Cesaro either signed or verbally agreed to a new WWE contract a few weeks ago, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
The Observer says that Cesaro was supposed to be in Shinsuke Nakamura’s spot in the gauntlet match on the January 8 SmackDown, where Nakamura got to the end, but was screwed. That was originally pitched by Daniel Bryan – who is on the WWE creative team – as a star-making spot for Cesaro to give him a push. But Cesaro hadn’t signed a new contract yet, so WWE put Nakamura in the spot instead.
The Observer also noted that since Nakamura wasn’t originally planned for the gauntlet match spot, there are no current plans to give him a big push coming out of it. Nakamura has reportedly been told that “his role is to make new stars.”
Cesaro first signed with WWE in 2011 and made his main roster debut on the April 20, 2012 SmackDown.