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Claudio Castagnoli, fka Cesaro, Makes AEW Debut

Former WWE star Cesaro (now going by his real name Claudio Castagnoli) has arrived in AEW, making his surprise debut at Forbidden Door on Sunday night.

The 41-year-old Castagnoli debuted for AEW by defeating NJPW’s Zack Sabre Jr. at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view. Castagnoli was Bryan Danielson’s “hand-picked” replacement for the match after Danielson had to pull out of Forbidden Door due to an undisclosed injury.

Danielson announced last week that he wasn’t cleared to compete at Forbidden Door, but he promised that he had found the one person he trusted to take his place against Sabre.