At this point in his career, Christian Cage doesnt take anything for granted. Not after concussion-related injuries prematurely cut his run short in 2014 before he found a second chance at his wrestling life.
Like many who have been in a similar position before, Cage has a different kind of appreciation for what hes able to do in the ring these days. When its all said and done, the gold, the glory and the opportunities Cage has been able to experience since signing with AEW in 2021 are meaningful. But now, having a chance to wrestle alongside his longtime tag-team partner Cope (aka WWE Hall of Famer Edge), is a moment where the stars have aligned in a way many never even dared to anticipate.
For the first time in more than a decade, Cage and Cope partnered at AEW Forbidden Door in August for a win over Kip Sabian and Killswitch. As they head north to Toronto for All Out on Sept. 20, theyll reunite again for what will somehow be the Canadian duo’s first pay-per-view tag-team match in their home country throughout their illustrious careers. The closest they got previously was a six-man tag in 1998 in Vancouver and its a stat even Cage can’t believe when reflecting on how meaningful the match will be.
I think that people have wanted this since [Cope] debuted in AEW, and were maybe hoping it would happen,” Cage tells Uncrowned. “Obviously, we were both at different stages of our career, had a lot of things on my plate as far as what I was dealing with and being the greatest TNT champion of all-time at the point in time when [Cope] came in.
It’s a big moment for the fans and I think they’re excited about it. I know it means a lot. And that’s the cool thing about AEW in some instances they’re very much for the pro wrestling fan, and try to give what they want to the fan.
There was a time not long ago when Cage and Cope were both retired getting either of them in the ring was seemingly out of the question. But the opportunity to perform in Canada together is a full-circle moment for their careers, with both men having trained down the street from where theyll take the main stage.
All these years later, to get there on a pay-per-view like All Out, it’s going to be a special night, Cage says.
For Cage, the match at All Out is another step toward building arguably his greatest pro-wrestling run to-date. He has taken every advantage of his opportunities in AEW, stringing together a mix of championship title reigns, engaging rivalries and viral moments.
His success as “The Patriarch” stemmed from a chip on his shoulder, and his first promo as the master manipulator character echoed things that had been on his mind for a long time.
When I got the reaction, it just made me want to push it further and further, and that’s what I did,” he says. “I said one phrase and people went crazy with it. So I just kept pushing it and pushing it.
The thing is, too, you can’t have any reservations about things like this. You have to believe in yourself and you have to be willing to go to certain places to garner reactions. I was going to places that at the time nobody else was going to. This is a very copycat-type business. When you see the influence of other people, [who] start doing and saying things in the same way that you are, then you know what you’re doing is working, especially when it runs across multiple companies and other people.
Cage points back to his demeanor, delivery and tone as what helped sell the character. What he shared was a product of things hes dealt with in the past while trying to get to the top and feeling unappreciated, pushed down and held back. He focused on being the best version of himself and pushed boundaries in ways completely unexpected by tapping into the freedom to do and say what he pleases.
When you go up there and have the ability to say 100% your words and your vision, it’s up to you to connect with the audience, Cage says.
If you don’t, then it falls on your shoulders. There’s nobody else to blame.”
Cage says he didnt anticipate AEW’s infamous dead father bit with Jack Perry a real-life callback to his father, Luke Perry, suddenly passing away in 2019 to catch on the way that it did.
No, I had no clue, Cage says.
It was a deeply personal line, and I was expecting a reaction. I don’t know if I expected it to go as viral as it did. And when something like that happens you have to jump on it.
The moment he uttered the words, Cage knew it was a hit. Whats more surprising, he says, is how late in his career hes become a viral sensation transcending pro-wrestling outside of even the sports world.
You don’t typically see it happening with people that are around the 50-year-old age, completely becoming something, this fresh entity, says Cage, 51.
But I’m not like anybody else. And that’s why it works, because I don’t feel like I’m 50 when I’m in the ring or 51. If I couldn’t do what I did at the level that I did it, then I wouldn’t even be in the ring.
With a freedom he didn’t always have to build and shape his character, and aligned with AEWs budding roster, Cage says this is unquestionably the most successful chapter of his already celebrated career.
This is, without a doubt, the greatest, the best run, Cage says.
Did I see it happening this late? No, but it did. And like I said, when I got my career back after being gone for seven years, I wasn’t coming back to do the greatest hits tour. I was coming back to be the best. And that’s the kind of standards that I hold myself to. Anything less than that, you would not see me step foot in that ring.
As he plots the path forward, theres no guarantee for what happens next. Partnering with Cope isnt necessarily a long-term plan. The ultimate goal still remains to wrap his waist in AEW heavyweight gold.
Cope and I agreed to help each other with our issues. Part of the agreement was we’ll get through this, and there’s no promises beyond that, Cage says.
We’ll see where we get to at the end of this. For me as well, at the end of the day, I love collecting titles, I love collecting gold. So in any form of that, I’ll always welcome, always accept that challenge. But at the end of the day, I still want my name in the books as the AEW world champ by the time it’s all said and done.