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William Jason Reso (born November 30, 1973) is a Canadian
professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...
and actor. He is currently signed to
All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is considered the second largest wrestling promotion in the United States behind WWE. AEW is owned by Shahid Khan and his son Tony, w ...
(AEW) under the
ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...
Christian Cage. He is best known for his tenure in
WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
under the ring name Christian where he performed regularly from 1998 to 2005 and again from 2009 to 2014. He also worked for
Impact Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promot ...
, then known as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), from 2005 to 2008 and during a brief return in 2021. Reso made his debut in 1995. He wrestled in Canadian
independent promotion In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor league for pro wres ...
s early in his career, where he competed in singles and tag team competition with his friend
Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...
. In 1998, he signed a developmental contract with the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF, renamed to WWE in 2002) and made his debut the following year, immediately capturing his first championship in the company, the
WWF Light Heavyweight Championship The WWF Light Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) promotion. The title was challenged by light heavyweights at a maximum weight of 215 lbs (before deactivation, ...
, in his debut match. Edge and Christian formed a tag team and gained notoriety for their participation in Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches. They won the promotion's
World Tag Team Championship The world tag team championship is the name usually given to the primary tag team championships in professional wrestling promotions. Nomenclature The name of the promotion is often preceded to the term "world tag team championship" as the ...
on seven occasions. They are considered one of the major teams that revived tag team wrestling during the
Attitude Era The Attitude Era was a term used by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as World Wrestling Entertainment or WWE) to describe the company's programming from November 9, 1997 to May 6, 2002. It started during the Monday Night Wars, a ...
. The team parted ways in 2001, after which, Christian held various singles titles, including the European Championship, the Hardcore Championship, and the Intercontinental Championship. In 2005, Reso departed WWE and signed with TNA under his Christian Cage ring name, after which, he won the
NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is Tyrus, who is i ...
twice. He left TNA in late 2008 and re-signed with WWE in 2009, where he won the
ECW Championship The ECW World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship originally used in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and later, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was the original world title of the ECW ...
and the World Heavyweight Championship twice each until retiring in 2014 due to concussion issues. He was the twenty-third Triple Crown Champion and eleventh Grand Slam Champion in WWE history. He also headlined multiple
pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...
events between
WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
and TNA, and was one of WWE's most prolific pay-per-view performers. After appearing in the 2021 Royal Rumble match, Reso left WWE shortly after and signed with AEW, again reverting to his Christian Cage moniker, and officially resumed his in-ring wrestling career. Following this, he won the
Impact World Championship The Impact World Championship is a professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world championship created and promoted by Impact Wrestling. It is the promotion's principal championship. Like most professional w ...
at ''
AEW Rampage ''AEW Rampage'', also known as ''Friday Night Rampage'' or simply ''Rampage'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It airs every Friday at 10 p.m. Eastern Time ...
'', making his return to Impact Wrestling for the first time since
Slammiversary 10 Slammiversary 10 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotion, which took place on June 10, 2012 at the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas on the University of Texas ...
in 2012.


Early life

William Jason "Jay" Reso was born in
Kitchener, Ontario ) , image_flag = Flag of Kitchener, Ontario.svg , image_seal = Seal of Kitchener, Canada.svg , image_shield=Coat of arms of Kitchener, Canada.svg , image_blank_emblem = Logo of Kitchener, Ontario.svg , blank_emblem_type = ...
, on November 30, 1973, the son of Canadian mother Carol and American father Randy Reso. He played
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
and was a wrestling fan as a child. He lived in
Huntsville Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...
and East Luther-Grand Valley before moving to Orangeville, where he met Adam "Edge" Copeland, who became his best friend and tag team partner. They attended Orangeville District Secondary School together, from which Reso graduated.


Professional wrestling career


Early career (1994–1998)

In September 1994, Reso enrolled in a wrestling school run by
Ron Hutchison Ron Hutchison (born February 7, 1964) is a retired Canadian professional wrestler, trainer and promoter who competed for Canadian independent promotions such as Grand Prix Wrestling and Maple Leaf Wrestling as well as a brief stint in the World Wr ...
at Sully's Gym. One of his early ring names was Christian Cage, a combination of the names of actors
Christian Slater Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and producer. He made his film debut with a leading role in ''The Legend of Billie Jean'' (1985) and gained wider recognition for his breakthrough role as Jason "J.D." D ...
and
Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gu ...
. Cage's wrestling career began in June 1995 in a match against Zakk Wyld, which resulted in a draw. In 1997, he was a part of Thug Life, a
stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...
that included Joe E. Legend, Zakk Wyld, Rhino Richards, and Copeland (under the name Sexton Hardcastle). As a tag team on the Canadian
independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective noun, collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor lea ...
, Reso and Copeland were known as High Impact and later The Suicide Blondes. The duo held titles in numerous promotions and competed in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. Reso won the
East Coast Wrestling Association East Coast Wrestling Association (ECWA) is an American professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling that has little relationship to ...
(ECWA) Heavyweight Championship on July 18, 1998, which he held until October 15, 1999. When Copeland received a tryout match with the
World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
(WWF), Reso went with him and they faced off in a non-televised tryout match, which Copeland was booked to win. After the tryout, once Copeland was promoted from his developmental status to touring with the WWF, he put in a good word for Reso and got him invited to
Dory Funk, Jr. Dorrance Earnest Funk (born February 3, 1941), known professionally as Dory Funk Jr., is an American retired professional wrestler and wrestling trainer. The son of Dory Funk (Dorrance Wilhelm Funk) and brother of Terry Funk, he was the promote ...
's WWF-affiliated
Funking Conservatory The Funking Conservatory is a professional wrestling school owned by Dory Funk Jr. and established in 1991. It started as a six-day camp, but it later expanded to a three-week program. In 2001, it began running a professional wrestling promotion ...
training camp in 1998. After completing his training at the conservatory, Reso signed a contract with the WWF to become a full-time performer.


World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment


The Brood (1998–1999)

When Reso came to the WWF, he shortened his
ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...
to Christian. Christian made his television debut as a
heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower Human leg, leg. Structure To distribute the compressive for ...
at WWF's pay-per-view event Breakdown: In Your House on September 27, distracting
Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...
during his match against
Owen Hart Owen James Hart (May 7, 1965 – May 23, 1999) was a Canadian-American professional wrestler who worked for several promotions including Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wres ...
to reveal his allegiance to Gangrel. Christian won the
WWF Light Heavyweight Championship The WWF Light Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) promotion. The title was challenged by light heavyweights at a maximum weight of 215 lbs (before deactivation, ...
in his debut match against
Taka Michinoku (born October 26, 1973), better known by his ring name (with his first name usually stylized in all capital letters), is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. Michinoku is known in North America for his work for the ...
at Judgment Day: In Your House on October 18. He lost the title to Gillberg a month later. Christian was given the character of a
vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...
and formed an alliance with Gangrel and Edge, who ( in storyline) was finally persuaded to join what became known as
The Brood ''The Brood'' is a 1979 Canadian psychological body horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg and starring Oliver Reed, Samantha Eggar, and Art Hindle. Its plot follows a man and his mentally ill ex-wife, who has been sequestered b ...
. At Rock Bottom: In Your House on December 13, The Brood defeated The J.O.B. Squad in a six-man tag team match, then they briefly feuded with
The Undertaker Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by the ring name The Undertaker, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway spent the vast majority ...
's
Ministry of Darkness The Ministry of Darkness was a villainous professional wrestling stable in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1999. Led by The Undertaker, the Ministry was a controversial group with pseudo-witchcraft-themed storylines that included rituals ...
and later joining the team, but upon learning that Christian was beaten into telling
Ken Shamrock Kenneth Wayne Shamrock (''né'' Kilpatrick; born February 11, 1964) is an American bare-knuckle boxing promoter and semi-retired professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, and kickboxer. He is best known for his time in Ultimate Fighting Champ ...
the whereabouts of
Stephanie McMahon Stephanie McMahon Levesque (born Stephanie Marie McMahon; ; September 24, 1976) is an American businesswoman and retired professional wrestler. She is the current chairwoman and co-chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the world's largest profe ...
, The Undertaker punished Christian by
flogging Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on ...
him. More loyal to The Brood than to The Ministry, Edge and Gangrel betrayed The Undertaker and rescued Christian from sacrifice.


Tag Team prominence with Edge (1999–2001)

