#WWEManila: Cesaro on his rivalry with Sheamus, BoLA 2016, and WWE's travel schedule

Continuing his streak from WWE London, Cesaro bested his opponent Sheamus during the opening round of the highly-anticipated WWE Manila last September 9.

The exceptionally-athletic wrestler proved his mettle even with no sleep—a fact he disclosed at a media roundtable before the first WWE house show in the Philippines in seven years.

Cesaro: BOLA, other indy tournaments are the breeding grounds for future stars #WWEManila pic.twitter.com/5SyTbjdeoQ

— Rie Takumi (@rie_takumi) September 9, 2016

In the session, Cesaro discusses how his current rivalry with Sheamus is bringing the focus back on superstars and how tournaments like PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles and the Cruiserweight Classic is breeding new talent.

The Swiss Superman also talks about how he keeps up with the WWE’s grueling travel schedule and the Talking Smack segment between Daniel Bryan and the Miz.

During the draft central program with the WWE Network following the draft, you had a lot to say about being drafted on the last televised round. It’s been about two months since the draft and you’re still on Raw. Do you still feel the same way after the draft and right now?

You know, I was feeling a little bit frustrated that day. I still think Smackdown is a really, really good show—I’m just trying to make Raw the better show. That’s what I’m trying to do right now, I’m making Raw the wrestling show and I think the best of seven between me and Sheamus, that’s the best way to do so because that is just me and Sheamus and it’s about wrestling, and it’s not about the Authority, it’s not about general managers, so I figured we just get a little bit more away from that and back to focusing on the superstars which is done pretty good on Smackdown.

It’s a great rivalry and I’m happy to be on Raw.

BoLA 2016 happened. Did you have time to watch it and if you did, what was your favorite match and if you didn’t, what was your favorite year competing in it?

I don’t think it’s out on DVD yet and unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to go there live. I’ve seen some snippets online, I can’t really say which one my favorite match is because I haven’t seen it completely.

Honestly, I don’t even remember the years the years I was competing in it, but to be (in it) — it was always a very special experience. When I was competing in the independents, there was two tournaments that were big. There was the TPI (Ted Petty Invitational) in NWA South and Battle for Los Angeles for PWG. And Battle for Los Angeles is still going strong; you can see every year there’s new competitors that people discover and WWE is trying to take advantage of that with the Cruiserweight Classic on the WWE Network. You see a lot of guys that are on the indies that are competing on BoLA were actually competing on the Cruiserweight Classic as well. So you can see where the breeding ground for that talent is.

You regularly perform feats of superhuman strength on the show. Can you share your routine?

Oh, I can’t, ‘cause otherwise everybody will be a Swiss Superman. No, to me, the most important part is consistency and dedication. In order to be able to pull off the feats of strength is, just to me, to be able to pull it off in any match at any time—for example, today, we landed after (a) 13-hour travel day so I haven’t slept in 24 hours and I think I ate something and went to the gym because that’s the dedication you need to have to be as good as I am.

Would you be willing to wrestle Samoa Joe even after what happened — the incident with Tyson Kidd and the muscle buster?

Yes — maybe without the muscle buster. There’s a couple of moves outlawed in the WWE, and I think that one maybe be added. But I wrestled Samoa Joe before, and why not again?

Your best out of seven series with Sheamus is extremely interesting because it’s a mix of styles and it’s fascinating to see you two work outside the structure of championships and as you’ve mentioned, the Authority. Do you think that you can win this and in the future, get the WWE Universal Championship?

Uh, yeah, a hundred percent. Anything is possible. I was three to nothing behind. Yesterday—actually, it kind of is today—I won my first match and made it three to one and I think the momentum completely shifted. Now, I’m on a roll and it’s kinda hard to stop me once I get on a roll and with Sheamus, it’s… You know, we’re very evenly matched, I would say we’re around the same height, the same weight, we both come from a different country, we have a very physical style.

On a good night, it can go either way. That’s why the best of seven series is the best way to settle this ‘cause then we can find out who’s the better one, more physically dominant over that period of time. What is very important is to have momentum and he had the momentum from the first match, to the second match, to the third match. I was able to break that momentum. Now I have the momentum and I just don’t think he’s gonna be able to take it away from me.

And then of course, that will give me a championship opportunity and maybe I will sit here with one of these (the belt) as well.

Can you tell us how challenging it is on a daily basis to try and balance the athletic and the entertainment side of wrestling?

Monday night, we had Raw, right? Then Tuesday we flew to London which is about an eight-hour flight overnight. We wrestled that night in London. Then Wednesday morning we flew to Hong Kong, just 13 hours—can’t even think—then we flew here to Manila, we arrived here today at 11:30 in the morning, got to the hotel at 12:30, went to the gym at 1:30 and here at 4 o’clock.

