All Elite Wrestling’s Claudio Castagnoli is a world-renowned, championship-caliber wrestler. His European Uppercuts and iconic Giant Swing maneuvers have helped make him one of the most popular wrestlers on the promotion’s roster. But while the fans usually only see one side of this Swiss Superman in the ring, there’s a whole lot more to him than just being one of the best technical wrestlers in the world. 

Castagnoli made a public appearance at Prudential Center over the weekend, during the New Jersey Devils-Pittsburgh Penguins game, to hype up AEW’s Full Gear PPV, which will emanate from the arena on Saturday, November 22nd, starting at 7pm(ET). So, we caught up with Castagnoli to discuss several topics, including his appreciation for Swiss hockey players and the Devils.

*Editor’s Note: Questions and Answers have been lightly edited for clarity.

Q: What do you know about the Devils, and are you a big fan of the team?

Castagnoli: “I obviously know they have the most Swiss players in The NHL. They have Nico (Hischier), whom I’ve followed. I mean, he was (the) first number one draft pick from Switzerland. People always ask me, ‘Which team do you follow?’ And I always say, ‘I follow all the Swiss players.’ It’s really cool to come here and actually meet them: him, Jonas (Siegenthaler) and Timo (Meier) in person, because they’re actually the first Swiss professional players whom I’ve met. So, it’s been really cool.”

Q: Do Nico, Jonas, and Timo follow you and other Swiss Pro Wrestlers as much as you follow them?

Castagnoli: “Yeah, I think it’s that connection, (being) from the same country. And it’s fun, because it’s worlds that usually don’t meet because they’re extremely busy and I’m fairly busy as well. So it’s cool to have a little bit of time to just say hello and see what they’re up to and what they’re doing.”

Q: Which sport would you say is more physically demanding: Hockey or Wrestling?

Castagnoli: “I would say hockey, but that’s just because I don’t know what all goes into hockey. It just looks like a lot of physical demand. Wrestling’s definitely, I would say, more physical than people expect. I was just talking to them (the Devils) about how we have no off-season, which they do, but they also have a lot of games. So, I think both are very taxing, in maybe different ways.”

Q: Did you try to teach Nico, Jonas and Timo how to fight using your patented European Uppercuts?

Castagnoli: “I feel like a lot of the fighting in hockey involves European Uppercuts, ’cause it’s very handy to get underneath that jersey. So, I feel like they have it under control and it just shows the passion that the players have for the team, for their teammates and for the game.”

Q: Did you ever attempt to play hockey when you were younger?

Castagnoli: “Yeah. When I was younger, we used to go and play hockey on the weekends at the hockey rink.”

Q: Ice hockey or roller hockey?

Castagnoli: “I actually did both when I was younger.”

Q: What position did you play?

Castagnoli: “We just played. I never made it to that level where there were positions or played for a club or anything. We just played for fun.”

Q: Did you ever get stuck being the goaltender?

Castagnoli: “No. I never did. I don’t think I would have fared that well.”

Q: Are any of your fellow Death Riders fans of hockey and the Devils?

Castagnoli: “There’s definitely hockey fans in the group. Wheeler Yuta is a huge Philadelphia guy, so he’s a Flyers fan. So I’m gonna have to talk some crap to him.”

Q: With New Jersey and Philadelphia being rivals, are you able to work well with him under those conditions?

Castagnoli: “That’s just the one thing we don’t talk about.”

Q: With Full Gear coming up in two weeks and it being a tentpole event for AEW, what are you most looking forward to for this year’s iteration? 

Castagnoli: “You don’t really know what’s gonna happen, but it will always deliver. We have so much talent that you can just essentially throw a dart at the lineup and it will produce a great match. I feel like this show has been shaping up really well with, for example, (Samoa) Joe vs ‘Hangman’ (Adam Page) and what the Death Riders are doing. So I’m very excited to bring some death riding to Full Gear.”

Q: What is it about New Jersey that allows it to have such a rich history of professional wrestling?

Castagnoli: “New Jersey has a long wrestling history. A lot of independent promotions. But there’s a lot of demand for wrestling. I feel like there’s a lot of people who grew up watching wrestling, people who enjoy watching wrestling, because it’s that kind of gritty, real reflection of what happens in real life, where you can just go and have a good time and switch off for a couple of hours and enjoy some wrestling with your friends. I feel that’s kind of the spirit of New Jersey.”

Q: Last question, it may be a little cliché, but if you could choose any active wrestler to have a match with, who would it be and why? 

Castagnoli: “Oh man, I’m really not good at these questions because whatever I answer, somebody else comes to mind two seconds later…I pick Místico…Hopefully, (I’m) making it true by saying it out loud.”