It was a weird feeling to see Claudio Castagnoli debut in AEW at Forbidden Door, not a bad feeling, it was just different from the debuts we’re used to seeing when a wrestler becomes All Elite. It was quite rushed due to the injuries sustained by Bryan Danielson but we got the man formerly known as Cesaro going up against Zack Sabre Jr in a technical masterclass.
It was revealed the replacement would be the newest member of the Blackpool Combat Club which kind of gave away that Claudio would be the man, due to his relationship with all members, except for Wheeler. But, despite not that much build to the debut, Claudio and the BCC go hand in hand for many reasons.
What Are The Reasons Behind Claudio Castagnoli Being A Perfect Fit For BCC?
The first reason is the style of wrestling all members use, extremely technical. Incredible use of holds to cause the most pain on their opponents as possible, as well as using the stiffest of strikes. And when you’re synonymous with the uppercut, you’re fitting in like a puzzle piece. The even better thing about the styles is they are all the same but they are all different; Wheeler is a high flyer, Moxley is frantic, Danielson is more submission-based, and Claudio is more power based. Which, gives the group such a different look compared to other groups based on a style, like Diamond Mine in NXT.
Another reason, possibly the most important one, is William Regal. One of the absolute best talkers in wrestling history, something Claudio really needs. He’s not a bad promo, it’s just something he hasn’t worked on that much. He’s also never really had to except at the beginning of his WWE run where he was the man who spoke many languages. Since then, he’s had partners or managers to talk for him; Heyman, Colter, Tyson Kidd, Sheamus, and so on. Regal can do all the talking for him, whilst Claudio does his thing inside the squared circle and put a hurting on his opponents.
Thirdly, the dynamic of the group. Two main eventers in Danielson and Moxley with an up-and-comer in Yuta. But, all three men can work in a tag team, something Claudio is a bit of a specialist in. If AEW did go down the route of all men in the BCC holding titles, you could have; Moxley with the AEW World Championship, Yuta with the TNT Championship, and then Claudio and Danielson with the AEW Tag Team Championships. But you could also swap Danielson out with Moxley or with Yuta because there is a huge chance that Danielson will be the top dog at some point in his AEW career.
Having Claudio team with Yuta and be the more experienced member would give us some great matches and give Yuta an even better learning tree. Being that close to a man who held tag gold seven times in WWE, two times in ROH, and even more, throughout the indies would help the young Yuta Wheeler.
The final point isn’t strictly to do with him being in the Blackpool Combat Club, more him being in AEW; the dream matches. The strong style type of matches he can have against the likes of Kyle O’Reilly, Malakai Black, and so forth. The big man slapping meat matches against Wardlow, The Butcher, and Keith Lee. Give me a 30-minute showcase of Claudio and The Butcher just knocking a big of s**t out of each other PLEASE.
I don’t see Claudio ever holding the world title, which is a shame because he has truly deserved to hold the top prize of a company in his career. But I see him being such a showcase in AEW and putting on banger after banger. He pulled a banger out of Jake Hager last week on Dynamite, that’s not to say Hager isn’t good, he just hasn’t been as good as he can be in AEW. I, like many other wrestling fans, can’t wait to see who he uppercuts and what Claudio does in AEW.
