There are few superstars in WWE today who are as regularly underused as Cesaro. The Swiss Superman is one of the best wrestlers in the industry and has picked up wave after wave of fan support during his career. But every time it seems like Cesaro is set to break through to main event status, he stops.
Despite his inability to make it into the top tier of today’s professional wrestling world, Cesaro boasts one of the most impressive resumes in the industry at the moment, including victories over a number of top-tier talents. Here are 10 main eventers who have fallen to the Swiss Cyborg.
10 Randy Orton
The Viper has been a mainstay at the top of WWE for more than a decade. During that time he has faced legends, main eventers, and up-and-comers. Orton's and Cesaro’s paths have crossed a few times over the years, but it was back in 2014 that the Swiss star earned a landmark victory over the third generation superstar.
Orton was riding high as the first WWE World Heavyweight Champion in early 2014, after unifying the WWE and World heavyweight titles at TLC the previous year. On a February edition of Raw, though, The Legend Killer was pinned in a one-on-one contest by Cesaro. He got his revenge later that month at the Elimination Chamber PPV, overcoming the Swiss Superman – along with four others – in the main event.
9 Kofi Kingston
The reigning WWE Champion is enjoying the sort of run which many fans would like to see Cesaro himself enjoy. The pair are no strangers in the ring, having battled back and forth in tag team matches as The Bar (consisting of Cesaro and Sheamus) took on The New Day (Kingston, Xavier Woods and Big E).
But back in 2014, the two went head-to-head in a one-on-one encounter on Smackdown. It was the May 27 edition of the Blue show and Cesaro walked away with the win. The two also competed twice on the 2015 Heatwave Live tour, with Cesaro coming out on top.
8 Alberto Del Rio
There was a time when Alberto Del Rio was one of the top names in WWE. The Mexican legend, who made his name as Dos Caras Jr before heading to WWE, was a multi-time WWE and World Heavyweight Champion.
It was during Del Rio’s less stellar second run with the company, following his departure in 2014 and return in 2015, that the crossed paths with Cesaro. The Swiss Cyborg defeated Del Rio in a match on Smackdown in June 2016.
7 Cody Rhodes
The younger Rhodes brother is now flying high as the corporate face of AEW and one of the new promotion’s biggest stars. His runs with NJPW and ROH, including stints as both ROH and NWA World Champion, show that some stars make a bigger name for themselves outside the bright lights of WWE.
While many believe Cesaro should have trod the same path as Cody, he has stayed with the game’s biggest name for the moment. The two faced off in the squared circle on a December 2013 edition of Smackdown in a match that Cesaro won.
6 Big Show
Cesaro’s incredible displays of almost inhuman strength have made him a favorite in the WWE Universe. His ability to lift and throw opponents significantly bigger than him is one of his calling cards.
The Swiss Superman needed all that power in April 2014, when he faced off with The World’s Largest Athlete on an edition of Smackdown. Big Show’s immense size ended up being no problem for the Swiss powerhouse as Cesaro added Big Show to his list of high-profile victims.
5 Sheamus
In recent years Cesaro and Sheamus have been inseparable, soaring through the tag team ranks as The Bar. But the duo’s partnership spawned from an intense feud which took place throughout the latter half of 2016.
Cesaro and the former WWE Champion clashed over who was the better competitor and were placed in a Best of Seven series to settle the argument. Cesaro walked away with victories on the September 7 edition of Smackdown and the September 12 and 19 editions of Raw. The whole contest ended in a tie when the deciding match ended in a tie.
4 Kevin Owens
The Prizefighter and Cesaro both made their names outside WWE before heading across to “the big time.” But their paths in WWE have not quite matched up. Both have struggled to get the status and recognition which some fans feel they deserve, but Owens does have a Universal Title run to his name.
It was early in 2016 that Owens crossed paths with Cesaro on a May episode of Raw. The Prizefighter had recently lost his Intercontinental Title at Wrestlemania, and Cesaro handed him another defeat that night.
3 Kane
The Big Red Machine has been a mainstay in WWE for decades and has spent most of that time at the top of the card. A perennial challenger to – and thorn in the side of – WWE’s top champions, Kane has held the WWE Title, World Heavyweight Championship, and ECW Championship.
He and Cesaro faced off on the WWE 2015 Heatwave Live Tour and the Swiss Superman used his impressive strength to beat Kane not once, but twice, on both July 11 and 12.
2 Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho has been a star around the world: he made waves when he debuted in the then-WWF from WCW and each time he returned to WWE. Since stopping wrestling with WWE full time, Jericho has been a star in Japan with NJPW and recently won the main event at AEW’s Double Or Nothing PPV.
On a 2016 edition of Raw, Jericho and Cesaro went head-to-head in the squared circle. Y2J was in the midst of his second return to WWE and heading into the upcoming Money In The Bank match, which Cesaro was also competing in. The Swiss Superman beat his foe on the June 6 edition of Raw.
1 Seth Rollins
The reigning and defending Universal Champion. The Kingslayer. The Beastslayer. There are a number of names Seth Rollins goes by today, but you can also add “one of Cesaro’s victims” to that list.
The Kingslayer faced Cesaro on Monday Night Raw in August 2017. A week previously, Rollins had won the Raw Tag Team Titles from The Bar alongside Dean Ambrose. Cesaro gained a measure of revenge on August 28, beating The Architect one-on-one.