In 1999, Christian and Edge parted ways with Gangrel, who associated himself with
The Hardy Boyz The Hardys, also known as The Hardy Boyz, are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of real-life brothers Matt and Jeff Hardy, who are currently appearing in All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The team is currently inactive due to Jeff ...
(
Jeff Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes * ...
and
Matt Hardy Matthew Moore Hardy (born September 23, 1974) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is best known for his time with WWE. With his real life brother Jeff, Hardy gained notoriety in WWF's tag team d ...
) to form The New Brood. As a result, they began feuding with The Hardy Boyz and competed in a
ladder match A ladder match is a type of match in professional wrestling, most commonly one in which an item (usually a title belt) is hung above the ring, and the winner is the contestant who climbs a ladder and retrieves the item. The ladder itself becom ...
for the managerial services of
Terri Runnels Terri Lynne Boatright Runnels A transcript of the article can be found a (born October 5, 1966) is an American retired professional wrestling manager, television host, and professional wrestler. Runnels began her professional wrestling career i ...
and $100,000 at No Mercy on October 17, which The Hardy Boyz won. At
Survivor Series Survivor Series is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1987 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Held in November generally the week of Thanksgiving, it is the sec ...
on November 14, Edge and Christian and The Hardy Boyz faced
Too Cool Too Cool, originally known as Too Much, was an American professional wrestling tag team and group active in the World Wrestling Federation (later World Wrestling Entertainment) between 1998 and 2001 and for a short time in 2004 and 2014. The group ...
and The Hollys in a four-on-four Survivor Series elimination match, but they lost. At
Armageddon According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...
on December 12, Edge and Christian competed in an eight-team battle royal which was won by The Acolytes. At the
Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle roya ...
on January 23, 2000, Christian competed in the
Royal Rumble match The Royal Rumble match is a professional wrestling match based on the classic Battle Royal match in which a number of wrestlers (traditionally 30) aim at eliminating their competitors by tossing them over the top rope, with both feet touching the ...
, but he was eliminated by Rikishi. At No Way Out on February 27, Edge and Christian defeated The Hardy Boyz in a tag team match to determine the number one contenders to the WWF Tag Team Championship. At
WrestleMania 2000 WrestleMania 2000 (sequentially known as WrestleMania 16) was the 16th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) List of WWE pay-per-view events, event produced by the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took p ...
on April 2, Edge and Christian defeated The Hardy Boyz and
The Dudley Boyz The Dudley Boyz (also known as Team 3D) are an American professional wrestling tag team that consisted of kayfabe half-brothers Bubba Ray Dudley (Mark LoMonaco) and D-Von Dudley (Devon Hughes). The team was also joined by various Dudley family me ...
(
Bubba Ray Dudley Mark LoMonaco (born July 14, 1971) is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and Impact Wrestling under the ring name Bully Ray. He was previously known as one-half of The Dudley Boyz tag t ...
and
D-Von Dudley Devon Hughes (born August 1, 1972) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he works backstage as a producer. Hughes wrestled for Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) from 1995 to 1999 and for the WWF/E f ...
) to win their first
WWF Tag Team Championship The World Tag Team Championship was the original professional wrestling world tag team championship in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) promotion, and the promotion's third tag team championship overall. Originally established by the then- ...
in a
triangle A triangle is a polygon with three Edge (geometry), edges and three Vertex (geometry), vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, an ...
ladder match A ladder match is a type of match in professional wrestling, most commonly one in which an item (usually a title belt) is hung above the ring, and the winner is the contestant who climbs a ladder and retrieves the item. The ladder itself becom ...
, which ultimately led to the creation of the Tables, Ladders and Chairs (TLC) match. At
Backlash Backlash may refer to: Literature * '' Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women'', a 1991 book by Susan Faludi * ''Backlash'' (Star Wars novel), a 2010 novel by Aaron Allston * Backlash (Marc Slayton), comic book character * ''Backla ...
on April 30, Edge and Christian defeated
Road Dogg Brian Girard James (born May 20, 1969) is an American professional wrestler currently signed with the WWE where he serves as the Senior Vice President of Live Events. James was best known for his initial tenure with World Wrestling Federation ( ...
and
X-Pac Sean Michael Waltman (born July 13, 1972) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is best known for his appearances for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) under the ring names 1–2–3 ...
to retain titles. At
Judgment Day The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...
on May 21, Christian, Edge and Kurt Angle lost a six-man tag team match to
Rikishi A , or, more colloquially, , is a professional sumo wrestler. follow and live by the centuries-old rules of the sumo profession, with most coming from Japan, the only country where sumo is practiced professionally. Participation in official t ...
and Too Cool, to whom they lost the titles soon after only to win them back in a four corners elimination match at
King of the Ring King of the Ring was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network event produced by WWE, a Connecticut-based professional wrestling promotion. The PPV event was held annually in June and was established in 1993 when the promotio ...
on June 25. At Fully Loaded on July 23, Edge and Christian lost to
The Acolytes Protection Agency The Acolytes Protection Agency (APA) was an American professional wrestling tag team who consisted of Bradshaw (John Layfield) and Faarooq (Ron Simmons). They wrestled for the American promotion World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E) b ...
( Bradshaw and
Faarooq Ronald Nasir Simmons (born May 15, 1958) is an American retired professional wrestler and football player. He performed for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) under his real name, and in the World Wres ...
) by disqualification, but they retained the titles. Following their victory, Edge and Christian portrayed themselves as
heels The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exert ...
, shifting their in-ring personas from borderline
goth A Goth is a member of the Goths, a group of East Germanic tribes. Two major political entities of the Goths were: *Visigoths, prominent in Spanish history *Ostrogoths, prominent in Italian history Goth or Goths may also refer to: * Goth (surname) ...
to a comedic pair of "cool dudes". During this time, their trademark became the "five second pose", where they performed a pose in the ring for five seconds "for the benefit of those with flash photography" to mock, insult, or amuse the fans. At
SummerSlam SummerSlam is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is considered WWE's secon ...
on August 27, the Edge and Christian successfully defended the tag team titles in the first ever TLC match against The Hardy Boyz and The Dudley Boyz. At
Unforgiven ''Unforgiven'' is a 1992 American Revisionist Western film starring, directed, and produced by Clint Eastwood, and written by David Webb Peoples. The film tells the story of William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job, ...
on September 24, Edge and Christian lost the titles against The Hardy Boyz in a
steel cage match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...
and were not allowed another title shot. At No Mercy on October 22, Edge and Christian (disguised as
Los Conquistadores Los Conquistadores was a temporary gimmick of storyline brothers, Edge and Christian Cage of a heel jobber professional wrestling tag team in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), consisting of two masked wrestlers known as ''One'' (or Spanish '' ...
) defeated The Hardys for the titles. The next night on ''
Raw Is War ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network in the United States. The show f ...
'', The Hardy Boyz dressed as the Los Conquistadores and defeated Edge in a handicap match after Christian was taken out backstage to regain the WWF Tag Team Championship. At
Survivor Series Survivor Series is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1987 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Held in November generally the week of Thanksgiving, it is the sec ...
on November 19, Edge and Christian teamed with
Right to Censor The Right to Censor (frequently referred to as RTC) was a villainous professional wrestling stable in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE) from mid-2000 to mid 2001. The group was a parody of the Parents Television Council (PTC ...
's
Bull Buchanan Barry Buchanan (born January 15, 1968) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE) under the ring names Recon, Bull Buchanan and B² and ...
and The Goodfather in a four-on-four Survivor Series elimination match which they lost to The Dudleys and The Hardyz. At
Armageddon According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...
on December 10, Edge and Christian regained the tag team titles in a fatal four-way match involving The Dudley Boyz, K-Kwik and Road Dogg and The Right to Censor, but they lost them eight days later to The Rock and
The Undertaker Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by the ring name The Undertaker, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway spent the vast majority ...
only to win them back days later on '' SmackDown!'' thanks to
special guest referee In professional wrestling, a referee is an authority figure present in or near the ring during matches. The referee's purpose is similar to that of referees in combat sports such as boxing or mixed martial arts, that is, as an arbiter of the rul ...
Kurt Angle. At the
Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle roya ...
on January 21, 2001, Edge and Christian lost the WWF Tag Team Championship to The Dudley Boyz. At No Way Out on February 25, Edge and Christian were unsuccessful in regaining the tag team titles, but they eventually recaptured them in the second ever TLC match at
WrestleMania X-Seven WrestleMania 17 (stylized as WrestleMania X-Seven) was the 17th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on April 1, 2001, at the Reliant Astro ...
on April 1. On the April 19 episode of ''SmackDown!'', Edge and Christian were defeated by
The Brothers of Destruction The Brothers of Destruction were a professional wrestling tag team in WWE composed of storyline half-brothers The Undertaker and Kane. With more deep-seated drama and dysfunction than other WWE tag team combinations, their relationship/brot ...
( Kane and The Undertaker) for the WWF Tag Team Championship. At
Backlash Backlash may refer to: Literature * '' Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women'', a 1991 book by Susan Faludi * ''Backlash'' (Star Wars novel), a 2010 novel by Aaron Allston * Backlash (Marc Slayton), comic book character * ''Backla ...
on April 29, Christian was part of the triple threat match for the
WWF European Championship The WWE European Championship was a professional wrestling championship competed for in World Wrestling Entertainment. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, multiple wrestlers held the European and WWF Intercontinental Championships within short ...
which was won by Matt Hardy. At
Judgment Day The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...
on May 21, Edge and Christian competed in a tag team turmoil match which was won by
Chris Benoit Christopher Michael Benoit (; May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He worked for various pro-wrestling promotions during his 22-year career including most notably the WWE, World Wrestlin ...
and
Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and singer. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Jeri ...
. On the May 24 episode of ''SmackDown!'', Edge and Christian competed in a fatal four-way tag team TLC match for the WWF Tag Team Championship in which Benoit and Jericho retained the tag team titles. After losing the tag team titles, friction arose within the team after Edge won the 2001 King of the Ring tournament on June 24. It was also during this time that Edge was becoming a
face The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...
during The Invasion storyline. Christian briefly turned face to help feud with The Alliance. Christian turned heel shortly afterward, resulting in the two feuding for Edge's
WWF Intercontinental Championship The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, currently defended on the SmackDown brand division. It is one of two secondary championships for WWE's main roste ...
for several months.


The Un-Americans (2001–2002)

