"I didn’t do it because I wanted to get onto TV" - Former WWE Superstar details transitional wrestling journey to AEW under Tony Khan's leadership
Claudio Castagnoli opened up about his decision to sign with AEW after his contract with WWE expired earlier this year.
Castagnoli's time in World Wrestling Entertainment did not reach his expected level despite dominant performances in the ring. The 41-year-old had a 11-year stint in the company but had only won the United States Championship during that time as a singles competitor.
His journey under Tony Khan started with a bang as he made his debut at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view as a member of the Blackpool Combat Club. He followed it up with several victories, eventually winning the ROH World Championship by beating Jonathan Gresham.
Speaking on the Chris Van Vliet podcast, Castagnoli stated that his move to All Elite Wrestling was driven by logic. He also professed that his first month in the Jacksonville-based promotion was exceptional.
"When I first went to WWE from Ring of Honor, I didn’t do it because I wanted to get onto TV, for me it was just the logical next step. Ok, I have done a lot in Ring of Honor, what is the next step? Where is the next challenge? Where are the best guys? It was the same thing here, what the next step and the next challenge? And AEW has been awesome, I have had the best first month that I could have dreamt of." (12:38-13:09)
You can watch the video below:
Claudio Castagnoli says AEW had more guys he wanted to wrestle than WWE
The former United States Champion pointed out another reason for his move to AEW.
On the same podcast, Castagnoli professed that All Elite Wrestling had a lot of guys that he wanted to wrestle with and it was certainly more than WWE.
"There was a couple. One of the things was that there’s so many people that I want to be in the ring with at AEW and at Ring of Honor. I’m like man I have matches for the next [few] years that I want to do. While there are still guys in WWE that I want to wrestle, that number is less than at AEW. At my core, I always wanted to improve and get better and have new challenges. (12:01-12:37)
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Claudio Castagnoli competed in the Casino ladder match alongside seven other stars at All Out. MJF, who appeared as a masked Joker, won the match at the pay-per-view.