{"id":42837,"date":"2023-12-12T11:39:23","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T11:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pieroselvaggio.com\/?p=42837"},"modified":"2023-12-12T11:39:23","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T11:39:23","slug":"i-swung-a-bloke-round-100-times-and-popped-someones-back-says-aew-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pieroselvaggio.com\/2023\/12\/12\/i-swung-a-bloke-round-100-times-and-popped-someones-back-says-aew-star\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I swung a bloke round 100 times – and popped someone’s back,’ says AEW star"},"content":{"rendered":"
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    All Elite Wrestling star Claudio Castagnoli is known as one of the most technically proficient wrestlers in the entire industry.<\/p>\n

    From his independent career in Ring of Honor, PWG and more, to spending several years as a popular star in WWE, the man dubbed "Swiss Superman" and former ROH World Champion is now at home in AEW, while also performing for the ROH brand – both owned by Premier League club Fulham's Director of Football Tony Khan.<\/p>\n

    And as tickets are now on sale for AEW's return to Wembley Stadium next year, Daily Star Wrestling's Danny Stone sat down with Castagnoli for an in-depth Q&A.<\/p>\n

    READ MORE: 'I didn't think I'd be alive, but now I'm wrestling at Wembley,' says AEW star Saraya <\/b><\/p>\n

    For more AEW content, click here. <\/b><\/p>\n

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    Tickets for AEW\u2019s second major Wembley show are now on sale. What are your expectations for it \u2013 how will it match last year\u2019s event?<\/b><\/p>\n

    "Well, last year, it was record breaking. Right? And to me, if it just comes close, it will be a success. But to me, also, just being able to come back is a success. I think they announced a couple of days ago, that they're going to change the setup a bit. So, it's going to be a bigger setup, a bigger spectacle, which is great. For me, to make this a yearly destination, that is the goal. What made last year so special was the fans, so, I hope they come back in droves because it was awesome."<\/p>\n

    At last year\u2019s show, you fought Eddie Kingstone through the Royal Box, what are your memories of that?<\/b><\/p>\n

    "Well, its something that never happened before. I didn't think, when I started wrestling, when I was wrestling, or even a week before it happened, that I had fighting in the Royal Box at Wembley on my bingo card! But when there was a chance, I hopped right on it because it's one of those things that, when you look back, it's such a cool story. It's such a cool thing to talk about. There were me and Eddie, fighting right by the Royal seats!<\/p>\n

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      WWE legend Hulk Hogan can't straighten his arms anymore as he admits 'everything hurts'<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      "They were right there! We were right on top of them! Looking out at the crowd and seeing the results, it was just amazing. I couldn\u2019t to the swing in the Royal Box though. There were obviously limitations on what you can and cant do in the royal box, and you know, we set up a little area. But in my mind, I was thinking, as cool as it would be to do the swing there, I want to do it in front of 80,000 people.<\/p>\n

      People know you by the names Claudio or Cesaro but did you have any other names suggested to you, or turn any down?<\/b><\/p>\n

      "When I first started WWE, they wanted to change my name, obviously. I gave them a list <\/b> of four first names and four last names and it was like just mix and match. Antonio Cesaro came back and then I list the Antonio, so that was that. There were some other names on there, but they were all kind of in like a similar vein because like I felt like similar to like what my real name is. Kind of like Italian, so playing with that theme."<\/p>\n

      You mentioned the swing before. Have you got any swing stories, people reacting badly to it, for example. Do you happen to know your record number of swings?<\/b><\/p>\n

      "Well, on the independents, back in the day, the crowd counted to 100. It was against Grizzly Redwood who was a smaller guy. People react differently. Brodie Lee hated it. He would curse at me the whole time, he hated it! There's still people that absolutely hate it but there are people that quite enjoy it. There was a match that I had with Curtis Axel. We wrestled in Australia on a tour, and the first night he got super dizzy.<\/p>\n

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