At
Unforgiven ''Unforgiven'' is a 1992 American Revisionist Western film starring, directed, and produced by Clint Eastwood, and written by David Webb Peoples. The film tells the story of William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job, ...
on September 23, Christian defeated Edge to win his first Intercontinental Championship, but he lost it back to Edge in a ladder match at No Mercy on October 21. Christian won the WWF European Championship from Bradshaw on the November 1 episode of ''SmackDown!''. At
Rebellion Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...
on November 3, Christian faced Edge in a steel cage match for the Intercontinental Championship, but he failed to win the title. At
Survivor Series Survivor Series is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1987 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Held in November generally the week of Thanksgiving, it is the sec ...
, Christian defeated
Al Snow Allen Ray Sarven (born July 18, 1963) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Al Snow. He is best known as a wrestler for Smoky Mountain Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, and World Wrestling Entertainment. Sn ...
to retain the European Championship. At Vengeance on December 9, Christian and
Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...
faced
Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Alber ...
and
Scotty 2 Hotty Scott Ronald Garland (born July 2, 1973) is an American professional wrestler who was most recently signed to WWE as a trainer at the WWE Performance Center. He also competed under the ring names "Too Hot" Scott Taylor (1991–1999) and Scotty 2 ...
in a losing effort. In January 2002, Christian lost the European Championship to
Diamond Dallas Page Dallas Page (born Page Joseph Falkinburg Jr., April 5, 1956), better known by his ring name Diamond Dallas Page (often stylized as DDP), is an American actor and retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. In the course of his wrest ...
. At the
Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle roya ...
on January 20, Christian entered the Royal Rumble match, but he was eliminated by
Stone Cold Steve Austin Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson; December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American media personality, actor, and retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most ...
. At No Way Out on February 17, Christian and Lance Storm entered a tag team turmoil match with the winners getting a WWF Tag Team Championship match at
WrestleMania X8 WrestleMania 18 (stylized as WrestleMania X8) was the 18th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) List of WWE pay-per-view events, event produced by the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on Attit ...
which was won by The Acolytes Protection Agency (APA). After a series of defeats, Christian announced he would quit the WWF, but Page persuaded him to reconsider and adopted him as his protégé. Christian betrayed Page and faced off against him for the European Championship at WrestleMania X8 on March 17, but he lost. Christian began throwing tantrums in his gimmick at the time whenever things did not go his way and during the same event defeated Mighty Molly to win the
WWF Hardcore Championship The WWE Hardcore Championship was a hardcore wrestling championship in WWE which was contested under "hardcore" rules (no disqualifications, no countouts, and pinfalls count anywhere). In the latter part of the title's history, a rule was imp ...
, but lost the title to
Maven MAVEN is an American spacecraft orbiting Mars to study the loss of its atmospheric gases to space, providing insight into the history of the planet's climate and water. The spacecraft name is an acronym for "Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolu ...
later that night. Christian formed an alliance with fellow Canadian wrestler Lance Storm on the June 20 episode of ''SmackDown!'', complaining that the WWE has a history of prejudice against Canadians, bringing up the
Montreal Screwjob The Montreal Screwjob (also called the Montreal Incident; French: ''Le Coup Tordu de Montréal'' lit. Montreal's Twisted Coup) was an infamous unscripted professional wrestling incident that occurred on November 9, 1997, at the Survivor Series ...
as an example. On the June 27 episode of ''SmackDown!'', Test, another Canadian, joined their team, now called
The Un-Americans The Un-Americans (originally known as The Anti-Americans) were a heel Canadian professional wrestling stable in World Wrestling Entertainment who were active from 2002 to 2003. The stable was originally composed of three Canadian wrestlers: La ...
. Christian and Storm won the WWE Tag Team Championship at Vengeance by defeating Edge and
Hollywood Hulk Hogan Terry Eugene Bollea (; born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is widely regarded as the most recognized wrestling star worldwide and the most popular wrestler of the 19 ...
. The trio then defected from SmackDown! to Raw, appearing on the July 29 episode of ''Raw'' to attack
The Undertaker Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by the ring name The Undertaker, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway spent the vast majority ...
. The Un-Americans teamed with
Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969), better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler currently serving as the chief content officer for WWE. He is widely regarded as on ...
, to defeat WWE Undisputed Champion The Rock, The Undertaker and
Booker T Booker T or Booker T. may refer to * Booker T. Washington (1856–1915), African American political leader at the turn of the 20th century ** List of things named after Booker T. Washington, some nicknamed "Booker T." * Booker T. Jones (born 1944) ...
and
Goldust Dustin Patrick Runnels (born April 11, 1969) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Dustin Rhodes. He is best known for his multiple tenures with WWE ...
in an eight-man tag team match on the August 12 episode of ''Raw'', after Test pinned Undertaker. At
SummerSlam SummerSlam is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is considered WWE's secon ...
Christian and Storm retained the WWE Tag Team Championship against Booker T and Goldust, before interfering in Test's match with the Undertaker later in the night, only to be tossed out of the ring and for Undertaker to defeat Test. On the August 26 episode of ''Raw'', the Un-Americans attempted to burn the American flag, but were stopped by Booker T, Goldust and a returning Kane. On the September 2 episode of ''Raw'',
William Regal Darren Kenneth Matthews (born 10 May 1968), better known by the ring name William Regal, is an English retired professional wrestler. He is known for his over 20 years spent in WWE, as both a performer and an on-screen authority, and for his ti ...
joined the team. Regal, an Englishman, was the only member of the team not of Canadian nationality. At
Unforgiven ''Unforgiven'' is a 1992 American Revisionist Western film starring, directed, and produced by Clint Eastwood, and written by David Webb Peoples. The film tells the story of William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job, ...
on September 22, The Un-Americans lost to Bubba Ray Dudley, Kane and Booker T and Goldust. The Un-Americans lost the WWE Tag Team Championship the next night on ''Raw'' to the team of The Hurricane and Kane. On the September 30 episode of ''Raw'', both Christian and Storm lost matches to
Randy Orton Randal Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actor who is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw brand but is currently out of action due to a back injury. H ...
, while Regal and Test lost to
Rob Van Dam Robert Alexander Szatkowski (born December 18, 1970) is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (frequently abbreviated to RVD). He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling ...
and
Tommy Dreamer Thomas James Laughlin (born February 13, 1971), is an American professional wrestler and promoter better known by the ring name Tommy Dreamer. He is signed to Impact Wrestling and is the owner and promoter of the House of Hardcore (HOH) promo ...
. This led to all four members attacking each other, thus disbanding the team.


Teaming and Feuding with Chris Jericho (2002–2004)

Christian formed a tag team with Chris Jericho and competed in a fatal four-way tag team TLC match for the World Tag Team Championship on the October 7 special episode of ''Raw Roulette'', involving Kane, Jeff Hardy and
Rob Van Dam Robert Alexander Szatkowski (born December 18, 1970) is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (frequently abbreviated to RVD). He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling ...
and Bubba Ray and Spike Dudley. Despite Kane's partner the Hurricane being absent from the match, he still retained the title. Christian and Jericho won the titles the next week on the October 14 episode of ''Raw''. At
Armageddon According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...
on December 15, Christian and Jericho lost the World Tag Team Championship to Booker T and Goldust in a fatal four-way elimination match also involving the teams of The Dudley Boyz and Lance Storm and William Regal. On January 19, 2003, Christian entered the Royal Rumble match at the namesake event, however he was eliminated by Jericho. After a short absence, Christian returned on the April 7 episode of ''Raw'', self-proclaiming himself as the new "People's Champion" and began calling his fans "The Peeps" after receiving advice and endorsement from The Rock. On the May 5 episode of ''Raw'', Christian faced
Goldberg Goldberg or Goldberger may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Goldberg Ensemble, a British string ensemble * ''Goldberg Variations'', a set of 30 keyboard variations by Johann Sebastian Bach * ''The Goldbergs (broadcast series)'', American radio ...
, but the match ended in a no contest when
3-Minute Warning 3-Minute Warning was an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of cousins Matt Anoa'i and Eddie Fatu, most notable for their time with WWF/E under their ring names of Rosey and Jamal, respectively. As they were the members of the ...
got involved which led to a rematch on May 12, where Christian lost to Goldberg in a steel cage match. At
Judgment Day The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...
, Christian went on to win a nine-man over-the-top-rope
battle royal Battle royal (; also royale) traditionally refers to a fight involving many combatants that is fought until only one fighter remains standing, usually conducted under either boxing or wrestling rules. In recent times, the term has been used in a ...
for his second Intercontinental Championship. The following night on ''Raw'', Christian appeared on Chris Jericho's talk show '' The Highlight Reel'' sporting a new haircut and ring attire. Christian lost the Intercontinental Championship to Booker T on the July 7 episode of ''Raw'', but he regained it after Booker was legitimately injured at a
house show A house show or live event is a professional wrestling event produced by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive du ...
on August 10. At
Unforgiven ''Unforgiven'' is a 1992 American Revisionist Western film starring, directed, and produced by Clint Eastwood, and written by David Webb Peoples. The film tells the story of William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job, ...
on September 21, Christian defeated Chris Jericho and Rob Van Dam to retain the title in a triple threat match, but later lost the title to Van Dam in a ladder match on the September 29 episode of ''Raw''. At
Survivor Series Survivor Series is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1987 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Held in November generally the week of Thanksgiving, it is the sec ...
, Christian was a part of Team Bischoff taking on Team Austin and during the match he eliminated Bubba Ray Dudley before he was eliminated by
Shawn Michaels Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative. Widely regarded as one of ...
, though in the end Team Bischoff eventually won the match. At
Armageddon According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...
, Christian and Jericho defeated Lita and
Trish Stratus Patricia Anne Stratigeas (; born December 18, 1975) better known by the ring name Trish Stratus is a Canadian professional wrestler, actress and yoga instructor. She is currently signed to WWE. Often regarded as one of the greatest Women's Per ...
in an intergender tag team match billed as the "Battle of the Sexes." Also, Christian and Jericho began romances with Lita and Stratus, respectively; and as part of the angle it was revealed to be a bet over who could sleep with their respective female first, with a
Canadian dollar The Canadian dollar ( symbol: $; code: CAD; french: dollar canadien) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, there is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviation Can$ is often suggested by notable style ...
at stake. Despite the bet, Jericho continued his relationship with Stratus, which ultimately resulted in Christian and Jericho turning on each other. At the
Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle roya ...
on January 25, 2004, Christian competed in the Royal Rumble match, but he was eliminated by Jericho. At
WrestleMania XX WrestleMania XX was the 20th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It featured professional wrestlers from both of the promotion's two brands divisions – Raw an ...
on March 14, Christian faced Jericho in a singles match with Stratus on Jericho's side, but Stratus accidentally struck Jericho, allowing Christian to defeat Jericho. Stratus then joined forces with Christian, becoming his on-screen girlfriend in the process. At
Backlash Backlash may refer to: Literature * '' Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women'', a 1991 book by Susan Faludi * ''Backlash'' (Star Wars novel), a 2010 novel by Aaron Allston * Backlash (Marc Slayton), comic book character * ''Backla ...
, Christian and Stratus faced Jericho in an intergender
handicap match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...
which they lost. During a steel cage match against Jericho on the May 10 episode of ''Raw'' which he lost, Christian suffered a severe back injury, causing him to miss almost four months of in-ring action. Christian returned on the August 30 episode of ''Raw'', attacking Jericho and thus resuming their feud. The two had a ladder match for the vacant Intercontinental Championship at
Unforgiven ''Unforgiven'' is a 1992 American Revisionist Western film starring, directed, and produced by Clint Eastwood, and written by David Webb Peoples. The film tells the story of William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job, ...
, which Christian lost, ending their feud.


Final Storylines and departure (2004–2005)

