‘I Could Main Event WrestleMania With Him’ – Paul Heyman Recalls John Cena Praising Cesaro To Vince McMahon, Addresses Why On-Screen Partnership Failed

WWE

With a number of WWE stars in the “Paul Heyman guy” category, the advocate has addressed failed relationships with Curtis Axel and Cesaro.

In 2013, Paul Heyman managed both Brock Lesnar and CM Punk, with Curtis Axel being added to the portfolio later that year.

For Axel, the relationship wouldn’t work out as planned, with Heyman sharing an insight into its shortcomings while speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet.

Asked about the original plans involved Axel and why it didn’t work, Heyman responded:

“Because I don’t think it was meant to work out. I don’t think there was ever an overall grand scheme to move Curtis Axel all the way up the ladder. Curtis Axel filled the need for there to be people around me to feed to CM Punk at the time, it’s the same thing that happened with Cesaro.”

Heyman would then take a more in-depth look at Cesaro, including John Cena’s desire to main event WrestleMania with the star now known as Claudio Castagnoli in AEW, stating:

“You look at Cesaro, and he checked, especially at that moment in time, he checked every box to become a top star. Everyone who got into the ring with him came back into Gorilla, saying, ‘Give me him.’ Everyone.

“I remember John Cena worked with him on television and came back and looked at Vince and said, ‘I could main event WrestleMania with him.’ And probably could have, and should have.

“Cesaro was placed in that position the day after Brock Lesnar conquered The Streak, so that when Brock took his hiatus, I had an excuse to be on television to say my client Brock Lesnar conquered The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at WrestleMania, and you needed an excuse to have me out there on television, and if you put me on commentary, I can’t say it for two or three hours, I have to say it with impact once a week, just drill that into your head, reinforcement, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition. So Cesaro became the excuse to see me say the line.”

Turning his attention back to Axel, Heyman described the star as being cast a “generic Paul Heyman guy” despite his potential, explaining:

“Curtis Axel was cast as Paul Heyman guy, generic Paul Heyman guy. You may as well have put a mask on him and call him the Mad Russian, Mr. X, the assassin, the punk destroyer, so that we could feed the babyface CM Punk, and that’s a shame for Curtis Axel, because he had a lot more to offer, but he delivered in those matches with Punk, and that was the assignment, and once that assignment was over, there was no plan to propel him further, and he didn’t have the cache to go in and pitch for something that would continue the momentum coming out of that program.”

Signed to WWE in 2007, the son of “Mr Perfect” Curt Hennig would be introduced as Michael McGillicutty before being repackaged as Curtis Axel, remaining with the company until his release in April 2020. A brief return would see the star as a producer from April 2022, only to be released for a second time three months later.

John Cena Vs. Cesaro At WWE WrestleMania?

During their time together in WWE, John Cena and Cesaro faced each other in singles action a number of times between Tribute at the Troops in 2012 and their final match in February 2018.

While it’s difficult to pin down specifically when Cena had suggested he could main event WrestleMania with Cesaro, the pair would compete a number of times on WWE Raw.

Two televised encounters took place in mid-2015, with the WWE United States Championship on the line and Cesaro winning by DQ on June 29, only for the Cena to be victorious in the rematch on July 7.

The pair would never face each other in singles action on a WWE PLE, although John Cena was able to capture the World Heavyweight Championship in June 2014 at Money in the Bank in a Ladder Match that also featured Alberto Del Rio, Bray Wyatt, Kane, Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, and Sheamus.

An earlier PLE encounter in February would see Randy Orton retain the World Heavyweight Championship at Elimination Chamber against Cesaro, Cena, Sheamus, Christian, and Daniel Bryan.

The idea of Cena vs. Cesaro as the main event of WrestleMania would suggest that a championship would be involved, yet it wouldn’t come to fruition, leaving it another match that never happened. With Cena now very much retired as an in-ring star and still signed to WWE, and Castagnoli now over in AEW, it’s an encounter that is unlikely to take place.

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• wwe
• paul heyman
• John Cena
• Cesaro
• curtis axel
• Claudio Castagnoli

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