Is Christian Cage Being Misused?

[Instant Classic]

I would like to get Glenn Gilbertti's and anyone elses opinion on why Christian is being used as a face? While I realise that there is a total lack of faces on TNA it shouldn't mean that his character should suffer IMO. He uses a fraction of the charisma he has as a heel. I don't really like the tag team with Rhino, it served a purpose for lockdown but now i don't see much of a point. Rhino/Christian feuds have been done to death and they had some good matches but it should be over between these 2 now.

Christian needs to be a heel and getting as much heat as possible and constantly screwing them over. He needs to be cocky, brash and egotistical, while hes over as a face its not nearly as over as he was as a heel when he was champ.

He was rightly in the king of the mountain match but he feels like a filler in their as there is no particular fued. Surely heel christian would be a great candidate to take the title off joe down the line but at the moment i don't see it happening. TNA was quite enjoyable when Christian was champ, as you just loved to hate him, more so than with Jarrett because of Christian's charisma.

While I'm not saying TNA are neglecting him in quite the way the WWE did i don't think they are using him right. The christian coalition filtered into the angle alliance but it was done over such a long period of time that i began to forget what the fued was about, especially as they constantly were teasing the AJ-Kurt fued.

If TNA are going to at least make some ground on WWE (and i really want them too) then they have to be utilizing their main event players. They seem to be getting on track with booker, finally turning him heel. However christian has always been TNA's symbol against wwe because his leaving caused such a stir. He's much more valuble than TNA seem to realise. And I rate him much more than Booker T because of he is IMO much more of a well rounded wrestler than Booker T is, and is also proven as champion something Booker T isnt with his flop reigns even with mid card titles in WCW and WWE.

 

[mstaken]

I wouldn't call myself a Christian fan however, I have to agree with your post. Christian as a heel is much more interesting. Joe as the current champ, I could care a less about Joe. He is a boring champion. I don't want to see Christian vs Joe. Been done too many times. However, using Booker to get the belt off of Joe could work for Christian as a babyface. A long term feud between the heel of Booker and the babyface of Christian would be interesting and watchable. It would be easy to set up that storyline with their egos and attitudes. Cage as a babyface can still show that ego and attitude while selling himself as a face. I don't like Cage paired with Rhino. I would not want to see them feud. Rhino is a mid-carder with no headline potential. If he beats Cage, that lessens Cage's character. I don't see that feud selling either wrestler with the crowds. It wouldn't make me tune in to the show or buy a PPV. Like you, I think Cage has potential to help TNA get noticed and help gain ratings. It all depends on the creative dept and writers.

 

[Father:_Polley]

I don't think he's being misused. Christian himself knows he's not always going to be number one competitor or champion. No-one ever is, otherwise we'd have the same complaints as usual, namely that someone was in too many main events, that the veterans were hogging the spotlight and not letting the new guys have a chance. Christian is close to being a number one contender and will get his chance to be champion again soon. In the meantime, he's winning people over and doing a pretty good job showing his versatility as a face.

 

[Instant Classic]

I don't think he's being misused. Christian himself knows he's not always going to be number one competitor or champion. No-one ever is, otherwise we'd have the same complaints as usual, namely that someone was in too many main events, that the veterans were hogging the spotlight and not letting the new guys have a chance. Christian is close to being a number one contender and will get his chance to be champion again soon. In the meantime, he's winning people over and doing a pretty good job showing his versatility as a face.

I know he can't always be a champion or contender but his last title reign was far too short in my opinion, there was no reason to give Angle the belt when Chrisitan with the belt was so entertaining and drawing so well. And its also part of the reason that Angle as champ became boring far earlier than it would have done if they had waited a bit before giving him the belt. Christian can never be accused of not putting younger guys over, it was his ladder match with Kaz that made Kaz popular with the fans at the time, and he has also helped put AJ over too.

 

[SpiralHands]

I can never decide on whether I prefer Christian as face or heel. As face he does get a good reaction and can be used for filler talent in the semi main events, which is not a bad thing but I couldn't ever see him as a face taking the title of someone. So he would have to be heel to do that and as heel Christian does thrive, but there are too many heels in the main event at the moment so he has to be face. I think its a good idea that TNA are using him as semi main event as there really isn't anything for him to do at the moment and no one for him to feud with. When Booker gets the belt then I would like to see Booker v Christian but until then I think that he is being used quite well.

 

[Joker ' Ferreira]

Let's be honest, if he was on WWE he wouldn't be a 2 times World Champion, simple.

But now, he is indeed a great "player" and he can perform great main-event matches, I like him very much, his gimmick is great and his mic skills also are very good.

So, Christian owes TNA the fact that he is as great as he is today, like it or not, TNA has made Christian great and someone that at least everybody I know would like to see again on WWE with a second change opportunity, and the WWE knows it, they will try to reach him again at the end of his contract and he could be even bigger on WWE.

About face or heel discussion, I believe that Christian is great as face as he is as heel, I don't prefer any of the options but I liked more his matches as face because he showcased himself, as heel he couldn't, because a heel needs to win with "doing nothing all match and BAM!" type of matches.

