Claudio Castagnoli On Vince McMahon Saying He Didn’t Have “It”

Claudio Castagnoli has discussed former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon’s belief that he didn’t have the ‘it’ factor.

At Death Before Dishonor, AEW star Claudio Castagnoli defeated Jonathan Gresham to capture the ROH World Championship, the first world title of his career.

This came in stark contrast to the decade the Swiss Superman spent in WWE, having only achieved one world championship opportunity during that time. He did, however, capture multiple tag team titles as well as the United States Championship.

During a new interview with Chris Van Vliet on Insight at Starrcast V, Claudio Castagnoli discussed the reasons he was never quite able to reach the top tier of WWE and his belief it was down to Vince McMahon thinking he didn’t have ‘it,’ something Claudio Castagnoli doesn’t agree with:

“I thought he was wrong. Yeah, I feel that charisma comes in very different forms, shapes, and sizes. Not everybody has that over-the-top Ultimate Warrior shaking the ropes and running around crazy, yelling and screaming charisma. Not that I’m sitting here telling you all how awesome my charisma is, but I felt like I had a connection with the fans, with the WWE Universe, whatever you want to call it, in the United States and all over the world.”

“While other people were known for long promos that get translated into many other languages and don’t necessarily come across, mine was about the in-ring work and people can connect with that. It may take a bit longer, but I did connect with the fans and they were behind me. I don’t know if that was not what he was looking for, but the end effect brought me here and you get to see that.”

H/T to Inside The Ropes for the above transcription.