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Christian Cage Comments on Decision to Sign with AEW, Getting Support from Edge, Royal Rumble, More

By John Canton • Published 9th March 2021

The big surprise signing at AEW Revolution this past Sunday was Christian Cage. The man that most wrestling fans know just as Christian from his WWE days has signed a multi-year contract with All Elite Wrestling. In his first interview post-AEW Revolution, Christian spoke to another former WWE employee Renee Paquette (Young) on her podcast.

Christian Cage is 47 years old and hasn’t wrestled regularly in seven years. Concussions were the main reason why he retired in WWE. This past January at the WWE Royal Rumble, Christian was a surprise entrant in the match and had a memorable moment where he hugged his best friend Edge, who returned in the 2020 Royal Rumble after nine years away from wrestling. The fact that two lifelong best friends were able to wrestle again in their late 40s after major injuries was pretty cool and a lot of fans wanted to see an Edge & Christian reunion. However, it’s not going to happen now. Christian didn’t have a wrestler contract with WWE, so he was free to negotiate and that’s how ended up in AEW.

By the way, the Christian Cage name is what he used before he was in WWE. When he was in TNA Wrestling for three years from 2005 to 2008 he used the Christian Cage name again. When he went back to WWE, it was just Christian. Now it’s Christian Cage again. If you missed the Christian Cage AEW debut, here’s a short clip.

https://twitter.com/brlive/status/1368767496598282240

Here are some interview highlights from Christian Cage’s chat with Renee Paquette. Thanks to WrestlingInc for most of it and Fightful for some of the transcript.

Christian commented on why he is coming back:

“If I didn’t have the confidence that I would be able to go like I did, I wouldn’t be attempting this. This is something that I take pride in. If I’m involved with something, I’m all in on it. I’m coming back to prove I’m one of the best, in my mind – I hate to say this – to ever do this.”

Christian spoke about how his best friend Edge took the news:

“Well, he was one of the very few people who knew. When I told him what I was thinking, he was very supportive. When you get to that point where you think it’s gone, and then it comes back, it’s like what just happened?”

“When he came back at Royal Rumble from the year previous, he’s always been good at keeping his nerves in check. I’ve never seen him nervous before. And he was super nervous for that Rumble. I was there to lighten the mood. And he kind of did the same for me. It’s just reverse roles. He’s a great sounding board.”

Christian talked about the signing process:

“On Wednesday (March 3), there was nothing signed. It was a shock to me when I heard (Paul Wight’s announcement). Obviously, Tony Khan and I hit it off pretty quick and we felt comfortable enough that we were going to work together.”

“It happened really quick. I wasn’t sure how it was going to go after. All the talks I had were very cordial. Obviously, I’m good friends with you and good friends with your husband, Jon (Moxley). He talked to me and, you know, had his opinions on it, and it kind of made me think, ‘Ok. Maybe I am doing myself a disservice if I don’t at least discover all of my options.’”

“At this final stage of my career, I ended up having a conversation with Tony [Khan], and it just escalated pretty quickly and went very fast. Within a week, it was a done deal.”

Christian explained that he signed with AEW because he thought it was the place for him as a performer while noting that it was nothing against WWE:

“Of course. There’s always that life-altering decision that has a lot of thought going into it. Obviously, I had a lot of time to think about this. What I really needed was the best platform for me to showcase this and where I can help the next generation. That’s kind of what I felt here at AEW. There’s something intriguing about that to me. And I like a challenge. It wasn’t an easy decision, but it wasn’t a hard decision. There’s nothing wrong with WWE and how they do things. I needed this for me at this point.”

Christian spoke about getting cleared to return to the ring:

“So I went up to Pittsburgh after the one [I did] in Tampa. And I went through a five-hour test. I had to do a full 45-minute workout and balance tests. They had me wear these ski goggles on my face, and they were putting lights in my eyes to see my reaction. I saw four different specialists in those five hours. It was very thorough.”

“I had a discussion with that doctor after, and he said the same thing the other doctor in Tampa said. He told me not to go to the ring with any fear or anxiety because I was going to make myself more susceptible. He said, ‘You can’t go in there thinking that you’re going to get hurt. You’re not a greater risk now than you were in your life or in your career. You have to go in there with full confidence that you’re going to be fine.’ I felt that way going into the Rumble. It did not cross my mind once.”

TJR Thoughts: I listened to the podcast. It was good. I’m happy for Christian Cage doing what he wants and I think he’ll be a great veteran addition to the AEW roster. While I would have loved to see him with Edge in WWE again, I don’t blame him for taking the best offer and what he helped was the best thing for him right now. At 47 years old, he may not wrestle for that many more years, but I know he’ll continue to deliver some great action in the ring and strong promos. Best of luck to Christian Cage.

Here’s a clip from their discussion.

If you have Spotify, you can listen to the interview at the link below. It’s also available at other places where you listen to podcasts.