At
Survivor Series Survivor Series is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1987 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Held in November generally the week of Thanksgiving, it is the sec ...
on November 14, Christian failed to win the Intercontinental Championship from
Shelton Benjamin Shelton James Benjamin (born July 9, 1975) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under his real name. He is also known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Pro Wres ...
. At New Year's Revolution on January 9, 2005, Christian and Tyson Tomko faced Eugene and William Regal for the World Tag Team Championship, but they failed to win the titles. At the
Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after the Royal Rumble match, a modified battle roya ...
, Christian competed in the Royal Rumble match, but he was eliminated by eventual winner
Batista Batista is a Spanish language, Spanish or Portuguese language, Portuguese surname. Notable persons with the name include: * Batista (footballer, born 1955), Brazilian football player * Dave Bautista, American actor and professional wrestler, also ...
. Christian participated in the first-ever
Money in the Bank ladder match The Money in the Bank ladder match is a multi-person ladder match held by the professional wrestling promotion WWE. First contested at WWE's annual WrestleMania event beginning in 2005, a separate Money in the Bank pay-per-view was established ...
at
WrestleMania 21 WrestleMania 21 was the 21st annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown! brand divisions. The event too ...
, but he failed to win as the match was won by
Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...
. Following this, Christian, who had an encounter with SmackDown! wrestler
John Cena John Felix Anthony Cena ( ; born April 23, 1977) is an American part-time professional wrestler, actor, and former rapper. He is currently signed to WWE. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is tied w ...
, began commenting on Cena, claiming he was a better rapper than Cena and denouncing him as "
poseur A poseur is someone who poses for effect, or behaves affectedly, who affects a particular attitude, character or manner to impress others, or who pretends to belong to a particular group.
" while being noticeably cheered during these segments. Soon after, then-
WWE Champion The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, representing the Raw brand division. It is one of two world titles on WWE's main roster, alongside SmackDow ...
Cena was drafted to
Raw Raw is an adjective usually describing: * Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made * Raw food, uncooked food Raw or RAW may also refer to: Computing and electronics * .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...
, where Cena successfully defended the WWE Championship in a triple threat match against Christian and Jericho at Vengeance on June 26. On the June 30 episode of ''SmackDown!'', Christian was drafted to the SmackDown! brand in the 2005 WWE draft lottery and replaced
Big Show Paul Donald Wight II (born February 8, 1972) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as an in-ring performer, and as a commentator for its web television show, '' AEW Dark: Elevation,'' under ...
(who was drafted to Raw) in a six-man elimination match for the newly created SmackDown! Championship, but he lost to
John "Bradshaw" Layfield John Charles Layfield (born November 29, 1966), better known by the ring name John "Bradshaw" Layfield (abbreviated to JBL), is an American retired professional wrestler and football player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on ...
(JBL). Soon after, Christian was given his own interview segment on ''SmackDown!'' called ''The Peep Show''. At
The Great American Bash The Great American Bash is a professional wrestling event currently produced by WWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. Created by Dusty Rhodes, the event was established in 1985 and was originally produced by the National Wr ...
on July 24, Christian faced
Booker T Booker T or Booker T. may refer to * Booker T. Washington (1856–1915), African American political leader at the turn of the 20th century ** List of things named after Booker T. Washington, some nicknamed "Booker T." * Booker T. Jones (born 1944) ...
in a losing effort. At No Mercy on October 9, Christian competed in a fatal four-way match for the United States Championship which was won by Chris Benoit. On October 31, his contract with WWE expired. According to wrestling journalist
Dave Meltzer David Allen Meltzer (born October 24, 1959) is an American journalist who reports on professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Since 1983, he has been the publisher and editor of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON''). He has als ...
, Reso was asked on the spot to sign a new contract, but he declined. His last match occurred during the tapings for the November 4 episode of ''SmackDown!'', where he and John "Bradshaw" Layfield lost to
Rey Mysterio Óscar Gutiérrez (born December 11, 1974), better known by his ring name Rey Mysterio, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand. Widely regarded as one of the greatest profes ...
and
Matt Hardy Matthew Moore Hardy (born September 23, 1974) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is best known for his time with WWE. With his real life brother Jeff, Hardy gained notoriety in WWF's tag team d ...
. Despite his quitting, Christian appeared on the October 31 episode of ''Raw'' and at
Taboo Tuesday WWE Cyber Sunday (originally known as WWE Taboo Tuesday) was an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. Established in 2004, th ...
on November 1, fulfilling his obligations to the company as he was one of five SmackDown! wrestlers eligible to be voted
Chris Masters Christopher Todd Mordetzky (born January 8, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) under the ring name Chris Adonis as a member of Strictly Business. He is a former two-time National Ch ...
and
Snitsky Eugene Alan Snisky (born January 14, 1970) is an American actor and retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Gene Snitsky, who is best known for his time spent with WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment. H ...
's opponents by the fans. Before leaving WWE, Reso filed to trademark the nickname of "Captain Charisma", which allowed him to use it as Christian Cage in the
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promot ...
(TNA), but after WWE disputed the trademark claim by citing a provision in the terms of his old contract he stopped officially using it on TNA programming by the summer of 2006, calling himself "The Instant Classic" from early 2007 onwards although he still continued to be referred to as "Captain Charisma" in off-screen appearances and sometimes wore his "Captain Charisma" entrance jumpsuits to the ring at live events.


Total Nonstop Action Wrestling


NWA World Heavyweight Champion (2005–2007)

On November 13, Reso made his debut in the TNA
promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
at TNA's pay-per-view event
Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
under his old ring name Christian Cage. He announced his intentions to win the
NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is Tyrus, who is i ...
held by
Jeff Jarrett Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett (born July 14, 1967) is an American professional wrestler and promoter. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he also serves as Director of Business Development. Beginning his career in his father J ...
and rejected joining
Scott D'Amore Scott Francis D'Amore (born August 8, 1974) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler, manager, promoter, booker and entrepreneur. He is the current Executive Vice President of Impact Wrestling, where he also worked from 2003 to 2010 as an on- ...
's faction, Team Canada. Cage would defeat
Monty Brown Montaque "Monty" Brown (born April 13, 1970) is an American retired professional wrestler and NFL linebacker. In professional wrestling, he is best known for his time with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) where he wrestled under his real n ...
at
Turning Point A turning point, or climax, is the point of highest tension in a narrative work. Turning Point or Turning Points may refer to: Film * ''The Turning Point'', a 1914 silent film starring Caroline Cooke * ''The Turning Point'' (1920 film), an Ame ...
to become number one contender to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. At
Final Resolution Final Resolution is a professional wrestling Impact Plus event held by Impact Wrestling in December. Initially introduced as a pay-per-view by TNA in 2005, the event originally took place in January until 2008, when TNA moved the event to Decem ...
on January 15, 2006, Cage teamed with Sting to defeat the team of Monty Brown and Jeff Jarrett. and defeated Jarrett for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at Against All Odds on February 12, 2006. Cage had his first title defence at
Destination X Destination X is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event held by Impact Wrestling currently in the month of August. The event primarily revolves around the X-Division, the 2005, 2006, 2009, and 2010 events had Ultimate X matches. It w ...
on March 12, where he defeated Brown to retain the title. On the March 25 and April 1 respective ''Impact!'' episodes,
Abyss Abyss may refer to: * Abyss (religion), a bottomless pit, or a passage to the underworld Film and television * ''The Abyss'' (1910 film), a Danish silent film starring Asta Nielsen * ''The Abyss'' (1988 film) (''L'Œuvre au noir''), a French- ...
, his manager
Father James Mitchell James Lamar Mitchell (born February 26, 1965) is an American professional wrestling manager, known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as James Vandenberg, Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) as The Sinister Minister, and ...
and Alex Shelley showed two pre-taped video packages that had been compiled in the weeks before the episodes, with first on March 25 depicting Mitchell stalking Cage's wife Denise, confronting her and even threatening that "they were coming". The second aired on April 1, with Abyss, accompanied by Mitchell and Shelley, who was taping the segment with a camcorder like the previous video package, attacking Cage at his home in
Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...
and nearly drowning Cage in his own pool. This storyline led to Cage facing Abyss at
Lockdown A lockdown is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks (such as COVID-19) that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison ...
on April 23 in a six sides of steel cage match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, with Cage winning and attempting after the match to attack Mitchell and gain revenge for all his recent evil deeds against Cage and his family, but Abyss stopped him, took a steel chain, wrapped it around Cage's neck and attempted to hang him with it until he passed out, after which Abyss and Mitchell stole the title belt and left the arena. The storyline between Abyss and Mitchell and Cage continued until
Sacrifice Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exi ...
on May 14, where Cage defeated Abyss to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship under Full Metal Mayhem rules. At
Slammiversary Slammiversary is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the American promotion Impact Wrestling. It is one of Impact's “Big Four” PPV events (along with Hard to Kill, Rebellion, and Bound for Glory), and celebrates ...
on June 18, Cage's NWA World Heavyweight Championship reign came to an end as he was defeated by Jeff Jarrett in a
King of the Mountain match The King of the Mountain match (Queen of the Mountain when female wrestlers are involved) is a professional wrestling match exclusive to Impact Wrestling (formerly Total Nonstop Action Wrestling). Match format The five competitors in the match st ...
, which also involved Abyss,
Ron Killings Ronnie Aaron Killings (born January 19, 1972) is an American professional wrestler and rapper. He is currently signed to WWE, performing on the Raw brand under the ring name R-Truth. Killings worked for World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now ...
and Sting.
Larry Zbyszko Lawrence Whistler (born December 5, 1951), better known by the ring name Larry Zbyszko, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, Bruno Sammartino, during the early 1980s as well as his w ...
and
referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...
Earl Hebner Earl William Hebner (born May 17, 1949) is an American retired professional wrestling referee who last officiated for All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is best known for his time as senior referee for the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) from 1 ...
intervened at the end of the match by helping Jarrett win. The title was declared
vacant Within the context of building construction and building codes, "occupancy" refers to the use, or intended use, of a building, or portion of a building, for the shelter or support of persons, animals or property. A closely related meaning is th ...
until TNA's main authority figure at the time, Management Director
Jim Cornette James Mark "Jim" Cornette (born September 17, 1961) is an American author and podcaster who has previously worked in the professional wrestling industry as an agent, booker, color commentator, manager, promoter, trainer, and occasional prof ...
, awarded the title belt back to Jarrett on the June 29 episode of ''Impact!'' on the condition that he defend it against the winner of a four-way match involving Cage,
Samoa Joe Nuufolau Joel Seanoa (born March 17, 1979), is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Samoa Joe who is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Joe is currently a double champion - in his first reign both as AEW ...
,
Scott Steiner Scott Rechsteiner (born July 29, 1962), better known by the ring name Scott Steiner, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Steiner is perhaps best known for his time in World Championshi ...
and Sting at Victory Road. Jarrett agreed to the condition and Sting became the new number one contender at Victory Road on July 16. After Victory Road, Cage befriended the new number one contender Sting on the July 27 episode of ''Impact!'' by asking for forgiveness for doubting Sting's agenda by coming to TNA in January of that year. Cage went on to say that he had asked Cornette the week before if he could be in Sting's corner in his match with Jarrett for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at
Hard Justice Hardcore Justice, originally known as Hard Justice, is an annual professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind use ...
, but Cornette had told him he needed Sting's approval. Sting accepted Cage's offer, with
interviewer An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...
and occasional
ring announcer A ring announcer is an in-ring (and sometimes on-camera) employee or contractor for a boxing, professional wrestling or mixed martial arts event or promotion, who introduces the competitors to the audience. In boxing and mixed martial arts bouts, ...
Jeremy Borash Jeremy Borash (born July 19, 1974), is an American professional wrestling play-by-play commentator, announcer, ring announcer, booker, interviewer, and producer who is currently signed to WWE. He is known for his work in Impact Wrestling as ...
announcing Sting's decision in a backstage segment on the August 3 episode of ''Impact!''. On August 13, Cage was in Sting's corner at Hard Justice as he faced Jarrett (with Scott Steiner in his corner) and during the contest interfered to help Sting win numerous times—as did Steiner for Jarrett—until Cage turned on Sting by taking Jarrett's signature guitar and bashing it over his head—
turning Turning is a machining process in which a cutting tool, typically a non-rotary tool bit, describes a helix toolpath by moving more or less linearly while the workpiece rotates. Usually the term "turning" is reserved for the generation of ...
heel in the process. Cage then allowed Jarrett to pin Sting and retain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. After the event, Cage began a feud with
Rhino A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...
one of Reso's real-life good friends as Rhino questioned Cage on his actions at Hard Justice on the August 17 episode of ''Impact!'', but Cage replied saying he did it for the good of TNA. Cage went on to explain later in the episode during a sit-down interview with TNA commentator
Mike Tenay Michael William Tenay (born March 1, 1955) is an American podcast presenter and retired professional wrestling play-by-play announcer known for his time as an announcer for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA ...
that he attacked Sting because he felt Sting did not show enough passion during the encounter to "get the job done" and win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The following week on ''Impact!'', Cage came down to the ring where he addressed his attack on Sting further until he was interrupted by Rhino, who attacked after a small debate, starting a brawl between the two which came to an end after Cage laid Rhino's head on a steel chair, picked up another chair and bashed it over the outside of Rhino's head performing a one-man con-chair-to in the process. This led to a match against Rhino at
No Surrender No Surrender may refer to: Politics * "No Surrender!", a British Unionist slogan originating from Siege of Derry now used in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and England *No Surrender (to the IRA), a political chant since used by England football fans ...
on September 24, which Cage won. A rematch was held at Bound for Glory on October 22, which Cage also won under 8 Mile Street Fight rules. They had their final bout on the November 16 episode of ''Impact!'', where Cage defeated Rhino in a barbed wire six sides of steel cage match. Cage's old WWE enforcer Tyson Tomko (now going simply by Tomko) made his TNA debut on the November 23 episode of ''Impact!'' helping Cage in a match against Sting. With Tomko at his side, Cage set his sights on the NWA World Heavyweight Championship now held by Abyss and at
Turning Point A turning point, or climax, is the point of highest tension in a narrative work. Turning Point or Turning Points may refer to: Film * ''The Turning Point'', a 1914 silent film starring Caroline Cooke * ''The Turning Point'' (1920 film), an Ame ...
on December 10 fought Abyss and Sting in a three-way match for the title, but he failed to win the match as Abyss won to retain the championship after pinning Sting. Cage fought for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship once again at
Final Resolution Final Resolution is a professional wrestling Impact Plus event held by Impact Wrestling in December. Initially introduced as a pay-per-view by TNA in 2005, the event originally took place in January until 2008, when TNA moved the event to Decem ...
on January 14, 2007 against Abyss and Sting, this time in a
three-way elimination match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...
that he won by pinning Sting after Abyss was already eliminated to win the championship. After Final Resolution, Cage prepared for his title defence against the new number one contender
Kurt Angle Kurt Steven Angle (born December 9, 1968) is an American retired professional wrestler, Wrestling at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle 100 kg, Olympic gold medalist in American freestyle wrestling, and former Collegiate wrestling, ...
, who had defeated Samoa Joe in a 30-minute Iron Man match at Final Resolution to gain the opportunity. Heading into their encounter at Against All Odds on February 11, Cage announced on the January 17 episode of ''Impact!'' that he had hired a special consultant to assist him in training for his bout with Angle. This consultant was revealed on the February 8 episode of ''Impact!'', who turned out to be
Scott Steiner Scott Rechsteiner (born July 29, 1962), better known by the ring name Scott Steiner, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Steiner is perhaps best known for his time in World Championshi ...
after he attacked Angle following a match pitting the team of Angle and Joe against Cage and
A.J. Styles Allen Neal Jones (born June 2, 1977), better known by his ring name AJ Styles (also stylized as A.J. Styles), is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Regarded as one of the best ...
. Cage went on to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Angle at Against All Odds with Joe as the unofficial special outside enforcer.


