Christian Cage - Was It Worth The Risk?
Posted by TWV Guest Columnists
on 10/24/2006
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Guest Column By Russell Broomhall
It was around a year ago that Jason 'Christian' Reso made a career changing decision. Fed up with his position in WWE, which had been at about the same mid card level ever since he split from Edge four years earlier, Captain Charisma decided not to sign a new contract with WWE and instead, as a free agent, decided to try his luck in TNA.
This story made big news at the time; although some fans had felt that TNA possessed a superior in ring product to WWE (that being said, WrestleMania 21 and Vengeance 2005, were two of the best Pay Per Views ever), no wrestler with the name value of Christian had willingly traded in the security of three year WWE contract for the uncertainty which working only a few shows a month held in TNA. Sure other ex-WWE wrestlers could now be found working for TNA, but the likes of the Dudley Boyz and Rhino were released from their contracts by WWE and realistically, TNA was their best bet of continuing to make a decent living from wrestling. While every other ex-WWE worker in TNA has at some point expressed how much they hated working for the Stamford company, you do wonder at times if this is just bitterness on some part of some performers who were unwilling to accept the fact that WWE management had deemed them surplus to requirements.
Feelings were somewhat different when, upon his TNA debut to much fanfare at Genesis on November 13th, the newly named Christian Cage expressed such sentiments. Here was a man who had in effect walked away from his job; a job which given Cage's popularity with the masses and effectiveness at playing both heel and babyface role's on screen, he would more than likely have been able to maintain for many years to come unless he were to step drastically out of line with WWE management. One certainly can't imagine that when WWE went on its talent cull in June/July of 2005, Christian's name was ever mentioned as a possible candidate for release.
So if Christian had a stable job making a not inconsiderable amount of money then why did he chose to leave this behind for the financial uncertainty that was TNA. Simply, he was fed up of being unable to break the glass ceiling in WWE. He had been a three time Intercontinental Champion, but had never been afforded a main event push. This all changed in the Spring/Summer of 2005 when Christian was given a feud against WWE Champion John Cena. Booked to face Cena for the title at Vengeance on June 26th, it looked as if Christian's time had finally come. Then all of a sudden, the match was changed to a Triple Threat match which also featured Chris Jericho. When Christian did the job for Cena after a fantastic match and Jericho was given the extended feud with Cena into Summerslam, maybe Reso saw the writing on the wall for his main event chances in WWE. When he was drafted to the star-starved SmackDown! brand, he may have felt that his chances to main event would increase (and by all rights, they should have). But alas no; Christian was put in mid card feuds over the US Title with Chris Benoit and Booker T. As entertaining as his matches were, it wasn't enough for the Canadian, who was now a WWE veteran of seven years.
So when his contract expired, Christian Cage, as he was now to be called (a ring name he had used on the independent scene early on in his career), took a chance and went to TNA. One year on, was this a considerable gamble or success?
On a professional level, it's hard to say. While his arrival was greeted by TNA fans as a sure sign that the promotion could now compete with the WWE by attracting away a fairly big name superstar and popular act, much like WCW had done in the mid 1990s, their enthusiasm soon waned for Cage after he defeated Jeff Jarrett for the NWA Heavyweight title at Against All Odds in February. At last Christian had reached a level that he felt he wouldn't have been able to had he stayed in WWE; he was a World Champion. His reign would however show why he was never given the chance to headline on a long term basis in WWE.
Some of Christian's supporters will say that his title reign was overshadowed by Jarrett's feud with the returning Sting. This may in part be true. Bringing Sting in only two months after Christian's arrival was bound to have some negative affect on Captain Charisma. Sting, after all, is a much bigger star; having been a six time World Champion, a big reason behind WCWs rise to the top (it was his feud with Hogan which drew a company record PPV buyrate at Starcade 1997), and furthermore, for a generation of wrestling fans my age or similar, Sting was a star when I first started watching wrestling (although it was the bleach blonde hair Sting then, a gimmick I personally would love to see him pull out one last time before he eventually retires). As such, there were some fans that couldn't get enough of Sting's return to action.
However, the initial signs were that Sting wasn't being brought in to undermine Christian. At Final Resolution, the two worked together during their match against Jarrett and Monty Brown and Sting shock Christians hand after the match, and allowed him to face and defeat Jarrett for the title at Against All Odds. After this however, Cage's title reign was not the momentous event that many fans had expected and he returned the title to Jarrett four months later. Maybe Vince saw something that fans around the world didn't, and that was that Christian lacked a certain something which would have made him an effective World Champion. Like Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit before him, Christian was a man who fans were desperate to see become champion; however, when in the position, he failed to deliver the goods. Say what you will, Vince McMahon is the greatest wrestling promoter ever and his decision not to allow Christian the title or a lengthy main event run in WWE is evidence as to why. Vince saw that Christian lacked a little something, that intangible factor, for the top spot, a fact TNA only discovered after putting the belt on him.
Since he dropped the title, Cage has turned heel on Sting and is now feuding with former friend Rhino. Cage still hasn't been pinned in TNA and neither has Samoa Joe, so a feud between the two is maybe in the pipeline. If this does occur, then it will be interesting to see who wins as Joe must surely be the next babyface in line for the TNA Title. Since I am writing this before Bound For Glory, I don't know who won between Jarrett and Sting. If Jarrett wins then surely Joe will be next in line to go for the gold. If Sting wins, at his age, it should only be a caretaker reign. His obvious opponent would be Christian Cage and Cage could win the belt and move onto a feud with Samoa Joe from there. Perhaps the mistake TNA made was giving Cage the belt when he was babyface. Throughout his career, Captain Charisma has always looked and performed better as a heel. Hopefully this fact alone will ensure that title reign number two is a vast improvement on his first.
Christian also angered many of his loyal fans in the UK this past March when he failed to appear as advertised at 1PW All Or Nothing Night Two, with no explanation as to why or any advanced warning for the fans. It was later revealed that Christian was filming a movie in Toronto. When he returned to 1PW in May for Know Your Enemy (both nights this time), he was given a somewhat mixed reception, which included some loud boos. Cage hasn't been seen in Britain's best wrestling promotion since.
While on a professional level, 2006 hasn't provided all the rewards Christian was no doubt hoping for when he left WWE, he maintains that on a personal level he is much happier now that he isn't subject to the same rigorous and punishing travel schedule each week. Free to arrange his own schedule and appear on independent shows as and when he chooses as well as pursue opportunities outside of wrestling, Reso seems a lot happier about the freedom both he himself and his on screen character now enjoy.
While Christian's first year in TNA hasn't had the success he perhaps envisaged with a somewhat unsuccessful first World title reign behind him, he shouldn't be discouraged. While it must have been both pleasing and frustrating for Reso to have seen his friend Adam 'Edge' Copeland transform into a bona fide main event star and two time WWE Champion in 2006 enabling Reso to catch a glimpse of what may have happened to him had in stayed in Stamford, Christian should stick with the choice he made in joining TNA. Returning to WWE may not be a good option if the company's past reputation for treating returning performers who aren't top level stars is anything to go by.
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