There are those who say that what he achieved in WWE was short for the qualities he had (and still has), but the Christian Cage’s journey in the company is still very meritorious, having marked an era in the tag team division alongside his friend Edge ‘s childhood before going solo on a journey that would take him to world titles.
Born on November 30, 1973 in Kitchener, in the Canadian province of Ontario, William Jason Reso, by his real name, was already a wrestling fan and an ice hockey player when, at age 10, he moved to a rural location 80 kilometers from Toronto called Orangeville, where he met Edge . Together they made trips to Toronto to see their favorite fighters live and began to pursue a dream that would come true from an early age.
Edge ended up making an early start in training at Ron Hutchison’s Sully’s Gim and in the ring, in 1992. Christian Cage followed in his footsteps nearly three years later. Naturally, both became a tag team on the Canadian independent circuit, under names like High Impact, Suicide Blondes, Revolution X, Hard Impact and Canadian Rockers.
Edge signed with the then-called World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1996, two years before Christian Cage, having in late 1998 formed the stable The Brood together with Gangrel. The following year they parted ways with Gangrel and began to build a path for two that would lead them to the conquest of seven tag team titles and memorable matches involving tables, ladders and/or chairs.
In 2001, the two Canadian friends pursued solo careers, also filled with brilliance and many achievements. Edge was more successful, but Christian Cage proved he wasn’t exactly the ugly duckling of the duo, having won the World Heavyweight Championship (twice), the ECW Championship (twice), the Intercontinental Championship (four), the Hardcore Championship (one), the European Championship (one) and the Light Heavyweight Championship (one). And in addition to the seven tag team titles alongside Edge, he won two more: one with Lance Storm and another with Chris Jericho.
At the same time, he lived some of the best years of his career in TNA, having won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (twice) and the Impact World Championship (once). That’s why it’s worth remembering Christian Cage’s ten best matches in WWE, in chronological order.
Monday Night Raw (September 29, 2003)
Ladder match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship :
Christian (c) vs. Rob Van Dam
Champion since August 10, 2003, when he won the intercontinental title against Booker T at a house show (yes, you read that right!), Christian knew he was going to defend the belt against Rob Van Dam and Chris Jericho in a triple threat match at Unforgiven when a duel between RVD and Y2J to determine the new main contender, on the October 15 episode of Raw, ended in a double disqualification. At the pay-per-view, Christian achieved victory by
laying down Van Dam, who bumped into the belt when he wanted to apply a Five-Star Frog Splash to the champion. On Raw the following night, Christian defended the title against RVD but used the belt to disqualify himself and, after the match, went to get a ladder. However, RVD delivered a Five-Star Frog Splash from the top of the ladder. That same night, co-General Manager Steve Austin announced that the following week, Christian would have to defend the Intercontinental Championship against Rob Van Dam in a ladder match.
Monday Night Raw (May 10, 2004)
Steel Cage Match: Christian vs. Chris Jericho
Armageddon 2003, Christian and Chris Jericho defeated Lita and Trish Stratus in an inter-gender tag team match called “The Battle of the Sexes”. Around that time, Christian and Jericho started romances with Lita and Trish, respectively, and started betting between the two of them who could go to bed first with their love interest, with a Canadian dollar at stake. Despite the bet, Jericho continued his relationship with Trish, which resulted in a falling out between Christian and Y2J. At the 2004 Royal Rumble, Christian was eliminated by Jericho.
The tension between the two led to a match at WrestleMania XX, with Christian prevailing, using a roll-up, after Trish attacked Jericho thinking he was Christian. However, after the match Trish slapped Jericho several times, allowing Christian to unpreitter in Y2J.
However, a handicap match was scheduled for Backlash in which Chris Jericho would face the duo composed of Christian and Trish Stratus. Despite the numerical disadvantage, Y2J came out on top after throwing Christian at Trish and applying Enziguiri to her. The following night, Chris Jericho and Christian clashed in a singles match, with Christian prevailing after interference from newcomer Tyson Tomko, introduced as Christian and Trish Stratus’ problem solver.
In the episodes of Raw that followed, Tomko attacked Jericho. In order to avoid further interference, a Steel Cage match was scheduled between Christian and Chris Jericho for the May 10 episode of Raw.
Unforgiven 2004
Ladder match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship (vacant):
Christian vs. Chris Jericho
On the September 6 episode of Raw, General Manager Eric Bischoff stripped Edge of the Intercontinental Championship after he suffered a groin injury. Christian interrupted Bischoff and said that all his peeps (fans) would go on to riot if Bischoff didn’t give him the vacant title. However, Chris Jericho joined the conversation and suggested that he and Christian fight that night for the belt. Bischoff, however, scored a ladder match between the two for Unforgiven.
ECW (June 2, 2009)
Christian vs. Tyson Kidd
An ECW champion since April 26, when he won the title from Jack Swagger at Backlash, Christian had been scheduled to defend his belt against Swagger and Tommy Dreamer at Extreme Rules. In parallel, he clashed with Tyson Kidd in the final episode of ECW before the pay-per-view.
