Gauging Cesaro's Chances of Becoming WWE World Heavyweight Champion

Fans pining to see Cesaro hoist the WWE World Heavyweight Championship have reason to be hopeful.

Despite having so many other Superstars standing in front of him in the line to become champ, The King of Swing's top-notch ring skills and growing popularity give him a good chance of eventually uppercutting his way through the glass ceiling. It's going to take a major change of heart from Vince McMahon, but the sight of Cesaro holding the company's biggest prize is not necessarily limited to daydreams and video games.

This comes despite Cesaro not having the same golden ticket Roman Reigns holds in his fist.

While WWE clearly has plans for Reigns to be on the marquee, the Swiss strongman has been relegated to the midcard for the majority of his career. He doesn't share the magazine-cover looks guys such as Reigns and Randy Orton boast. He isn't particularly strong on the mic either, making it easy to see why WWE would rank Bray Wyatt ahead of him for championship considerations.

And McMahon himself famously said of Cesaro on a podcast with Steve Austin, "He doesn't quite have the charisma, he doesn't have quite the verbal skills." He later added, "At the moment, he lacks 'it.'"

Half a year later, the way WWE is booking Cesaro suggests the Swiss Superman has slowly made McMahon a believer.

He has received major opportunities against top names, from Seth Rollins to John Cena. The powerhouse who pushed Cena to the limit on consecutive editions of Raw is a welcome sight for Cesaro fans. It wasn't just that these were two classics that provided further proof he should be on the company's top tier; he was booked as a mighty force each time.

Cesaro didn't lose the first United States title bout against Cena. It ended in a disqualification thanks to Kevin Owens just when it looked like Cena was in serious danger of losing the belt.

WWE then had the two adversaries compete for more than 30 minutes during the following Raw.

Michael Cole wondered aloud whether the championship would have changed hands if an uppercut Cesaro nailed Cena with had been just a bit higher. And it took an Attitude Adjustment from the top rope to have the drained champ hold on to his title.

Here, WWE seemed to suggest Cesaro was on Cena's level. This was a collision of titans Cena was lucky to win.

On last week's SmackDown, WWE portrayed Cesaro in similar fashion, this time having him nearly upset the current world champ.

WWE didn't feed Cesaro to Rollins. Rather, it made him look like a man the champ couldn't outmuscle. Rollins even thought about fleeing at one point.

In the end, Rollins had to cheat to win. He jammed his finger into Cesaro's eye before taking advantage of a blinded foe.

Not everyone is booked against Rollins and Cena like this. King Barrett and Stardust lost far more handily to Cena. Rollins, meanwhile, had less trouble putting away Dolph Ziggler and Ryback in recent bouts. Cesaro, it seems, is getting treated as if he sits on a tier above those other men.

That was again clear when WWE had Cesaro sit down with Cole and talk about his WWE title aspirations.

In theory, all Superstars should be gunning for that belt, but the lower-level wrestlers don't bring it up. Cesaro did here. McMahon's comments from last year were even brought up during the interview.

Cesaro tells Cole that his response to McMahon doubting him was "Challenge accepted."

The fact that WWE folded this reality into its storyline is a sign of a potential upswing for Cesaro. The same goes for his recent high-profile matches and what looks to be a SummerSlam showdown with Owens, one of the hottest commodities on the roster right now.

In addition, folks within the industry see a championship-filled future for The King of Swing. The support for Cesaro is coming in from all angles. 

When asked during an AMA session on Reddit who he believed was WWE's most underrated talent, Curt Hawkins named Cesaro and said, "Give him that man the ball already and let him run."

Jim Ross wrote on his blog after Cesaro and Cena tore down the house, "Cesaro showed, again, that he's ready for main events on a regular basis with no start and stop involved. Turn Cesaro loose. I'd love to see Cesaro vs. Lesnar someday."

Mick Foley posted on Facebook, "Cesaro would make a great world-champion in ANY era, including the PRESENT WWE era!"

Cena has been in Cesaro's corner for years. As Mike Mooneyham noted in the Post and Courier, Cena said of Cesaro during a European tour nearly two years ago, "This man has the makings of a future champion."

All this points to a future world title reign being a realistic possibility. Still, the man in charge of the whole circus has to start believing in him. He has to be convinced Cesaro has enough charisma and speaking skills to go along with his in-ring mastery. 

Cesaro also has to move past a lengthy list of other contenders, including Reigns, Sheamus, Orton and Brock Lesnar. That won't be easy, but it's far from impossible.

When McMahon starts listening to Ross, Cena and Co., when he starts reading fans' reactions to Cesaro as a sign of them wanting him atop the WWE hierarchy, it will be time to stop imagining Cesaro as champ. It will be a very real sight.