Disco Inferno reveals real reason why Tony Khan is not pushing former WWE star in AEW - "The guy's too smart"
Former WWE star Claudio Castagnoli is a part of the Blackpool Combat Club in AEW. However, the former United States Champion has not been booked in major singles feuds ever since he arrived at All Elite Wrestling.
Castagnoli was also held back from being a main eventer in the Stamford-based promotion. The former Cesaro did have chances to challenge for the world title on a few occasions but was never able to capture it. However, he did have considerable success as a tag team wrestler in WWE and won the tag team titles with different partners like Sheamus, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Tyson Kidd.
Meanwhile, after he arrived in AEW, Castagnoli managed to win the ROH World Championship. But, ever since losing the title, the veteran has been mainly involved in faction feuds along with his Blackpool Combat Club teammates. Speaking on the Keepin' It 100 podcast, Disco Inferno shared why Tony Khan has had difficulty coming up with a character for Claudio Castagnoli in AEW.
He seemed to be of the opinion that Castagnoli speaks five languages and that "the guy's too smart," which is why creative teams always struggle to create a character that is interesting enough for a guy with such a high IQ.
"How do you take a guy that has a high IQ, and can speak five languages, what can we do to use that to make him interesting? And the problem is because the guy's too smart for anybody to really book the guy. The guy speaks five languages and has a high IQ, who's gonna write for a character like that?" questioned Disco Inferno. [2:25 - 2:48]
Don Callis wants former AEW star Claudio Castagnoli in his faction
Don Callis is currently the leader of The Don Callis Family faction consisting of Will Ospreay, Konosuke Takeshita, Kyle Fletcher, and Powerhouse Hobbs. The veteran recently shared his desire to recruit top stars like Claudio Castagnoli, Swerve Strickland, and Orange Cassidy to the group.
Claudio Castagnoli is currently a part of the Blackpool Combat Club alongside Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, and Wheeler Yuta. Speaking on the Battleground Podcast, the AEW veteran said that under his guidance stars like Fletcher and Hobbs have benefitted and continue to do so, and he added he also had his eyes on other stars in the Jacksonville-based promotion.
"So you can imagine what Kyle Fletcher is gonna look like a year from now, after listening to my tutelage. You can imagine what Powerhouse Hobbs is gonna do when he comes back. [Konosuke] Takeshita, who’s probably the best pure athlete in All Elite Wrestling, former Olympic-level decathlete, these are the types of athletes that I recruit. Now, I’m looking at Swerve Strickland, I’m looking at Orange Cassidy, Claudio, and a kid named Zak Knight, who I think is an up-and-comer as well," Don Callis said. [H/T EWrestlingNews]
You can check out his comments in the video below:
The Don Callis Family continues to dominate All Elite Wrestling every single week. It will be interesting to see if Callis manages to recruit some of the big names he mentioned in the future.