Antonio Cesaro

[Matt D]

I think the idea is MOTYC is no longer an acronym but a word pronounced mow-tee-ck

[ohtani's jacket]

 

 

I can understand the idea that a MOTYC should have this, but by definition, a MOTYC is merely a candidate for best match of the year so far. The standard can't help but change all the time because output is not equal in all years. If a three-star match is the best match that has happened so far in a year, that match is a MOTYC because it's a candidate for the best match of the year. I think what you're describing is what you think is needed to produce a great WWE match and I would disagree with you there, and I feel like Cena and Cesaro made that case. It wasn't worked like a pay-per-view main event and didn't have that drama, but it did have the dynamic of a main event wrestler facing a talented midcarder and giving him a decent amount of offense before securing the win in the end. You can say the same about all sorts of Jumbo matches that people praise from the early 90s and don't really consider MOTYCs.

 

If the best match is only three stars, then I would say there hasn't been a MOTYC so far. I guess I prescribe to the old-school mentality that MOTYC means 4 1/2 stars or better. I couldn't see a three star match contending for MOTY no matter how novel it may be, though I'm sure I could convince myself otherwise if I really liked the match.

What happens when there is a year like 2000 (or whenever) where there aren't any ****1/2 matches? Does that mean that there aren't any MOTYCs?

 

If that were the case then you'd have to lower the threshold. If there were nothing below **** then you'd be stretching to come up with a MOTY.

[WingedEagle]

Hell of a job making Zayn tonight. I feel like after that match he could walk out on Raw next week and immediately matter. I think I preferred the Cena match because they actually had me buying that Cesaro could win and the closing stretch was fantastic, but in a vacuum this holds up pretty damn well.

[Loss]

It was really good. It was a little too cute for me at times, specifically all the counters happening on the top rope when Zayn went for the rana, but it was really good overall. I wish they had self-edited a little because some of the great spots won't be as remembered as they should be. They may have done more with a little less action. Still, hard to complain too much about a match at that level.

[Zero]

That was a really fun match. Shocked they opened with that, but I understand they probably wanted it as far as possible from main event. Generico has really great selling.

[dexstar]

If this isn't the right place for this type of post please feel free to delete or move:

 

Where does this Cesaro run of the past few months rank all time? When was the last time a guy had this many great matches in different spots on the card and different roles in such a short span? Honestly, this is kinda reminding me of Stone Cold before he was STONE COLD where you can just feel the momentum and crowd building behind him every time he comes out.

[Dylan Waco]

He's been doing this for over a year.

[dexstar]

For you guys ... I'm thinking of people more like me who weren't catching his non-Raw performances on the regular.

 

Also, I could be completely and totally wrong. Not afraid to take that fall.

[Timbo Slice]

It's not shocking they opened with the match, as WWE's old standby has been that the most important spots are the opening and ending matches.

[Dylan Waco]

For you guys ... I'm thinking of people more like me who weren't catching his non-Raw performances on the regular.

 

Also, I could be completely and totally wrong. Not afraid to take that fall.

 

My point was more that he has been doing exactly what you described for while.

 

Having said that you could argue Christian had a similar run a few years back. Hardy a year before that. Both in ECW. Rey in 09 had a very similar run. In some ways Cesaro's run feels like a bigger deal because his adaptability is incredible and those other guys - while great - are more formulaic in certain ways. But I don't think it's unusual for a WWE guy in this era to have an incredible run like this. What's unusual is the way Cesaro has done it.

[dexstar]

 

For you guys ... I'm thinking of people more like me who weren't catching his non-Raw performances on the regular.

 

Also, I could be completely and totally wrong. Not afraid to take that fall.

 

My point was more that he has been doing exactly what you described for while.

 

Having said that you could argue Christian had a similar run a few years back. Hardy a year before that. Both in ECW. Rey in 09 had a very similar run. In some ways Cesaro's run feels like a bigger deal because his adaptability is incredible and those other guys - while great - are more formulaic in certain ways. But I don't think it's unusual for a WWE guy in this era to have an incredible run like this. What's unusual is the way Cesaro has done it.

 

 

Word. That makes sense.

 

Maybe my comment makes more sense if we focus on the crowd? I feel like Rey was already over during that run so, yes, great matches, but not a huge shift in crowd reaction and expectations. Didn't watch a lot of ECW due to circumstances (wooo WWE Network now) so I won't speak to Christian/Hardy.

 

With Cesaro, right now over the let's arbitrarily cut it off at SummerSlam, he's been having tremendous matches but also getting more and more over with what seems like each passing week, to the point where my non-hardcore friends have been mentioning him. I hate to bring them into this because the worst message board trope is "I have blah blah friends who casually watch and they blah blah" because it's a vague point that can't be applied to anything meaningful, but I have noticed that here.

