| Claudio Castagnoli |
| Claudio Castagnoli
Height: 195 cm (6 ft 5 in) Weight: 105 kg (232 lb) Hometown: Schaffhausen, Switzerland (billed from United Bank of Switzerland) Pro debut: December 24, 2000 Finishing move: Ricola Bomb (Cross-arm sitout powerbomb), Swi$$ Sleeperholding (Modified cobra clutch), The Neutralizer (Grounded Argentine leglock with headscissors) Favorite quote: "Heyyy!" Other aliases: Tenshi Takami, "Double C" Career highlights: wXw World Heavyweight Champion (2), SWF Tag Team Champion (w/Ares), SWF Powerhouse Champion (2), wXw Tag Team Champion (3) (w/Ares), GSW Tag Team Champion (w/Ares), IWA-Switzerland World Heavyweight Champion, CZW Tag Team Champion (w/Chris Hero), CAPW Unified Heavyweight Champion, ROH World Tag Team Champion (w/Chris Hero) Trained by: Chris Hero, Dave Taylor, SigMasta Rappo, Mike Quackenbush, Skayde Castagnoli got his first training in his homeland of Switzerland by fellow Swiss wrestler SigMasta Rappo, and debuted on December 24, 2000 in Essen for the German westside Xtreme wrestling. Castagnoli first used a Japanese gimmick before changing it to a Swiss banker one with Ares, another Swiss wrestler, together known as the Swiss Money Holding. While performing in England, Castagnoli received training from Dave Taylor. Claudio met Chris Hero in Germany. Hero invited the SMH to perform in America. They had matches in IWA-Mid South and CHIKARA and received training from Hero before returning to Europe. A few months later, Castagnoli returned back to USA to wrestle full time while Ares would team up with Marc Roudin as the new Swiss Money Holding in Europe. Castagnoli now wrestles on the American independent circuit, and is a full time worker for CHIKARA and Ring of Honor. Claudio Castagnoli would also make his way to Combat Zone Wrestling, where he would team up with Chris Hero to form the highly successful Kings of Wrestling, and would win the CZW Tag Team Titles. With Hero, Castagnoli won the Tag World Grand Prix 2006 hosted by CHIKARA, becoming one of Los Campeones de Parejas in the process. |
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