Christian's Coalition and departure (2007–2008)

On the March 8 episode of ''Impact!'', Cage proclaimed that he, Tomko and Scott Steiner were an "inseparable family", which he called
Christian's Coalition Christian's Coalition (also known as Team Cage) was a villainous professional wrestling faction in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) led by Christian Cage. Shortly after the disbanding of the stable, the Team Cage name was used at TNA's Loc ...
. After a short feud with Samoa Joe, culminating in a victory for Cage at
Destination X Destination X is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event held by Impact Wrestling currently in the month of August. The event primarily revolves around the X-Division, the 2005, 2006, 2009, and 2010 events had Ultimate X matches. It w ...
on March 11 for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, Cage was announced as a captain of a five-man team for the
Lethal Lockdown match A Lethal Lockdown match is a professional wrestling match used in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). This match has become a staple of TNA's Lockdown pay-per-view event, but has also made appearances at other TNA pay-per-views, and during Impac ...
at
Lockdown A lockdown is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks (such as COVID-19) that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison ...
against Team Angle during the March 15, 2007 episode of ''Impact!''. At Lockdown on April 15, Team Cage (Cage, Tomko, Steiner, A.J. Styles and Abyss) went on to lose to Team Angle (Angle, Joe, Rhino, Sting and Jeff Jarrett). A stipulation was added that the wrestler who got the pinfall would become number one contender for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and have their title shot at
Sacrifice Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exi ...
. Sting was the individual who gained the pinfall victory for Team Angle and became the new number one contender. Abyss was later kicked out of the group after he attacked Cage on the April 19 episode of ''Impact!''. Steiner was the next to leave the group after he was attacked by Tomko following their NWA World Tag Team Championship match at Sacrifice. Cage was set to defend the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Sting at Sacrifice, but Angle was added to the match on the May 3, 2007 episode of ''Impact!'', making it a three-way match. At the event on May 13, the
National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...
(NWA), the owners of the NWA World Heavyweight and the NWA World Tag Team Championships, stripped Cage and Team 3D of the titles. NWA Executive Director Robert K. Trobich stated the reason was that Cage refused to defend the NWA world title at NWA live events. Cage, still holding the physical NWA world title belt, defended what was billed as the World Heavyweight Championship against Sting and Angle, who was the victor of said contest by making Sting submit (who had "technically" just pinned Cage at the very same moment) and was announced as the new World Heavyweight Champion. On the following episode of ''Impact!'', Angle came to the ring with a new championship belt in-toe and announced he was the new
TNA World Heavyweight Champion The Impact World Championship is a professional wrestling world championship created and promoted by Impact Wrestling. It is the promotion's principal championship. Like most professional wrestling championships, the title is won via the result o ...
, a
championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...
that TNA had just introduced at Sacrifice. Afterwards, Cage and Sting came to the ring and the three began to argue over who was the new TNA World Heavyweight Champion, but due to the controversial finish to their match at Sacrifice the title was declared vacant by Cornette and a tournament was held for the title which culminated in a King of the Mountain match at
Slammiversary Slammiversary is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the American promotion Impact Wrestling. It is one of Impact's “Big Four” PPV events (along with Hard to Kill, Rebellion, and Bound for Glory), and celebrates ...
on June 17. Cage won entry into the match on the June 14 episode of ''Impact!'' by defeating Abyss. At Slammiversary, Cage failed to defeat the four other men (Styles, Joe, Angle and Chris Harris) and win the title as Angle hung the title belt to become the new and undisputed TNA World Heavyweight Champion. After defeating Harris at Victory Road on July 17 and him, Tomko and Styles losing to the team of Andrew Martin, Sting and Abyss at
Hard Justice Hardcore Justice, originally known as Hard Justice, is an annual professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind use ...
on August 12 in a Doomsday Chamber of Blood match to become number one contender to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, Cage restarted his feud with Samoa Joe and the two met at
No Surrender No Surrender may refer to: Politics * "No Surrender!", a British Unionist slogan originating from Siege of Derry now used in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and England *No Surrender (to the IRA), a political chant since used by England football fans ...
on September 9, where he defeated Joe by disqualification when Joe refused to release his
rear naked choke The rear naked choke (RNC) is a chokehold in martial arts applied from an opponent's back. The word "naked" in this context suggests that, unlike other strangulation techniques found in jujutsu/judo, this hold does not require the use of a keiko ...
submission hold he had applied. The two had a rematch with
Matt Morgan Matthew Thomas Morgan (born September 10, 1976) is an American politician, actor and retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is a current City Commissioner in Longwood, Florida. He is known for his time in Total Nonstop Actio ...
as the special outside enforcer at Bound for Glory on October 14, where Cage lost to Joe and ended his 23-month-long undefeated streak by not officially being pinned nor made to submit. Cage and Joe fought one more time on the October 18 episode of ''Impact!'', with a spot in the 2007 Fight for the Right tournament to become number one contender to the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Cage defeated Joe to gain entry. Cage made it all the way to the final round of the tournament, where he fought Kaz on the November 8 episode of ''Impact!'', defeating Kaz due to interference from Styles and Tomko on Cage's behalf, but the match was declared a no contest, with the finals being determined in a ladder match at
Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
on November 11. However, Cage failed to win the tournament final the second time around at Genesis. Later in the night, Styles and Tomko helped Angle retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship during the main event as Cage looked on from the ramp. Styles and Tomko were later announced as members of Angle's new group,
The Angle Alliance The Angle Alliance was a heel wrestling stable headed by Kurt Angle (and briefly Christian Cage on a self-proclaimed basis) in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. For Lockdown 2008, in the absence of Kurt from the stable's activities, Tomko capta ...
, which led to a title match between the two at
Final Resolution Final Resolution is a professional wrestling Impact Plus event held by Impact Wrestling in December. Initially introduced as a pay-per-view by TNA in 2005, the event originally took place in January until 2008, when TNA moved the event to Decem ...
on January 6, 2008 and also turning Cage face in the process. On the January 3 episode of ''Impact!'', Tomko left both Christian's Coalition and The Angle Alliance. Cage failed to win the title at Final Resolution as a result of Styles' betraying and attacking him during the bout, ending Christian's Coalition. At Against All Odds on February 10, Cage got a rematch against Angle with Samoa Joe as the special outside enforcer, but he once again was defeated by Angle as this time Tomko interfered and cost Cage the match. Cage teamed with Joe and
Kevin Nash Kevin Scott Nash (born July 9, 1959) is an American actor and retired professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) where he performed under his r ...
(known as The Unlikely Alliance) at
Destination X Destination X is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event held by Impact Wrestling currently in the month of August. The event primarily revolves around the X-Division, the 2005, 2006, 2009, and 2010 events had Ultimate X matches. It w ...
on March 9 to defeat The Angle Alliance (Angle, Styles and Tomko) in a six-man tag team match. On the March 13 episode of ''Impact!'', Cage and Tomko were announced as opposing team captains for a Lethal Lockdown match at
Lockdown A lockdown is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks (such as COVID-19) that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison ...
. At Lockdown on April 13, Team Cage (Cage, Rhino, Nash, Morgan and Sting) went on to defeat Team Tomko (Tomko, Styles, Brother Devon, Brother Ray and
James Storm James Allen Cox (born June 1, 1977) is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name James Storm. He is best known for his time in Impact Wrestling. He started his career in 1997 and after working on several independent pr ...
) at the event. Afterwards, Cage and Rhino began competition as a regular tag team, with the pair being involved in The Deuce's Wild Tag Team Tournament for the vacant
TNA World Tag Team Championship TNA may refer to: Organisations * Tamil National Alliance, a political coalition in Sri Lanka * The National Alliance, a political party in Kenya * The National Archives (United Kingdom), a UK public body * Tonga Nurses' Association, a trade union ...
, but they failed to win the tournament and the championship at
Sacrifice Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exi ...
on May 11. At
Slammiversary Slammiversary is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the American promotion Impact Wrestling. It is one of Impact's “Big Four” PPV events (along with Hard to Kill, Rebellion, and Bound for Glory), and celebrates ...
on June 8, Cage and Rhino were involved as single competitors in a King of the Mountain match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, but they failed to win the match. Cage and Rhino went on to team with Styles (who had made amends with Cage and Rhino) in a losing effort against Angle, Brother Devon, and Brother Ray in a Full Metal Mayhem match at Victory Road on July 13. At
Hard Justice Hardcore Justice, originally known as Hard Justice, is an annual professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind use ...
on August 10, Cage and Rhino defeated Team 3D in a New Jersey Street Fight. Cage was involved in a three-way match for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship against the champion Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle at
No Surrender No Surrender may refer to: Politics * "No Surrender!", a British Unionist slogan originating from Siege of Derry now used in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and England *No Surrender (to the IRA), a political chant since used by England football fans ...
on September 13, but he failed to win the title. Cage then went on to participate in another three-way match against Styles and Booker T at
Bound for Glory IV Bound for Glory IV was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotion that took place on October 12, 2008 at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. It was the fourth ...
on October 12, which Booker T won. Cage was defeated in his final TNA match by Booker T for the newly established
TNA Legends Championship The TNA Television Championship was a professional wrestling championship owned by the promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA, now Impact Wrestling). It was introduced on the October 23, 2008 episode of TNA's television program ''TNA Impac ...
at
Turning Point A turning point, or climax, is the point of highest tension in a narrative work. Turning Point or Turning Points may refer to: Film * ''The Turning Point'', a 1914 silent film starring Caroline Cooke * ''The Turning Point'' (1920 film), an Ame ...
on November 9, with the stipulation that if Cage lost, he would have to join the newly formed
Main Event Mafia The Main Event Mafia (MEM) was an American professional wrestling stable in the American promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Beginning in 2008, the group included former WWF/E wrestler Kurt Angle as leader, four of the former World C ...
. On the November 13 episode of ''Impact!'', Cage had his final appearance in TNA before his contract expired as during the telecast he was to be inducted into The Main Event Mafia, but Cage was attacked and "injured" by Angle, Booker T, Nash and Scott Steiner after Angle learned that he would go back to WWE when his contract expired.


