AEW superstar Claudio Castagnoli recently spoke with Steve Fall from NBC Sports Boston, where the Swiss-Superman discussed a number of different topics, including his thoughts on “leveling up” in WWE, and how grateful he is to John Cena. Highlights from the interview are below.
On what he thinks it takes to level up in WWE:
“If I would know the answer, we probably wouldn’t have that discussion, right? [laughs]. It’s just one of those things where, I do not have the answer. There is obviously a lot of speculation going on, but if I would have known, I would have obviously done it. There was a lot of ‘one step forward, two steps back.’ I feel that’s how life is for many people. You just have to keep going and learn from those experiences and make decisions based on that. That’s why I’m where I’m at now and I’m very happy.”
Says he is grateful to John Cena:
“I’m also very grateful for John Cena, sharing the ring with him. The experiences, the amount I learned, and the respect I have for him and I would like to think he has for me. That’s something I built over the past ten years. The same with the fans. I am here and they accepted me.”
How fans know he’s not just an ex-WWE guy:
“I’m not the guy that is the ‘former WWE guy.’ They know I’ve been with Ring of Honor, I’ve been on the Indies. They also know every single time I step in the ring, I always give it 100%, no matter if the match is two minutes or 35 minutes, I want to make it the best match possible. It’s very important to me that it’s authentic. I don’t have an answer to that question, I don’t know if anybody does, but if that journey brought me to where I am today, I am very happy and extremely grateful to have been on that journey and to be here today.”
(H/T and transcribed by Fightful)