 

The more I write the more I realize the disconnect that this thread is looking mostly at pure match quality and I'm talking about quality+pops so I'm not really arguing anything relevant, and I'll leave it at this

 

Cesaro Rules.

[Loss]

Has Cesaro had very many showcase matches with main event guys before recently? I think that's the difference as far as people noticing.

[Timbo Slice]

The Sheamus match was on Raw but it was mid-show. When looking through his matches for the WC end of year podcast, I saw that the main event matches were mainly tags. He hadn't gotten a chance with much singles stuff.

[Johnny Sorrow]

I remember when they put him with Swagger and Zeb and folks were wringing their hands and gnashing their teeth about it. Turns out it was the best thing that could have happened for everyone involved. The Zeb / Swagger thing was dead in the water and Cesaro was going nowhere. They took the ball and ran with it and now the Real Americans have been over as fuck, Cesaro's about to burst out, and Swagger is interesting again. You know all the little things like the entrance, the matching jackets with nicknames on them, etc was stuff they came up with, or Dutch came up with, that the office said "Sure whatever" and it all helped and worked. And the big swing was the missing piece. Now that I think about it, I'd guess that being with Dutch constantly is why Cesaro has put it all together and ready to break out. Who better to learn from?

[Superstar Sleeze]

John Cena vs Cesaro w/Real Americans - RAW 2/17/14

 

Much like the Bryan/Cesaro RAW match from 2013, I thought this match was overhyped initially by the commentary I was reading. The difference here was that upon rewatch, Cena and Cesaro lived up to the hype of being one of the best matches on free TV for the year of 2014. It is true testament to both competitors that even though the match was a showcase for Cesaro's strength spots, it never descended into an exhibition. On the surface level, many would attribute that Cesaro's creativity in setting up his own strength spots such as:

 

1. Using a Cena leapfrog (very typical Cena spot) to hit a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Almost never see Cena's leapfrog countered and an excellent transition to Cesaro controlling the match.

 

2. Catching a Cena cross body block into an incredible fallaway slam.

 

3. Reversing the STF into a deadlift gutwrench

 

4. Using an uppercut to block Cena's top rope legdrop to setup his middle rope suplex from the apron.

 

Cesaro really does come off as the Swiss Superman in this match and this is not against Rey Misterio, but against John Cena. It is not just Cena's presence that makes it all that more incredible, but how Cena sets Cesaro up to look amazing. Cena is purposefully wrestling smaller to make Cesaro look larger than life. He tried to match strength and power with Cesaro early, but two mistakes (leapfrog and crashing & burning over the top rope) put him in a bad position as Cesaro is content to lean on him with chinlocks. Cena tries to pull unexpected tricks like the hurricanrana and the cross body block in doing so he magnifies Cesaro's strength. Of course, Cena's most important role in this is to maintain that this is a sporting contest not an exhibition for Cesaro, which could have very easily devolved into with a more mindless performance. Cena was always on Cesaro fighting from underneath and making Cesaro earn every inch. I enjoyed the Giant Swing teases because it gets a rise out of the crowd, but also I see the move as the ultimate grandstanding, hot dog move. He could win with the Neutralizer, but the Giant Swing shows off Cesaro's strength and humiliates Cena. You see that Cesaro's hubris almost costs him twice: STF and a DDT. He finally takes Cena on the Merry Go-Round, but that does not get it done and now it is time for the Neutralizer. This is of course the perfect position for the FU, wait, Cesaro lands on his feet. Wicked Cesaro big boot and WHATTA CLOTHESLINE, MICHAEL, BY CENA! Cena fireman's roll through into a FU for the victory.

Great ending because at the end of the day, Cena can beat Cesaro at his own game because he is still John Cena and power is his game. Cesaro pushed Cena hard, but came up short because he became obsessed with the Giant Swing and not just winning but proving he is The Man. I really liked the champion veteran against hungry up and comer dynamic throughout the match and how Cena was so selfless throughout the match. Selflessness is something I like to see in my heel because it is his job to shine up the heel. Cena walked the perfect tight rope to make Cesaro look like a million bucks, but he himself never lost his luster. Say what you will about Cena the promo or Cena the character (and I have my issues), but inside those ropes, he knows what he is doing. My slight qualms with this match. This match could have benefitted from body part psychology because Cesaro would go for chinlocks, which is fine, but the match could have used a little more spice. Even thought, I liked the ending, Cena did to readily get into the FU position from the Neutralizer. If you look at his selling and body language during his standard comeback (shoulderblocks), you see a man fighting through pain and exhaustion to win. The Cena at the end was a little too fresh. Regardless of these qualms, on the surface, the match showcases Cesaro as a Swiss Superman on the cusp of main event stardom, but if you look closely you see why John Cena is The Man and has been The Man for all these years. ****1/4