One night return (2012)

In 2012, Reso made a one night return to TNA at
Slammiversary 10 Slammiversary 10 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) promotion, which took place on June 10, 2012 at the College Park Center in Arlington, Texas on the University of Texas ...
under his old ring name Christian Cage to announce the number one moment in TNA history as voted by the TNA fans (Sting's 2006 return in the aforementioned
Final Resolution Final Resolution is a professional wrestling Impact Plus event held by Impact Wrestling in December. Initially introduced as a pay-per-view by TNA in 2005, the event originally took place in January until 2008, when TNA moved the event to Decem ...
tag team main event). This was part of a deal which in return WWE were able to use
Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...
in programming and induct him into the
WWE Hall of Fame The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which honors professional wrestlers and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE. Originally known as the "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when André the Giant was posthumously ind ...
as a member of the
Four Horsemen The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are figures in the Christian scriptures, first appearing in the Book of Revelation, a piece of apocalypse literature written by John of Patmos. Revelation 6 tells of a book or scroll in God's right hand tha ...
stable.


Independent circuit (2006)

In March 2006, Reso competed as Christian Cage three times in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
for the
One Pro Wrestling One Pro Wrestling (abbreviated as 1PW) is a British professional wrestling promotion. 1PW was founded in 2005 by Steven Gauntley. Originally run by the now defunct retail chain 1 Up Games, the company's headquarters were located in Doncaster T ...
(1PW) promotion. His first appearance was on March 4 at their All or Nothing: Night 1 event, where he defeated Rhino. His second appearance was at 1PW's Know Your Enemy: Night 1 event on May 26, defeating
Steve Corino Steven Eugene "Steve" Corino (born May 29, 1973) is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler currently signed with WWE as a trainer and producer for their developmental territory NXT. He is best known for his tenure with Extreme Championship ...
. At Know Your Enermy: Night 2 event on May 27, 2006, Cage fought against the champion Abyss and Corino for the 1PW World Heavyweight Championship in a three-way dance, but failed to win as Corino gained the fall and the title. In May 2006, Reso made two appearances for the
Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was so ...
(ROH) promotion as Christian Cage. His first appearance was on May 12 at ROH's How We Roll event in a tag match with Colt Cabana against Bryan Danielson and Christopher Daniels, which Cage and Cabana won. His second appearance was a loss to Daniels at ROH's Generation Now event on July 29.


New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2008)

On January 4, 2008, Cage, while still under contract with TNA, made a one-time appearance for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) at the Wrestle Kingdom II event, teaming with fellow TNA wrestlers A.J. Styles and Petey Williams to defeat RISE (professional wrestling), RISE (Milano Collection A.T., Minoru Tanaka (wrestler), Minoru and Finn Bálor, Prince Devitt).


Return to WWE


ECW Champion (2009–2010)

Reso did not appear for the promotion until the February 10 episode of ''ECW (WWE), ECW'' under his old ring name Christian as a face, confronting then ECW Championship, ECW Champion Jack Swagger. Later that night, Christian defeated Swagger in his first match back. On the February 24 episode of ''ECW'', Christian faced Swagger again for the ECW Championship in a losing effort. Christian won a tri-branded 15-man battle royal on the March 10 episode of ''ECW'', gaining entry into the
Money in the Bank ladder match The Money in the Bank ladder match is a multi-person ladder match held by the professional wrestling promotion WWE. First contested at WWE's annual WrestleMania event beginning in 2005, a separate Money in the Bank pay-per-view was established ...
at WrestleMania 25 on April 5, which he failed to win. Christian won an Professional wrestling match types#Elimination Chase, elimination chase tournament to become the number one contender to the ECW Championship, gaining a title match at Backlash (2009), Backlash. At Backlash on April 26, Christian defeated Swagger to win the ECW Championship. At Judgment Day (2009), Judgment Day on May 17, Christian defeated Swagger in a rematch to retain the title. At Extreme Rules (2009), Extreme Rules on June 7, Christian lost the ECW Championship to
Tommy Dreamer Thomas James Laughlin (born February 13, 1971), is an American professional wrestler and promoter better known by the ring name Tommy Dreamer. He is signed to Impact Wrestling and is the owner and promoter of the House of Hardcore (HOH) promo ...
in a triple threat Hardcore wrestling, hardcore match also involving Swagger. On the June 15 episode of ''Raw'', Christian faced Dreamer for the ECW Championship in a losing effort. After unsuccessfully challenging for the ECW Championship in a Championship scramble match, Championship Scramble match that also included Swagger, Finlay and Mark Henry at WWE The Bash, The Bash on June 28, Christian regained the ECW Championship from Dreamer at Night of Champions (2009), Night of Champions on July 26. On the August 4 episode of ''ECW'', Christian retained the ECW Championship in an Hardcore wrestling, Extreme Rules match against Dreamer. Christian then began a rivalry with
William Regal Darren Kenneth Matthews (born 10 May 1968), better known by the ring name William Regal, is an English retired professional wrestler. He is known for his over 20 years spent in WWE, as both a performer and an on-screen authority, and for his ti ...
over the ECW Championship, retaining the title against him at SummerSlam (2009), SummerSlam in eight seconds on August 23, and at WWE Breaking Point, Breaking Point on September 13. After a few months of defending the ECW Championship on ''ECW'' only, retaining the title against the likes of Zack Ryder and Yoshi Tatsu, Christian was part of Team Kingston in a Survivor Series elimination match at Survivor Series (2009), Survivor Series on November 22, where he eliminated both Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes before being eliminated by Randy Orton. Team Kingston went on to win. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs (2009), TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 13, Christian successfully defended the ECW Championship against
Shelton Benjamin Shelton James Benjamin (born July 9, 1975) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under his real name. He is also known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Pro Wres ...
in a ladder match. In late December 2009, Christian became the longest reigning WWE-era ECW Champion. At the Royal Rumble (2010), Royal Rumble on January 31, 2010, Christian successfully defended the ECW Championship against Ezekiel Jackson. On the February 16 episode of ''ECW'', Christian lost the ECW Championship in an Extreme Rules match to Jackson on the show's final episode. The ECW brand was deactivated shortly after.


World Heavyweight Champion (2010–2011)

On the February 22 episode of ''Raw'', Christian was announced to have re-signed with the
Raw Raw is an adjective usually describing: * Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made * Raw food, uncooked food Raw or RAW may also refer to: Computing and electronics * .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...
brand, defeating Carly Colón, Carlito later that same night to gain entry into the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania XXVI on March 28, which he failed to win. Later, it was announced that he would be a Pro on ''WWE NXT, NXT'', mentoring NXT Rookie Heath Slater. Christian was drafted back to the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand by the 2010 WWE draft, WWE draft. On the May 7 episode of ''SmackDown'', he was placed in an Intercontinental Championship tournament, defeating Cody Rhodes to get to the finals, where he lost to Kofi Kingston. On the July 2 episode of ''SmackDown'', it was announced that Christian would compete in the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match at Money in the Bank (2010), Money in the Bank on July 18, which he lost. In September 2010, Christian tore his pectoral muscle and was expected to be sidelined for approximately six months. Following surgery, WWE released a statement that revealed he was expected to only be sidelined for four months. The injury was put into a storyline with Alberto Del Rio attacking Christian backstage on the September 24 episode of ''SmackDown''. Christian made his return from injury at Elimination Chamber (2011), Elimination Chamber on February 20, 2011, saving Edge from an attack by Del Rio. On the March 4 episode of ''SmackDown'', Christian saved Edge from another attack by Del Rio. On the March 7 episode of ''Raw'', Christian made his in-ring return from injury against Del Rio's bodyguard Brodus Clay, picking up the victory. On the March 11 episode of ''SmackDown'', Christian reunited with Edge and defeated Del Rio and Clay in a tag team match. On the March 18 episode of ''SmackDown'', Christian defeated Del Rio in a steel cage match, but was afterwards attacked by both Del Rio and Clay. Christian was in the corner of Edge when he retained the World Heavyweight Championship against Del Rio at WrestleMania XXVII on April 3. On the April 8 episode of ''SmackDown'', Christian lost to Del Rio in a number one contender's match for the World Heavyweight Championship after a distraction from Brodus Clay. After Edge's sudden retirement from wrestling on the April 15 episode of ''SmackDown'', Christian won a 20-man battle royal to face Del Rio for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship at Extreme Rules (2011), Extreme Rules, where Christian defeated Del Rio in a ladder match to win the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time. On the May 6 episode of ''SmackDown'', Christian lost the World Heavyweight Championship to
Randy Orton Randal Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actor who is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw brand but is currently out of action due to a back injury. H ...
ending his reign at 2 days (5 recognized by WWE due to Broadcast delay, tape delay). At Over the Limit (2011), Over the Limit on May 22, Christian failed to regain the World Heavyweight Championship from Orton. On the June 3 episode of ''SmackDown'', Christian was the special referee for a World Heavyweight Championship defence by Orton against Sheamus, which Orton won only to be hit by Christian after the match with the title belt, turning heel in the process. At WWE Capitol Punishment, Capitol Punishment on June 19, Christian faced Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship once again, but he failed to capture the title as the referee missed his foot under the bottom rope. At Money in the Bank (2011), Money in the Bank on July 17, Christian won the World Heavyweight Championship for the second and final time after Orton was professional wrestling#Disqualification, disqualified for Low blow (combat sports), kicking him in the groin (the stipulation was if Orton was disqualified or the referee made a bad call, he would lose the title). At SummerSlam (2011), SummerSlam on August 14, Christian lost the World Heavyweight Championship back to Orton in a No Holds Barred match. On the August 26 episode of ''SmackDown'', special guest General Manager Bret Hart announced that Christian would face Orton in a steel cage match on the August 30 episode of ''SmackDown'' for the title, which Christian lost to end their feud. Christian then began feuding with Sheamus, leading to two matches between the two at the Hell in a Cell (2011), Hell in a Cell on October 2 and Vengeance (2011), Vengeance on October 23, both of which Christian lost. On the November 4 episode of ''SmackDown'',
Big Show Paul Donald Wight II (born February 8, 1972) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as an in-ring performer, and as a commentator for its web television show, '' AEW Dark: Elevation,'' under ...
performed a chokeslam on Christian and Christian received a storyline neck injury, preventing him from competing that night and starting to wear a neck brace. On November 9 during the WWE European Tour, Christian injured his ankle and was pulled from a traditional Survivor Series elimination tag team match at Survivor Series (2011), Survivor Series on November 20. In December, Christian briefly appeared at the Slammy Awards and WWE Tribute to the Troops, Tribute to the Troops.


