Claudio Castagnoli Makes Bold Claim Ahead of CMLL World Heavyweight Title Defense (Exclusive)

Claudio Castagnoli has widely been regarded as one of the best and most underrated in-ring performers of his generation for years, whether it be his rise on the independent scene, PWG and Ring of Honor or his previous stint with WWE and current run in All Elite Wrestling.

In another career milestone, Castagnoli defeated Gran Guerrero to become the new CMLL World Heavyweight Champion on the November 28 CMLL Super Viernes show in Arena Mexico.

The Death Riders member has proven to be a fighting champion since capturing the gold with successful title defenses against the likes of Roderick Strong, Xelhua and Josh Alexander across CMLL and AEW.

For Claudio, his current reign as CMLL World Heavyweight Champion has been fulfilling due to his past with the promotion dating back nearly 20 years when he couldn't get on the tour in Mexico and now all these years later, he holds the top prize in the company.

"To me, this is a 20 year journey getting to this point," Castagnoli told The Takedown On SI. "I’ve talked about that before. I think it was 2007 going to CMLL offices everyday and trying to get work, trying to get on tour, trying to work for CMLL and unfortunately it didn’t work out."

"And then fast forward to 2025 where I become the CMLL World Heavyweight Champion and that is just a really cool full circle moment for me. And that just means just because something doesn’t happen right away that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen in the future if you keep working on it and believe in it."

Castagnoli feels he's the best to ever hold the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship

Swing — Claudio Castagnoli ran out of time during his shot at Okada's Continental Championship | Lee South - All Elite Wrestling

"I’ve always felt that I always want to test myself against the best and see where I’m at," Claudio said. "And because of that, I’ve always believed that if you want to see how good you are, step in the ring with me. And right now, I feel I’ve proved to everybody that I’m the best CMLL World Heavyweight Champion that maybe there’s ever been."

Now, Castagnoli is preparing for his latest defense against someone he knows very well in the legendary Ultimo Guerrero, who will be making his second challenge against "The Swiss Superman" since he won the title.

Claudio believes that he has angered the CMLL luchadors with his current run with the gold, including Guerrero, especially considering it was Ultimo's brother Gran Guerrero who lost the title to the AEW star.

"That may make some of the luchadors mad," Castagnoli explained. "Look at Ultimo Guerrero, who wants another shot because he feels his family and his home country is being misrepresented or not represented that well, but my response to that would be that your brother had the title for three years and I’ve defended it more in what’s been three, four months."

Despite this animosity, Claudio still admits his excitement for this rematch for the CMLL World Heavyweight Title comes from his own love for Ultimo Guerrero being one of his favorite luchadors of all time.

"Ultimo Guerrero has always been, it’s no secret, he’s my favorite luchador of all time, so I’m looking forward to it."

Claudio Castagnoli is coming off a victory on the March 11 edition of AEW Dynamite where he teamed with his Death Riders stablemate and AEW Continental Champion Jon Moxley to pick up a win over The Don Callis Family's Konosuke Takeshita and Hechicero in tag team action.

Castagnoli will defend the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship against Ultimo Guerrero on the Friday, March 13 edition of CMLL Viernes Espectacular. Fans can watch this show by becoming a member of the CMLL YouTube channel.