round,” Cesaro said, via Wrestling Inc. “I had a feeling I should be drafted a little bit higher, I was hoping to be at least top 10. Just looking at the rosters and what the GMs talked about yesterday how SmackDown is going to be the wrestling show and all about in-ring product and all about the Superstars and not necessarily about the GMs and that whole drama, I feel like I probably would have been a better fit for SmackDown.”

The rest of the interview with JoJo featured in-depth answers driven by frustration and a lack of direction. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter confirmed that the promo was a shoot; an unscripted, real-life occurrence on a wrestling show.

While Cesaro eventually expressed excitement with joining the WWE’s flagship program, he grew frustrated at the question of how Stephanie McMahon and Foley will co-exist as they run Raw for the foreseeable future.

“I think Raw going forward needs to be about the Superstars, it needs to be about the performers in the ring and not about how Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley co-exist,” Cesaro said. “They need to be there to mediate and make the best show, but that does not need to be the focus. So, the focus should be on the Superstar who got drafted. We have Seth Rollins, we have New Day, we have Finn Balor coming up from NXT – those are the people we should be here talking about. But we’re talking about Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley which is annoying to me.”

Cesaro, 35, has been on WWE television since 2012. In addition to holding the United States championship, he is a former WWE Tag Team champion (with Tyson Kidd), and the winner of the inaugural Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at Wrestlemania XXX. He has shown himself to have outlandish strength and the ability to speak five languages fluently.

However, injuries and reported issues with management about his onscreen personality have limited Cesaro’s impact. In the same interview, he said the opportunity to go Raw could allow him to demonstrate his speaking ability.

“My brain can form thoughts that come out through my mouth,” Cesaro said. “The problem is sometimes I stumble the words because I speak five different languages, we know all that, so the thing is I like to speak the language that everybody speaks all around the world, that the WWE Universe loves… that’s the language of wrestling that I do in the ring. That’s what I do best. That’s why I always deliver. Cesaro on Raw.”

While Heath Slater looks to sign a contract, Cesaro may be the first superstar to be traded.

[Image via WWE]

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