Mick Foley On Cesaro: "WWE's Loss Is The Wrestling World's Gain"

After 11 years in WWE, Cesaro (Claudio Castagnoli) departed the company last week after he and WWE failed to agree to terms on a new contract. Cesaro reportedly wasn't looking to leave Vince McMahon's organisation but WWE "made an offer he didn't like."

The wrestling world has reacted to Cesaro's departure, including Mick Foley, and the WWE Hall Of Famer noted on his YouTube channel that he thinks WWE's loss is everyone else's gain.

"I'm really disappointed because I had been one of Cesaro's biggest proponents for a long time ever since I saw him working in the independents in the early 2000s. I saw him in Ring of Honor, 2005 or 2006. Man, Vince McMahon just never saw in him what I saw and what so many of you saw, which was a world champion. But in this case, I feel like WWE's loss is the wrestling world's gain. Because this guy, Cesaro, can work anywhere in the world," Foley began.

"While AEW would obviously be a great destination for him, I'd love to see him just venture out [and] just work everywhere, because he's one of those guys who can work any style with anyone and tear it down, have a great match. And I know when I left big companies in the past, I felt like the weight of the world was off my shoulders, and I could spread my wings and fly. And I'm pretty sure that's how Cesaro feels right now. One of the greatest workers of this generation.

"And man, I just hate the idea that he gets branded as a guy that doesn't have whatever it is when so many of us see it in him. Why not give him a run just to see what would happen. I mean, he's come up big every time he's been handed the ball. He's run with it as far as he can until he's asked to hand it back. What a great pleasure it was to work with him when I was the Raw GM. I think the stuff I did with him and Sheamus was my favourite stuff. Man, I love putting those guys together and I remember going to him and explaining to him why he'd been picked so low in the draft. I said even if it's fictional, in my mind, there has to be a reason and the reason is that your shoulder is a question mark. I said otherwise, it's almost ludicrous that you were picked so low in the draft. And when I say low, I mean a high number that he should have been in the top five, top 10 minimum," he continued.

"So this is a guy who should be a world champion, who will be a world champion. And like I said, WWE's loss is going to be professional wrestling's gain because this guy is going to do great things. A class act, a great wrestler, and a bigger loss to WWE than they realise.

"But in the end, I think we're all going to benefit because we're going to get to see what this guy can do when the restraints are off. Wishing him the best of luck. I guess he'll be Claudio Castagnoli again. And under whatever name he chooses, he's gonna tear it down. At 41, he's in phenomenal shape. He can work another five, six years, 10 years if he wants. What a great athlete. What a great representative of our business. He speaks the five languages, man he can wrestle anywhere in the world. I just want to reiterate. This is not the end for Cesaro. In some ways, it's just the beginning. Have a nice day."

H/T to WrestlingNews.co