Claudio Castagnoli wins the Ring of Honor World Championship

Claudio Castagnoli has never won a singles title in Ring of Honor… until now.

That’s right, the man formerly known as Cesaro traveled up to Lowell, Massachusetts, took the ring opposite Jonathan Gresham with William Regal and Prince Nana surprisingly in each of their corners, and competed in a strong, technical bout against one of the best in the business right now. They exchanged blows, turned holds into other holds, and even after being swung around the ring for what felt like forever, Gresham seemingly had a counter for everything Castagnoli sent his way.

And yet, there’s a reason why Castagnoli is considered one of the best performers in the business, and with the belt on the line, he dug deep into his bag of tricks to counter Gresham’s counters and pull out a few moves that aren’t in his typical move set. Claudio kept composure, wrestled his game, and ultimately worked through multiple holds by “The Octopus” to his foe with a Ricola Bomb for the 1-2-3.

Castagnoli, enjoy the belt, the crowd was clearly behind you.

Though the match did have a happy ending for Gresh, as he maintained the code of honor and left the ring with his head held high, this moment clearly wasn’t about him. No, it was about Castagnoli getting the heavyweight gold that eluded him in both ROH and WWE, and he ran around the ring as the confetti rained down like a kid in a candy store. This was a special moment for ROH, for Castagnoli, and for AEW, as he will return a champion just in time for Fight for the Fallen.