Claudio Castagnoli Comments On Joining AEW

Wrestling fans across the world were delighted by the news of Claudio Castagnoli becoming All Elite. The former WWE superstar, formerly known as Cesaro, appeared as the mystery opponent for Zack Sabre Jr. at the first-ever co-promoted AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view, replacing Bryan Danielson in the match, who confirmed he wouldn't be medically cleared for the event on the 6/22 episode of "AEW Dynamite."

Castagnoli also picked up his first win outside of WWE since 2011, starting his AEW journey off with a big victory over the NJPW star. During the post-show media scrum, Castagnoli described what joining AEW in this scenario meant to him.

"Sometimes the stars align for a perfect moment," Claudio said. "It's what happened tonight. I hope [Bryan Danielson's] alright, I know Bryan will be back. It's just a perfect fit, I just talked to [Jon Moxley] and we've been going back 10-12 years, a long time. We used to ride together, work out together and we still do and we talk. It just fits yanno and at the end of the day, I'm always looking for new challenges and here in AEW, it's like I'm a kid in a candy store.

After defeating Sabre Jr, Castagnoli made another appearance on the PPV, assisting the Blackpool Combat Club, Eddie Kingston, and Santana and Ortiz in fending off the "Jericho Appreciation Society" to close the show.

To add to his already amazing debut for AEW, newly crowned interim AEW World Champion Jon Moxley put over Castagnoli huge after the show went off the air. The champ called him "one of the best professional wrestlers in the world," while also taking a shot at his former employer in WWE.

Castagnoli's next appearance for AEW will come this Wednesday when he takes Danielson's spot inside "Blood and Guts" on AEW Dynamite from Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

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