page_title: Cesaro (wrestler)
section_title: Professional wrestling style and persona
hierarchical_section_title: Cesaro (wrestler) / Professional wrestling style and persona
caption_attribution_description: WWE House Show - Garrett Coliseum - 1/10/15
context_page_description: Claudio Castagnoli is a Swiss professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs under the ring name Cesaro. He is assigned to the SmackDown brand, and is one-half of the current WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions with Shinsuke Nakamura.
  He was previously known for his work in Ring of Honor and various independent promotions including Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Combat Zone Wrestling, and Pro Wrestling Noah under his real name. He is an accomplished tag team wrestler, being a two-time ROH World Tag Team Champion with his partner Chris Hero as The Kings of Wrestling, where their 364-day reign as champions is the longest in company history. Within WWE, he is a seven-time tag team champion, including two reigns as WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champion, and held the WWE Tag Team Championship a five times. He has also won various independent tag team titles both with Hero and with Ares as Swiss Money Holding, such as the Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas, the JCW Tag Team Championship and the CZW World Tag Team Championship. Castagnoli and Hero were voted as the 2010 Tag Team of the Year by Wrestling Observer Newsletter readers.
context_section_description: Cesaro is widely considered one of the best performers in professional wrestling, despite never really getting a run at the top of the card. His wrestling ability has been praised by fellow wrestlers and wrestling legends such as Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mick Foley and Jim Ross. In 2019, Bleacher Report would call Cesaro one of the best "pure wrestlers" in WWE. WWE has been criticized for underutilizing Cesaro creatively on their shows. Later in his career, he became known as a "tag team specialist" due to his partnerships with Jack Swagger, Tyson Kidd, Sheamus, and Shinsuke Nakamura. He also received praise for his previous tag teams with Chris Hero and Bryan Danielson on the independent circuit.
  Cesaro uses a no-nonsense, European style as the basis for his ring repertoire. He uses the Gotch Neutralizer (a belly-to-back inverted mat slam) and Very European Uppercut (a pop-up European uppercut) as finishing moves. He also uses the Cesaro Swing (a giant swing), albeit less frequently. A big part of his wrestling style comes from his strength, which he has showcased by lifting heavier wrestlers such as The Great Khali, Brodus Clay, and Big Show, all of whom weigh at least 100 lb (45.3 kg) more than him. He has been credited as one of the strongest wrestlers in WWE. His technical ability is also notable, and he has utilized the sharpshooter (adopted from former tag team partner Tyson Kidd) as a signature move since 2015.
  During an interview in 2013, he cited Bruno Sammartino, Bob Backlund, Dave Finlay, Dave Taylor, William Regal, and Karl Gotch as his influences.
caption: Cesaro performing the "Giant Swing" during a house show in January 2015
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