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Christian Cage (fka Christian in WWE) shocked the wrestling world by appearing at tonight's AEW Revolution 2021. It was last week on AEW Dynamite where Paul Wight (fka The Big Show) made his debut for the promotion and announced that a "Hall of Fame worthy" talent will be signing with AEW at Revolution. This led to massive speculations among the fans as to who this star could be.
The name of Christian also popped up, but there was a lot of confusion regarding whether he is still signed with WWE or not. Well, he was definitely not and AEW has likely struck gold with this signing. As seen at Revolution tonight, Christian Cage appeared, signed a contract, and left. The wrestling world is shocked and excited to witness what is next for the former WWE World Champion in AEW.
Let's take a look at five possible reasons why Christian Cage signed with AEW. Comment down and let us know your thoughts and reactions to this massive signing at AEW Revolution tonight.
#5 Christian Cage wants to end his career on his terms
Christian Cage has had a legendary wrestling career starting all the way back in 1994. He has wrestled for several wrestling promotions including TNA, NJPW, and most notably, WWE. However, wrestling for decades did take a toll on his body, especially because of his high-flying and risk-taking style.
Due to multiple concussions and other injuries, Christian Cage officially announced his in-ring retirement in 2015. He did not really get any proper farewell match and his in-ring career ended pretty abruptly and not in a great way.
Earlier this year, Christian Cage made his in-ring return and appeared in the 2021 WWE men's Royal Rumble match. He clearly proved that there's still some gas left in him and signing with AEW could just be him wanting to end his career on his own terms.
#4 Christian Cage got a great deal with AEW
Raj Giri of WrestlingInc recently revealed that Christian Cage was under contract with FOX and not WWE. He further stated that after Christian's Royal Rumble appearance, WWE was interested in signing him but those talks didn't materialize.
"I have learned that Christian is indeed a free agent. He had returned to action at the WWE Royal Rumble this past January after an absence of nearly seven years. There were some ideas discussed between WWE and Christian, and the company was interested in signing him. However, talks apparently fell through."
It is safe to assume that All Elite Wrestling would have reached him with a great deal, better than the one that WWE would have offered him. AEW President Tony Khan mentioned that the "huge star" will be signing a multi-year contract with the promotion. So Christian Cage's contract is likely multi-year and other details would likely be revealed soon as well.
The question is whether he will appear and wrestle regularly for the promotion or not. We might just see him in a similar role like Sting.
#3 Christian Cage was finally medically cleared to compete
As mentioned previously, Christian Cage had to take early retirement from in-ring competition due to his injuries and multiple concussions. However, the past few years have seen multiple instances of fan-favorite Superstars returning from massive injuries.
It first started with Daniel Bryan coming out of retirement in 2018 and then Christian's best friend and WWE Hall of Famer Edge did the unimaginable by returning to WWE in the 2020 Royal Rumble match, nearly nine years after announcing his retirement.
Christian Cage took a page out of his former tag team partner's book and did the same this year by returning at the 2021 men's Royal Rumble match. According to Edge, Christian was medically cleared to compete a couple of months ago.
"He got cleared a couple of months ago, and I was among only a few people who were privy to that. We didn't know for sure that he was going to be in the Rumble until the Friday before. I was driving to his place to stay with him for the weekend, and that's when we found out this was going to happen."
With him signing with AEW at Revolution tonight, that Royal Rumble appearance was surely not a one-off for him. It will be exciting to see what does the future hold for him in AEW.
#2 Christian Cage could help elevate the AEW roster
Christian Cage is a wrestling legend and one of the most experienced Superstars in the business. Being a former two-time World Heavyweight Champion in WWE, and having won multiple other titles including the European Championship, Intercontinental Championship, and several tag team titles, Christian has had a decorated career.
Christian Cage signing with All Elite Wrestling brings a lot of mainstream attention to the young wrestling promotion and could surely help them attract more eyes, especially the casual fans who might not be familiar with AEW's roster.
This is exactly where Christian could help AEW a lot, by feuding with these stars and helping elevate the roster of AEW. There is definitely no lack of talent on the AEW roster and with Christian Cage, they can get proper exposure to a larger group of audience and fans.
Christian could have some great feuds and even dream matches in AEW with the likes of Jon Moxley, Kenny Omega, Cody Rhodes, and even The Young Bucks. He could also have some interesting interactions with the likes of Chris Jericho and even Sting. Who would you want to see Christian Cage feud with on AEW?
#1 Christian Cage in the AEW title picture while Edge feuds for WWE Universal Championship?
Many fans expected Christian Cage to get involved in some capacity in the feud between WWE's Universal Champion Roman Reigns and the winner of the 2021 men's Royal Rumble match Edge. Christian had a nostalgic reunion with Edge at Royal Rumble and fans were excited to see the two have one last run as a tag team.
Well, that seems highly unlikely to happen now as Christian Cage is All Elite. Now that we think, the hints were always there as WWE never mentioned Christian again after his Royal Rumble appearance, even though his return was arguably the biggest one at Royal Rumble 2021. The reason was, of course, that he did not sign with them.
An interesting thing that could happen now is that AEW could push Christian Cage straight into the World title scene after AEW Revolution tonight. While Edge competes for WWE's world title at WrestleMania 37, Christian Cage could do the same at AEW Double or Nothing later this year.
