Tag: christian cage

Christian Cage appearance announced for AEW Dynamite

Posted on by Josh Nason

Several days after being announced as one of AEW’s newest signees, Christian Cage will make his Dynamite debut live this Wednesday.

The former WWE and Impact champion debuted at Sunday’s Revolution to sign a multi-year contract, marking a return to full time in-ring competition for the first time in more than seven years. He was quietly fully cleared by doctors last year after retiring due to concussions, making a surprise appearance at the WWE Royal Rumble in January where he was one of the final four.

The rest of Wednesday’s show as of now:

  • TNT Champion Darby Allin vs. Scorpio Sky: Sky won the title shot in Sunday’s Face of the Revolution ladder match
  • Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida, Ryo Mizunami and Thunder Rosa vs. Nyla Rose, Britt Baker and Maki Itoh: This was made during Sunday’s show following Shida’s win over Mizunami. It will also be Itoh’s Dynamite debut.
  • Matt Jackson vs. Rey Fenix: Before their eventual Tag Team title match, one half of the Young Bucks will face one third of Death Triangle.
  • The Inner Circle war council meeting: After Chris Jericho and MJF’s loss to the Bucks Sunday, the group will figure out what’s next.

Christian Cage discusses AEW deal, when he got medically cleared

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: AEW

On Renee Paquette’s Oral Sessions podcast, Christian Cage discussed how his AEW deal came together and the timeline in which he got medically cleared.

He said that as of the Wednesday before last Sunday’s Revolution, there still wasn’t a signed deal so he was surprised to hear the Paul Wight promo that a major signing was going to be announced. He arrived at the venue Sunday an hour before the show started and was kept away from people, which added to his nervousness. His t-shirt design didn’t come together on Saturday.

The process of returning began after last summer’s unsanctioned “match” with Randy Orton in which Christian couldn’t take any moves or offense due to his medical status. Afterward and without telling anyone, Cage went back to the University of South Florida Concussion Center to see the same doctor he worked with at the time of his retirement. He wanted to see where he was at, the possibility of a return, and if the doctor said he shouldn’t return, he would have agreed and called it good. 

After a battery of tests in Tampa and a thorough five-hour test in Pittsburgh, doctors cleared him without issue and he began to get back into shape using a minimalist’s gym he built in his garage and using the same nutrition company as Adam “Edge” Copeland. Along the way, he floated the idea of him returning to WWE with Vince McMahon who was receptive through his preparation process.

As Cage prepared for and desired a more full-time return, he talked with WWE that was “cordial” but that he wanted to explore all of his options in this final stage of his career. He had met Tony Khan years earlier in Boston through mutual friend Chris Nowinski (who he admitted he never spoke with about his concussion issues). He said the AEW talks escalated quickly and were done within a week.

He wasn’t asked whether he talked with McMahon or WWE about his decision to sign with AEW, whether they offered him a contract, and the interest level after his performance in this year’s Royal Rumble.

Cage will make his Dynamite debut this Wednesday with an appearance.

Christian signs multi-year deal with AEW

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Going into tonight’s Revolution pay-per-view, AEW promised to unveil a Hall of Fame-worthy signee.

That ended up being Christian (real name Jay Reso), who has signed a multi-year deal with AEW. He’s using the name Christian Cage in the promotion.

Christian was introduced by Paul Wight at tonight’s PPV. Christian signed his AEW contract and revealed a T-shirt that said “Out. Work. Everyone.” but didn’t speak during the appearance

The 47-year-old Christian had been cleared to return to the ring as an entrant in WWE’s men’s Royal Rumble match this January. He made it to the final four of the match along with Edge, Randy Orton, and Seth Rollins. Aside from a brief “unsanctioned match” against Randy Orton last year, the Royal Rumble was the first time Christian has wrestled since retiring due to concussion issues in 2014.

During an appearance on Busted Open Radio ahead of Revolution, AEW president and CEO Tony Khan said about the Hall of Fame-worthy signee: 

I’ll say one thing, it’s one of my all-time favorite wrestlers, I tipped it on (AEW) Unrestricted, I tipped that it was a male. He’s coming, he’s going to do great things for us. He’s committed, he’s going to sign a contract Sunday at Revolution on pay-per-view, and we’re going to have all these great matches, and we will have this big news coming out of the show.

Christian is a former two-time World Heavyweight Champion in WWE, a nine-time former Tag Team Champion in WWE (including seven Tag Team title reigns with Edge), and a four-time former Intercontinental Champion. He also spent a portion of his career outside of WWE from 2005-2009, including a run in TNA Wrestling where he held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship twice as Christian Cage.