ECW (October 27, 2009) | ECW Championship:
Christian (c) vs. Yoshi Tatsu
Second ECW champion since beating Tommy Dreamer at Night of Champions on July 16, Christian defended the title against Tommy Dreamer and Zack Ryder on ECW episodes, William Regal at SummerSlam and Breaking Point and Paul Burchill at Bragging Rights.
In parallel, Yoshi Tatsu defeated Zack Ryder on the October 20 episode of ECW to become the main contender for the ECW Championship.
TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs 2009
Ladder match for the ECW Championship:
Christian (c) vs. Shelton Benjamin
The ECW Championship was in a less positive phase, as it had not been defended on pay-per-view since Hell in a Cell in September. On the November 24 episode of ECW’s weekly show, Shelton Benjamin beat Zack Ryder to become the title contender. And Christian, champion since July, stressed that the title was not getting the attention it deserved and that’s why he challenged Benjamin to a Ladder Match on PPV TLC.
Extreme Rules 2011
Ladder match for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship:
Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio
At WrestleMania XXVII, Edge beat Alberto del Rio to win the World Heavyweight Championship and was expected to defend the belt against the Mexican in a ladder match at Extreme Rules.
However, Edge announced on the April 11 episode of Monday Night Raw that he would have to withdraw due to cervical spinal stenosis resulting from a neck injury. The combat logically had to be changed. The title was declared vacant four days later on Friday Night SmackDown and a 20-man battle royal took place to determine who would face Del Rio for the title at Extreme Rules. And it was precisely Edge’s best friend, Christian Cage, who prevailed. At the time, the Canadian was still chasing his first WWE world title.
Over the Limit 2011
World Heavyweight Championship:
Randy Orton (c) vs. Christian
At Extreme Rules 2011, Christian beat Alberto Del Rio in a ladder match to win his first WWE World Title, while Randy Orton defeated CM Punk in a Last Man Standing match at that same event. However, on the following episode of SmackDown, which aired on May 6, the Canadian was defeated by Randy Orton, who thus became the new holder of the World Heavyweight Championship. A week later, it was announced that Christian would invoke his rematch clause against Orton at Over the Limit.
Money in the Bank 2011
World Heavyweight Championship:
Randy Orton (c) vs. Christian
At Over the Limit, Christian was defeated by Randy Orton and failed to regain the World Heavyweight Championship, but on the following episode of SmackDown, he challenged the champion to a new title match. However, Mark Henry and Sheamus interrupted him, prompting General Manager Teddy Long to arrange a match between Christian, Henry and Sheamus to determine the new main candidate. And Sheamus won after the referee failed to see Christian settling into the Irishman due to Orton’s interference. In the episode that followed, Christian asked to be added to the title match, but Teddy Long made him a special guest referee. The Canadian helped Orton retain the title, but soon after he caught the champion with the belt.
The following week, Orton accepted Christian’s challenge to a World Heavyweight Championship match at Capitol Punishment and was defeated by Sheamus in a no disqualification duel, due to interference from Christian, who again hit him with the belt.
On the June 17 episode of SmackDown, Christian defeated Sheamus in a match over the Irishman’s addition to the title match at Capitol Punishment. After the fight, Orton tried to attack Christian, but he ran away, which led the champion to kick Sheamus in the head as a warning to the Canadian.
At Capitol Punishment, Orton achieved victory after an RKO, despite Christian’s foot being under the bottom rope during the grounding, something the referee didn’t see.
On the following episode of SmackDown, Christian demanded another title shot from Teddy Long, but the latter told him he would have to beat Kane. Christian lost the duel with Kane, but by disqualification, after interference from Mark Henry. Then, the General Manager scheduled a tag team match between Christian and Henry’s team and Kane and Orton’s team, with the same stipulation. Christian and Henry emerged victorious, through Henry’s settlement at Orton. But since it was Henry who gave his team the victory, Teddy Long promised Henry a title shot if he beat Orton in a singles match. However, Henry lost the match by countout after Christian distracted him.
All this led to a match between Orton and Christian for the World Heavyweight Championship at Money in the Bank. On the July 8 episode of SmackDown , Christian’s lawyers added the stipulation that if Orton was disqualified or there was bad refereeing, the Canadian would win the title.
SummerSlam 2011
No Holds Barred Match for the World Heavyweight Championship:
Christian (c) vs. Randy Orton
At Money in the Bank, Randy Orton was about to deliver an RKO when he was spat in the face by Christian. Enraged, Orton hit his opponent with a low blow and was disqualified, which made Christian the new champion. After the end of the match, Orton brutally attacked the Canadian, giving him two RKOs at the commentator’s table.
On the July 29 episode of SmackDown , WWE’s new COO, Triple H, announced that Christian would defend the title against Randy Orton in a No Holds Barred match at SummerSlam.