Cesaro

Claudio Castagnoli (born December 27, 1980), better known by his ring name Cesaro (shortened from Antonio Cesaro, used in previous WWE years), is a Swiss professional wrestler who is currently signed to WWE. He was previously known for his work in Ring of Honor (ROH), various independent promotions, and the Japan-based Pro Wrestling Noah.

Castagnoli is an accomplished tag team wrestler, being a two-time ROH World Tag Team Champion with his partner Chris Hero as The Kings of Wrestling (where their 364-day reign as champions was the longest in company history), one-time WWE Tag Team Champion with his partner Tyson Kidd, as well various independent tag team titles both with Hero and with Ares as Swiss Money Holding, such as the Chikara Campeonatos de Parejas, the JCW Tag Team Championship and the CZW World Tag Team Championship. Castagnoli and Hero were voted as the 2010 Tag Team of the Year by Wrestling Observer Newsletter readers. He has also had success as a singles wrestler, having won the WWE United States Championship and the inaugural André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania XXX along with numerous independent singles titles, most notably the PWG World Championship.

Particularly in the United States, Castagnoli has been known to emphasize his European origin as part of his wrestling gimmick, proclaiming a superior intellect and fashion sensibility, and by regularly using the European uppercut.

WWE (2015-present)
Cesaro entered the King of the Ring tournament representing the SmackDown brand. He defeated Sami Zayn in the opening round of the tournament, and would then defeat Roman Reigns in the quarter-finals. At the King of the Ring (2015) pay-per-view, Cesaro defeated CM Punk in the semi-finals, and would later defeat Luke Harper in the finals to be crowned king and number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship.

Cesaro would defeat champion Dean Ambrose at Night of Champions (2015) to claim the title. The championship was unified with the WWE Championship at WrestleMania, with Cesaro losing to WWE Champion Sheamus.

Championships and accomplishments

 * World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 * King of the Ring 2015