Claudio Castagnoli comes to grips with the idea that maybe for him, wrestling isn't a love story.
Claudio Castagnoli has lost two of his three matches in the AEW Continental Classic Tournament. He appeared to take the loss to Brody King on December 2 in stride, but after losing to Eddie Kingston on the December 9 AEW Collision, Castagnoli appeared to be doing some soul searching.
In the post-match interview, Castagnoli channeled Windham Rotunda and acknowledged that wrestling is not a love story.
"Where's my head at? I read this thing a friend of mine said. It's not exactly the way he said it, excuse me, but essentially he said, 'Wrestling is not a love story. It's a fairy tale for masochists.' What if the thing you love doesn't necessarily love you back? What if you put every single ounce of your being into that one thing and somehow it just doesn't turn out the way you think it should, the way you hope it should, the way you imagined it? Look at me. Look at where I've been. Look at what I've done. Look at what I do every single time I step in that ring. Don't listen to my talk. I'm not like everybody else, telling you what I'm going to do, how I'm going to do it, and then afterward, whinging about how it didn't go my way," Claudio said. "No, I let my actions do the talking. If you don't believe me, just look at my body of work. Find one time that I'm not in tip-top shape. That's what I can control. That's what I can do. Find one time you see me in that ring and you don't think, 'Wow.' Yet, here I am, 1-2 when I should be 3-0!
"Do I make excuses? No. That's fine. You just have to realize, that something doesn't love you [and] you don't necessarily have to live it back, but you can still be really, really, really good at it," he added.
Claudio also sent a message to Eddie Kingston saying that perhaps Kingston is learning but now he needs to learn as well and Claudio believes that perhaps he needs to kill the thing he loves in order to survive any longer in the wrestling world.
"Eddie, you might not even remember, but last time, do you remember what you told me? You told me that I left potholes in the road. Yeah, you know what? You're right. Maybe I did, but guess who paved that road? Guess who made that road? Guess who it was, all by himself? Me. If you can't live with a few potholes, well then you're in for a rough life. You beat me the last two times. Good for you. It seems like you're learning. As for me, I have to learn as well. Maybe, just maybe you have to kill the thing that you love in order to survive."
EXCLUSIVE: What’s going on in @ClaudioCSRO’s mind, after his #AEWContinentalClassic Blue League match with #EddieKingston on #AEWCollision? pic.twitter.com/s0IrIjab9D
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) December 11, 2023
Fans can check out the updated standings for the Continental Classic Tournament here.
Check out our live coverage of the December 9 AEW Collision here. Also, check out our review podcast on YouTube.
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