Current champion wholeheartedly praises AEW legend Christian Cage: "He's so smart in every aspect of wrestling"

At AEW WrestleDream 2023, Nick Wayne betrayed his then-mentor and close friend Darby Allin, helping Christian Cage retain the AEW TNT Championship, which was being defended in a 2-out-of-3 falls match. This marked Nick Wayne’s entry into The Patriarchy, where Cage, with his manipulative ways, positioned himself as a paternal figure to him.

This partnership has proven rather successful for Wayne, as he has become the youngest singles champion in the history of the company, winning the ROH World Television Championship on April 17, 2025, at the age of 19.

Despite a rather successful partnership, there has been some recent heat between the two men, hinting at a potential future showdown. Despite the angle’s tensions, Nick Wayne seems to have a lot of respect for Christian Cage in real life. While speaking on the latest episode of AEW Unrestricted, Wayne highlighted how Cage helped him with his promos and presentation, also calling him one of the smartest people in the history of pro wrestling.

“I feel like he's one of the smartest people in wrestling, period. But for sure in AEW, he's so smart in every aspect of wrestling. But specifically, what he's helped me the most with is promos and just talking, and a lot of presentation as well. How to present yourself as something more and feel like you're bigger. Really a lot in talking, and I've gotten really comfortable with it recently... But it goes all the way down to in-ring stuff. After all my matches, I always tell him, like, please pick me apart. Like, tell me everything. So, yeah, I couldn’t have asked for a better mentor in this time that I’ve been under his learning tree,” said Wayne.

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You can check out Wayne's comments here:

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Major Christian Cage All In match pushed back by AEW

Christian Cage was reportedly set to team up with his best friend and legendary tag team partner Adam Copeland, aka Edge, at All In to take on FTR. According to Sean Ross Sapp, this plan was postponed because there were some issues backstage with the idea of turning Christian Cage babyface so soon and taking him out of The Patriarchy. Apparently, Cage wanted to continue The Patriarchy storyline for a bit longer.

Speaking on The Hump, Sean said:

“People I talked to hinted to me there were some hiccups in relation to turning Christian babyface or getting him out of The Patriarchy. [It] seems like he wanted to do that for a little bit longer. They had planned for Cope and Christian against FTR at All In.” [H/T: Ringside News]

With All Out scheduled in Toronto, Canada, it would be interesting to see if that is where we get the reunion of Christian Cage and Adam Copeland once and for all.

About the author

Sagnik Chowdhury is a WWE news and features writer at Sportskeeda Wrestling. He graduated from the University of Calcutta with a Bachelor of Commerce degree, specializing in finance, in 2024 and is currently pursuing an MBA. Sagnik has always been passionate about creative writing, alongside writing several academic articles over the years. However, his true love lies in WWE, and he has been covering the sport for close to a year. Before assuming his current role, Sagnik was a content writer for a reputable news outlet for 11 months. He strives to report accurate, relevant, and ethical information. He rigorously verifies his sources and ensures they are credible before citing them.

Over the years, he has won numerous national academic article writing competitions organized by leading educational institutions in India. His work has been published in the annual magazines of institutes like IIM Bangalore, IIM Ranchi, IIM Udaipur, and more. Sagnik has been following WWE for over a decade, but it was The Authority vs. Daniel Bryan storyline that truly hooked him to the sport. His favorite pro wrestler is The Miz, as he believes The A-Lister embodies the idea of believing in your dreams and making them come true. He admires Miz's promo skills, storytelling abilities, and how he has made the most of every opportunity given to him over the last 15 years.

If he could go back to the Attitude Era, Sagnik would book female wrestlers in prominent storylines and provide them more chances to showcase their potential.

When not watching or writing about pro wrestling, Sagnik loves to rewatch his comfort shows, such as Modern Family and The Office. He is a movie and TV series enthusiast, with Ryan Gosling being one of his favorite actors.

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Edited by Steffi