“He’s very European.” That is a phrase that is often said of Claudio Castagnoli (who I will be referring to simply as Claudio from now on due to the complexity of his last name).
This phrase is due to the fact that he is from Switzerland. However, there are many other words that would fit in that phrase.
Claudio is also very powerful. Standing at six and a half feet tall, he is what would be considered more of a power moves-based wrestler. Despite this, however, he has the agility to move quickly and the ability to perform top rope moves when needed.
Claudio is also very conceited. He looks down on Americans (and everyone else for that matter) and treats them as if they are his subjects. Now, conceited leaves one to think that Claudio is a heel, and he certainly plays that role well.
Since around January of this year, Claudio has been involved in a feud with Brent Albright. This started over a controversial call in a match. These two wrestlers have put on great match after great match with each other and shown how a feud should be run (*cough* pay attention WWE *cough*).
In the last two singles matches between the two, Claudio has gotten the best of Brent in true heel fashion. In the first of the two matches, Claudio got the pin after rolling Brent up and holding on to the ropes. The ref did not notice the rope hold however, and Claudio was announced the victor anyway.
In the following match, Brent had Claudio locked into one of his finishing holds, the crowbar, and it looked as if Claudio would tap soon. There was outside interference, however, when Ernie Osiris threw a shoe at Brent causing him to break his hold.
While the ref was distracted with Ernie, Claudio delivered a low blow and was able to get the pin. This introduced The Embassy into the feud.
The feud is now dwindling in a way, since more wrestlers have been introduced, including Colt Cabana and the Necro Butcher.
As I mentioned already, Claudio is a power moves-based wrestler. He uses European uppercuts frequently (another reason he’s very European) and even incorporates them into one of his finishers, Swiss Death. In this move he throws the opponent up and then delivers a European uppercut to them.
This usually is followed by his other finisher, The Ricola Bomb. This is a modified powerbomb in which Claudio first crosses the opponent’s arms and then delivers the powerbomb usually pinning them immediately after.
*Fun Fact* Claudio was going to join the WWE but was released before he ever wrestled. He was however featured in backstage segment involving DX. Watch it here. Claudio is the second cop seen. He doesn’t actually do anything but it’s interesting to see him on WWE.
As always thanks for reading and feedback is greatly appreciated.
Ray Bogusz has been promoting RoH a lot lately, and I would like to help. This is the ending to his latest article. I’m giving credit to Ray for this ending and getting me into RoH. Thanks again Ray!
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