That’s the side that people don’t see. They only see us be on Monday or Tuesday on television. They think, oh, they work one day a week, they have one day of curtain- no! It’s not that easy! Even in just the United States, we have Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday—all WWE events. And when you get home, you maybe have autograph signing, you have interviews, you need to stay in shape.

It is a lifestyle. It’s not just a job, it’s a lifestyle that you have to love. For me, it’s awesome. I love the travel, I love (going) to different countries. This is my first time here in the Philippines and I’m kind of sad because we’re here for, what is it, 14 hours maybe and all we get to see is the hotel and the arena. Wish we get to see a little bit more. That’s the fun of it, but you have to have a knack for it.

What’s your opinion on the divide stemming from the Daniel Bryan segment on Talking Smack? How do you plan to strike a balance between wrestling a safe, injury-free style and at the same time, being able to go out and entertain crowds and to be noticed?

I think there’s a big divide between. It’s not necessarily the styles, I think there’s a big divide between Daniel Bryan and the Miz in the philosophy of how they approach wrestling. If you look at somebody like Daniel Bryan whose been wrestling for years and I’ve known for over 10 years, going independent in Japan and everywhere, that’s his life. While if you look at somebody like the Miz, he did the Real World and he came to wrestling and he does movies and stuff, so it’s like, he approaches it more from the entertainment side while I feel Daniel is probably approaching more from the sports side.

There will always be a clash, but that’s what makes the WWE so interesting—it’s the clash of styles, that’s what makes match-ups. I love Talking Smack, I think it’s a great show, mainly because it’s live and people just get put on the spot and you get something like that.

I think it’s just a difference in philosophy and you know, there’s always that fine line that you have to walk that you wanna be performing at your best every single time you step into the ring. Through my WWE career, on average, I have 200 matches every single year. I’m one of the handful of people that actually wrestle that many matches. To me, that’s why I’m so focused on being in shape because I feel that helps me being able to perform at that level every single time I step into the ring no matter if I had no sleep, doesn’t matter.

It’s the balance you have to find. I figured, over the years, you will see who can separate themselves from the pack ‘cause they’ll be able to go out there and deliver every single time.

How involved are you in crafting the storylines?

There’s a lot of stuff that’s kind of out of our hands. I’ll just leave it at that. But everything you see me do in the ring is what I wanted to have control over and that’s what I’m trying to get the best of ‘cause there’s a lot of stuff...I guess, with everybody’s life, there’s a lot of stuff you have absolutely no control over what happens to you. You just need to take what you have control over and make it the best, and own it.

Is it a challenge in this unique situation to come up with something new to entertain the fans?

No, absolutely not. No match is ever the same. And if you watch—well, please don’t watch all of my stuff back—but if you would, you would see that it’s never the same. I get bored relatively fast, so to speak, so I always try to keep it interesting for myself and everybody else involved.

Plus, to me, wrestling is my creative outlet. If you think about it, it’s probably more of an artist type thing, as if I’m almost like an artist, and I wouldn’t wanna paint the same picture twice. This best of seven series is great. I get the chance to go in the ring and do something different every single night.

On top of that, wherever you go in the world, the fans are different. The fans in London are different than the fans here in Manila than the fans when we come over in Shanghai or on Monday in Baltimore. That’s what we always say- you feed off the WWE Universe. We feed off the WWE Universe, and the feed off us. Whatever they give you, you need to go with that. And that’s the fun part. That’s why we travel all over the world and that’s why the WWE Universe is so passionate.

It was a shocker to see Kevin Owens win the WWE Universal Championship. He works had and he probably deserves it, but will he get that shot? He got that shot. Did that give you faith that someone like yourself who really works hard will get that opportunity as well?

I think that’s two completely different circumstances. Kevin Owens won the NXT championship about a week after he got on NXT. I think it was his first NXT… He won it pretty fast after he debuted on NXT. And he came on the WWE main roster challenging John Cena right away and he won the WWE title within his first year or close to his first year. He’s been extremely successful and he definitely deserves the title.

For me, it’s been a completely different road and I’m hoping that I’ll get to the point where I’m gonna be the WWE Universal Champion. I wanna be the proof that hard work pays off.

Do you consider your win in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royale as your biggest achievement in WWE?

Yes, definitely. Looking back, that’s definitely my biggest achievement. It was in WrestleMania 30 and it was the first ever. My name is always gonna be on the top of that list. So suck it, Big Show and Baron Corbin. 

When Tyson Kidd comes back, do you wanna team up again?

If he comes back, a hundred percent. — AT, GMA News