Backstage Reasoning Behind Cesaro Not Claiming Intercontinental Championship

Back when Big E was Intercontinental Champion, heading into “Extreme Rules,” WWE had a massive tournament on “Monday Night Raw” in order to determine the new number-one contender for the title. Bad News Barrett ended up winning the tournament, and would go on to become the new Intercontinental Champion.

At one point, Cesaro was penciled in as the man to win the tournament and challenge Big E. However, as seen on “Monday Night Raw,” Cesaro lost to Rob Van Dam in the semifinals of the tournament, thanks to Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter has recently shed some light on why WWE changed its original plans, mentioning that WWE also once wanted Cesaro to take the title off of Bad News Barrett.

The newsletter noted that WWE put Cesaro in a program with United States Champion Sheamus because the company felt that by just going for the Intercontinental Championship, could hurt Cesaro.

Instead, on Sunday, June 1, Cesaro will go for another mid-card title in the United States Championship at “Payback.”

Editor’s Note

WWE logic in a nutshell. The company reportedly claims that going for the IC title will hurt Cesaro. However, going for the almighty, often defended US title is A-ok. I really hope this does not mean that Cesaro will win the US title at “Payback.” If he does, that could really hurt him down the road, like it did during his first run with it.