Championship pursuits and injuries (2012–2014)

At Elimination Chamber (2012), Elimination Chamber on February 19, 2012, Christian returned from his injury to show support for John Laurinaitis. Christian appeared on the March 16 episode of ''SmackDown'', hosting an episode of ''The Peep Show'' and given a spot on Laurinaitis' team in a 12-man tag match at WrestleMania XXVIII on April 1. On the March 26 episode of ''Raw'', Christian was injured once again after (kayfabe) re-aggravating his neck and shoulder in a match with CM Punk. Despite the injury, Christian still appeared at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony to induct long-time friend Edge. Christian made his return at Over the Limit (2012), Over the Limit on May 20, where he won a battle royal to receive a title match for either the Intercontinental or United States Championship and (despite originally selecting to face Santino Marella for the United States Championship) went on to defeat Cody Rhodes later in the show to win his fourth Intercontinental Championship, turning face once again. Christian later explained his turn as inducting Edge into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012 made him realize that his career could end in an instant and wanted to end his career with the fans' support, wanting to win multiple championships and leave having a Hall of Fame career, much like his best friend. At No Way Out (2012), No Way Out on June 17, Christian retained the Intercontinental Championship against Rhodes in a rematch. On the June 29 episode of ''SmackDown'', Christian and Marella defeated Rhodes and David Otunga to qualify for spots in the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank ladder match. At Money in the Bank (2012), Money in the Bank on July 15, Christian was unsuccessful as the match was won by Dolph Ziggler. At ''Raw 1000'' on July 23, Christian lost the Intercontinental Championship to The Miz ending his reign at 63 days and failed to regain it in a rematch the same week on ''SmackDown''. After a ten-month absence, Christian returned from injury on the June 17, 2013 episode of ''Raw'', defeating Wade Barrett. Later that week on ''SmackDown'', Christian was attacked by The Shield (professional wrestling), The Shield while delivering a Promo (professional wrestling), promo. On the June 26 episode of ''WWE Main Event, Main Event'', Christian took on Shield member Dean Ambrose, which resulted in a disqualification win for Christian following interference from Ambrose's stablemates, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. That same week on ''SmackDown'', Christian teamed up with The Usos to defeat The Shield, handing the stable their second loss in six-man tag team matches. At Money in the Bank (2013), Money in the Bank on July 14, Christian competed in the WWE Championship Money in the Bank ladder match, but was unsuccessful as the match was won by Randy Orton. During the match, Christian had his teeth chipped after a strong punch from Sheamus through the rungs of a ladder. On the July 29 episode of ''Raw'', Christian defeated World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio in a non-title match. That same week on ''SmackDown'', Christian defeated Randy Orton and
Rob Van Dam Robert Alexander Szatkowski (born December 18, 1970) is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (frequently abbreviated to RVD). He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling ...
in a triple threat match to become number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship, after which he was attacked by Del Rio during a post-match interview. On the August 9 episode of ''SmackDown'', Christian again defeated Del Rio in a non-title match. At SummerSlam (2013), SummerSlam on August 18, Christian failed in his title challenge against Del Rio. On the September 9 episode of ''Raw'', The Shield dragged out an assaulted Christian as a message to anyone that disrespected
Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969), better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler currently serving as the chief content officer for WWE. He is widely regarded as on ...
following Edge's opinion on Triple H's recent abuse of power. On that week's ''SmackDown'', Edge promised Christian would return soon and get his payback. Christian returned and appeared on the Slammy Award#2013 Slammy Awards, 2013 Slammy Awards, where he presented an award and appeared in a segment involving John Cena and Randy Orton. Christian returned on the January 31, 2014 episode of ''SmackDown'' to defeat Jack Swagger in a qualifying match for the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship, WWE World Heavyweight Championship. On the February 17 episode of ''Raw'', Christian attacked Bryan Danielson, Daniel Bryan from behind and mocked Bryan during the match, turning heel. At Elimination Chamber (2014), Elimination Chamber on February 23, Christian eliminated Sheamus before being eliminated by Daniel Bryan. On the March 24 episode of ''Raw'', Christian won a fatal four-way match including Alberto Del Rio, Dolph Ziggler and Sheamus to challenge Big E (wrestler), Big E for the Intercontinental Championship, which did not come to fruition due to Christian suffering a concussion.


First retirement and sporadic appearances (2014–2019)

After suffering his concussion, Christian appeared as a face on pre-show discussion panels for WWE for events including NXT TakeOver, Money in the Bank (2014), Money in the Bank and Battleground (2014), Battleground. He then went on to host ''The Peep Show'' program with
Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and singer. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Jeri ...
at Night of Champions (2014), Night of Champions in September, and with Dean Ambrose on the November 7 episode of ''SmackDown''. Edge and Christian were the guest hosts for the December 29 episode of ''Raw'', where WWE commentator Jerry Lawler referred to Christian as "retired". ''Pro Wrestling Insider'' corroborated Lawler's statement, adding that because of multiple concussions and other injuries, the company considered Christian retired as an active wrestler. On the March 2, 2016 episode of ''Chris Jericho#Talk Is Jericho podcast, Talk Is Jericho'', Christian said that while he has had no formal discussion with management regarding his retirement, he would be unlikely to wrestle again. He confirmed his status on the September 22, 2017 edition of ''E&C's Pod of Awesomeness'', saying: "I had to retire, like, right around 40... 'cause of the concussion stuff". Starting on February 21, 2016, Reso began appearing along with Edge in the WWE Network exclusive ''The Edge and Christian Show That Totally Reeks of Awesomeness'', but in July 2017 it was announced that the show was cancelled from the Network. In mid-May 2016, it became known that Reso had been released from his talent contract. On the June 22, ''Talk Is Jericho'' podcast focusing on the Chris Benoit double-murder and suicide, Chris Benoit tragedy, Jericho mentioned Christian as an example of modern wrestlers who had to retire as the WWE would no longer give them medical clearances due to concussion related injuries (this was largely as a consequence of the Benoit incident as well as better knowledge of Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and other concussion related risks). At the ''WWE Raw 25 Years, Raw 25 Years'' event on January 22, 2018, Christian hosted ''The Peep Show'' with special guests Jason Jordan and Seth Rollins, but it was later interrupted by Cesaro and Sheamus, The Bar (Cesaro (wrestler), Cesaro and Sheamus). On April 7, Christian appeared with Edge to induct the Dudley Boyz into the
WWE Hall of Fame The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which honors professional wrestlers and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE. Originally known as the "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when André the Giant was posthumously ind ...
. In October 2019, Christian started appearing as a regular contributor on ''WWE Backstage''.


In-ring return and departure (2020–2021)

On the June 8, 2020 episode of ''Raw'', Christian hosted ''The Peep Show'' with special guest Edge, who had returned to competition in January and was feuding with
Randy Orton Randal Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actor who is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw brand but is currently out of action due to a back injury. H ...
. The following week on ''Raw'', Christian was challenged to an unsanctioned match by Orton, marking his first in-ring match in over six years, although unofficial. Christian, who had no offence in the match, quickly lost after a low blow from
Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...
, which was followed by a punt kick from Orton. At Clash of Champions (2020), Clash of Champions, Christian got revenge on Orton by attacking him during his ambulance match against Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship. He then appeared as a surprise entrant in the 2021 Royal Rumble match, entering at number 24 and lasting over 18 minutes before being eliminated by Seth Rollins. During the match, he briefly Edge & Christian, reunited with Edge, who would eventually win by last eliminating Orton. Following this, it was reported that Reso was no longer under contract with WWE.


All Elite Wrestling (2021–present)

Reso made his surprise debut for
All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is considered the second largest wrestling promotion in the United States behind WWE. AEW is owned by Shahid Khan and his son Tony, w ...
(AEW) and signed a multi-year contract at Revolution (2021), Revolution on March 7, 2021, reverting to his Christian Cage persona. Cage wrestled his debut match for AEW on the March 31 episode of ''AEW Dynamite, Dynamite'', defeating Frankie Kazarian, in what was Christian's first official singles match in seven years. At the Double or Nothing (2021), Double or Nothing on May 30, Cage participated in the Casino Battle Royale, but he was the last competitor eliminated by the eventual winner Jungle Boy (wrestler), Jungle Boy. Soon after, he would begin a partnership with Jungle Boy and become his mentor. Cage would continue to stay undefeated in singles matches, beating the likes of Angélico,
Matt Hardy Matthew Moore Hardy (born September 23, 1974) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is best known for his time with WWE. With his real life brother Jeff, Hardy gained notoriety in WWF's tag team d ...
, and The Blade (wrestler), The Blade. Due to his winning streak, Cage would be ranked as the number one competitor in the men's division, and was named as the number one contender for the AEW World Championship, held by Kenny Omega. Through AEW's partnership with
Impact Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promot ...
(formerly TNA), Omega also held the
Impact World Championship The Impact World Championship is a professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world championship created and promoted by Impact Wrestling. It is the promotion's principal championship. Like most professional w ...
, and Cage challenged him to a match for that championship, scheduling the match for the premiere episode of ''AEW Rampage, Rampage''. At the event on August 13, Cage defeated Omega to win the Impact World Championship. At All Out (2021), All Out on September 5, Cage was defeated by Omega in a match for the AEW World Championship, marking Cage's first loss in AEW. On November 13 at Full Gear (2021), Full Gear, Cage, Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus defeated Omega's allies Adam Cole and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) in a falls count anywhere match. Cage would qualify for the "Face of the Revolution"
ladder match A ladder match is a type of match in professional wrestling, most commonly one in which an item (usually a title belt) is hung above the ring, and the winner is the contestant who climbs a ladder and retrieves the item. The ladder itself becom ...
on the March 4, 2022 edition of ''Rampage'' by defeating Ethan Page, but would fail to win the match at Revolution (2022), Revolution. On the June 15 special episode of Dynamite titled ''Road Rager (2022), Road Rager'', Cage attacked Jungle Boy after he and Luchasaurus lost the AEW World Tag Team Championship to The Young Bucks in a ladder match, turning heel for the first time in AEW.


Return to Impact Wrestling (2021)

On the August 19 episode of ''Impact! (TV series), Impact!'', as the new Impact World Champion, he made his first Impact appearance since 2012. The announcers recognized his previous two NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, NWA World Heavyweight Championship reigns, though this recent reign was his first under the Impact World Championship lineage. Upon his return, he retired the TNA World Heavyweight Championship (2020–2021), TNA World Heavyweight Championship and considered the Impact World Championship the sole world title belt in the promotion. He was then confronted by Brian Myers, his challenger at Emergence (2021), Emergence, a match which Cage won. He then retained his title against Ace Austin at Victory Road (2021), Victory Road. At Bound for Glory (2021), Bound for Glory on October 23, Cage lost the title to Josh Alexander (wrestler), Josh Alexander.


Professional wrestling style and persona

Christian began to build up a loyal fanbase around the spring of 2005, despite his placement as a Heel (professional wrestling), villain; he referred to them as his "Peeps", "Peepulation" (a play on the word "population"), or the "Christian Coalition". He also hosted a talk show segment called ''The Peep Show''. As a finisher, Christian uses an Facebuster#Inverted double underhook facebuster, inverted double underhook facebuster, called the Killswitch. He also utilized a Professional wrestling strikes#Spear, spear as tribute to his best friend
Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...
, as well as a frog splash in memory of Eddie Guerrero.


Personal life

While on tour with WWE in England, Reso met German model Denise Hartmann; they were married on May 25, 2001. In December 2013, Reso announced the birth of his daughter during the time he had taken off due to recurring Post-concussion syndrome, post-concussive symptoms. On May 2, 2019, Hartmann filed for divorce from Reso. The divorce was finalized in January 2020. Reso is best friends with fellow professional wrestler Adam Copeland, better known in the WWE as
Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...
. The two grew up together in their native home of Orangeville, Ontario and went to the same high school and wrestling training academy.


Other media

In 2007, TNA Home Video released a DVD titled ''The Instant Classic: Christian Cage'', covering his beginnings in the
independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective noun, collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor lea ...
and other various subjects up to his second NWA World Heavyweight Championship reign. Reso is also the host of the DVD ''The Ladder Match 2: Crash and Burn''. In September 2015, Edge and Christian were guests on the ''Stone Cold Steve Austin Podcast'', which aired on the WWE Network. Edge and Christian were also the hosts and stars of a WWE Network sketch comedy series titled ''The Edge and Christian Show That Totally Reeks of Awesomeness'', which had two seasons, the first of which aired from February to May 2016 with the second from November 2018 to February 2019. Christian has been a playable character in several of WWE's video games, including ''WWF Attitude'' (1999), ''WWF WrestleMania 2000 (video game), WWF WrestleMania 2000'' (1999), ''WWF SmackDown! (video game), WWF SmackDown!'' (2000), ''WWF No Mercy (video game), WWF No Mercy'' (2000), ''WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role'' (2000), ''With Authority!, WWF/E With Authority!'' (2001), ''WWF Road to WrestleMania'' (2001), ''WWF SmackDown! Just Bring It'' (2001), ''WWF Raw (2002 video game), WWF/E Raw'' (2002), ''WWE WrestleMania X8 (video game), WWE WrestleMania X8'' (2002), ''WWE Road to WrestleMania X8'' (2002), ''WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth'' (2002), ''WWE Crush Hour'' (2003), ''WWE WrestleMania XIX (video game), WWE WrestleMania XIX'' (2003), ''WWE Raw 2'' (2003), ''WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain'' (2003), ''WWE Day of Reckoning'' (2004), ''WWE Survivor Series (video game), WWE Survivor Series'' (2004), ''WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw'' (2004), ''WWE Day of Reckoning 2'' (2005), ''WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006'' (2005), ''WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010'' (2009), ''WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011'' (2010), ''WWE '12'' (2011), ''WWE WrestleFest'' (2012), ''WWE '13'' (2012), ''WWE 2K14'' (2013), ''WWE SuperCard'' (2014), ''WWE 2K15'' (2014), ''WWE 2K17'' (2016), ''WWE Champions'' (2017), ''WWE 2K18'' (2017), ''WWE 2K19'' (2018), ''WWE 2K20'' (2019), and ''WWE 2K Battlegrounds'' (2020). He also appears in the TNA video game ''TNA Impact! (video game), TNA iMPACT!'' (2008). Since March 2017, Reso has hosted a podcast with Copeland called ''E&C's Pod of Awesomeness''.


Filmography


Film


Television


Championships and accomplishments

*
East Coast Wrestling Association East Coast Wrestling Association (ECWA) is an American professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling that has little relationship to ...
** ECWA Heavyweight Championship (ECWA Heavyweight Championship#Title history, 1 time) * Insane Championship Wrestling ** ICW Street Fight Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Edge (wrestler), Sexton Hardcastle * International Wrestling Alliance ** IWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Earl the Orderly * Pennsylvania Championship Wrestling ** PCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) * ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' ** List of Pro Wrestling Illustrated awards#Match of the Year, Match of the Year (2000) with Edge vs.
The Dudley Boyz The Dudley Boyz (also known as Team 3D) are an American professional wrestling tag team that consisted of kayfabe half-brothers Bubba Ray Dudley (Mark LoMonaco) and D-Von Dudley (Devon Hughes). The team was also joined by various Dudley family me ...
and
The Hardy Boyz The Hardys, also known as The Hardy Boyz, are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of real-life brothers Matt and Jeff Hardy, who are currently appearing in All Elite Wrestling (AEW). The team is currently inactive due to Jeff ...
in a Ladder match, triangle ladder match at
WrestleMania 2000 WrestleMania 2000 (sequentially known as WrestleMania 16) was the 16th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) List of WWE pay-per-view events, event produced by the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took p ...
** Match of the Year (2001) with Edge vs. The Dudley Boyz and The Hardy Boyz in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match, Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at
WrestleMania X-Seven WrestleMania 17 (stylized as WrestleMania X-Seven) was the 17th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on April 1, 2001, at the Reliant Astro ...
** Ranked No. 7 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated#PWI 500, PWI 500'' in 2007 ** Ranked No. 454 of the top 500 greatest wrestlers in the ''PWI Years'' in 2003 * Impact Wrestling, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling / Impact Wrestling **
Impact World Championship The Impact World Championship is a professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world championship created and promoted by Impact Wrestling. It is the promotion's principal championship. Like most professional w ...
(List of Impact World Champions, 1 time) **
NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is Tyrus, who is i ...
(List of NWA World Heavyweight Champions#Title history, 2 times) ** TNA Gauntlet for the Gold, Gauntlet for the Gold (TNA Gauntlet for the Gold#Most Gauntlet for the Gold victories, 2008 – TNA World Heavyweight Championship) ** Impact Year End Awards, TNA Year End Awards (2 times) *** Memorable Moment of the Year (Impact Year End Awards#2005 TNA Year End Awards, 2005) *** Who To Watch in 2006 (2005) * ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' ** List of Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards#Tag Team of the Year, Tag Team of the Year (2000) ** List of Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards#Worst Worked Match of the Year, Worst Worked Match of the Year (2006) * WWE, World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment / WWE ** World Heavyweight Championship (List of World Heavyweight Champions (WWE), 2 times) **
ECW Championship The ECW World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship originally used in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and later, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was the original world title of the ECW ...
(List of ECW World Heavyweight Champions, 2 times) **
WWF Hardcore Championship The WWE Hardcore Championship was a hardcore wrestling championship in WWE which was contested under "hardcore" rules (no disqualifications, no countouts, and pinfalls count anywhere). In the latter part of the title's history, a rule was imp ...
(List of WWE Hardcore Champions, 1 time) **
WWF European Championship The WWE European Championship was a professional wrestling championship competed for in World Wrestling Entertainment. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, multiple wrestlers held the European and WWF Intercontinental Championships within short ...
(List of WWE European Champions, 1 time) **
WWF Light Heavyweight Championship The WWF Light Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) promotion. The title was challenged by light heavyweights at a maximum weight of 215 lbs (before deactivation, ...
(List of WWF Light Heavyweight Champions, 1 time) ** WWE Intercontinental Championship, WWF/E Intercontinental Championship (List of WWE Intercontinental Champions, 4 times) ** World Tag Team Championship (WWE), WWF/E (World) Tag Team Championship (List of World Tag Team Champions (WWE), 9 times) – with
Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...
(7), Lance Storm (1) and
Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and singer. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Jeri ...
(1) ** Triple Crown (professional wrestling)#List of WWE Men's Triple Crown winners, Twenty-third Triple Crown Champion ** Grand Slam (professional wrestling)#Original format (established 1997), Eleventh Grand Slam Champion


References


Notes


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cage, Christian 1973 births 21st-century Canadian male actors All Elite Wrestling personnel Canadian expatriate professional wrestlers in the United States Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian male professional wrestlers Canadian podcasters ECW Heavyweight Champions/ECW World Heavyweight Champions Expatriate professional wrestlers in Japan Living people Male actors from Ontario NWA World Heavyweight Champions Professional wrestlers from Florida Professional wrestlers from Ontario Professional wrestling podcasters Sportspeople from Kitchener, Ontario Sportspeople from Tampa, Florida TNA World Heavyweight/Impact World Champions World Heavyweight Champions (WWE) WWF European Champions WWF/WWE Intercontinental Champions WWF/WWE Hardcore Champions WWE Grand Slam champions 20th-century professional wrestlers 21st-century professional wrestlers