 

[GUMBO2ndcoming]

Christian is deff. being misused in TNA. Not because he is a face, but because of this stupid tag thing rhino. Not that i dont like rhino, but Christian could be the flagship of the company like he was when he first came in. I know they're trying to turn Kurt Angle into the guy, but he's already been the guy in WWE. Booker is just there because he didnt want to lose to Triple h. So to the point he could be the big ticket for the company. They should utilize him right. On the heel/face thing he came in and won the world title as a face. So he can make it as one. He's better as a heel but it doesnt matter. Either way he's great in the ring and HILARIOUS on the mic....BTW on death grip inside pro wrestling on CNN i believe the guy that wont reveal himself is Christian. Anyone else???

 

[TNAw00t]

i dont really think hes bein misused. i think hes great heel or face, although i dont really like him and Rhino as a team, i think they're better as single wrestlers except cage cause i think he can do either, maybe be a face team with AJ styles or if booker wins the title maybe he could take it off of him and....stuff

 

[Miko]

I dont think Christian is being misused seeing how he is so versatile that the only way to misuse him would be to not have him at the top, his tag thing with Rhyno might not be great but theres still no doubting that there is still gold in the instant classics future and he is a popular guy.

 

[Monkey_Mania]

Nah I don't think he is being misused. He's a face right now and he's trying to win the affection of the fans back by doing this little petty stuff. Thats all fine and good. I do believe he works better as a heel, but it doesnt matter. Christian will once again find his way fighting for the championship once again.

However I don't think we will see Christian going after the title while Samoa Joe holds it. I'll wait for the title to go to Booker T. Then after that it should only be a matter of time before hes competing for it again.

 

[OverkillInc_Rage]

I would have to agree with most of you about the tag team with Rhino thing, I think it's dumb. I know Christian is an excellent tag wrestler but Rhino isn't and his inability I think is a detrimine to Christian. I like Christian, I knew in WWE he was never going to get a push to the top so when he went to TNA I was thrilled I thought "Finally this guy is going to have a place to shine and be a top tier contender." I thought he was great as champion and I think it's only because of his experience in WWE. He was basically doing the same thing there but didn't get any T.V. time or anything, he was just filler there. So I think he honed his skills in WWE and brought them all over to TNA to go to work and I think it was a good decision. Now he is a former Wrold Heavyweight Champion. I would have liked to see him hold it longer as one of you said, but I think they've done quite alright with him. I recall seeing him and Angle in a match a few months back on Impact and I was Sooo impressed with Christian, he had an amazing match with Kurt and took him to the limit, it was great. I couldn't believe it, he was really going toe to toe with Angle, and beating him at every pass. Of course at some point it all fell apart and I think A.J. styles interfered but it was a great match. That showed how much talent he really had and so I think for a final thought they have done very very well with Christian Cage.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Consistent main eventer? Check Given time to do the one thing he's truly great at? Check. I don't see how he's being misused. You can't expect TNA to push him month after month, year after year, in a top spot. He's got to step down on occasion. When he arived he was genuinely impressive acquisition. But now he's been replaced by Booker T, Angle & Sting. All of them are bigger name stars. He's not done bad despite this. He's held the NWA title twice, and he'll get another chance with the TNA title.

If anything it's better for him to step down from main eventing PPV's on occasion. Cage made Kaz look like more of a star in one night than everyone else he's faced in the past 6 months all together. There's also a reason why Cage doesn't bore most people. It's because he's not shoved down everybodys throat.

 

[africonda]

Man, I think I am the only one who does not think Christian is a main eventer. I personally think TNA is misusing him, he far better as a heel because as a heel he has more character, as a face he is cheesey. I may get knocked for this comparison, but i come it to Cena as a heel vs. face. As a heel Cena was great, i dont care what anyone says, he was cocky, brash, put on great matches, now as a face he is cheesey, matches are all the same, he gets beat down the whole time, then does like 5 or 6 moves and wins. I see Christian as the same way, as a face he isnt cocky, he isnt brash, his mic skills arent even being highlighted cause he isnt saying cocky or brash things. Putting him with Rhino is useless i think WWE and TNA both ruined Rhino, he was a beast!!!!! in the ecw days.

Now onto Christian being a main eventer, i dont know maybe for some reason I was trained by the WWE, but i seriously do not see him as a main eventer or championship quality, he was and always will be seen as a mid carder to me. He has the mic skills and I think that is it. His wrestling is good but TNA has so much home grown talent that should be in the main event I cant see Christian as being credible. The only champions in TNA that were exciting to me were Raven, AJ and Angle, Jarrets title reigns were boring and too long and the matches he had were terrible. Joe as a champion isnt doing it for me because they took too long to put the title on him. I dont know, I cant accept Christian as a main eventer, just seems weird to me, I admit he has put on great matches. I think i have this mindset because i think he was handed it because he was the big name coming from the WWE, i dont know. I personally think him, booker and angle should form their own alliances, all the old WWE stars to battle against TNA, i think that could bring in some ratings and have some great matches, aj , joe and whatever face tna can find against Christian, Angle, and Booker, that would be awesome...
what do you guys think

ps. i love this board, always great discussion

 

[Fearfactory311]

Christian Cage is not being misused at all. He's just taking his turn away from the spotlight. Like all wrestlers in any promotion do.

Triple H just got the World title back after letting Cena have it for almost 3 years (Trips took his turn AWAY from the spotlight, and now he's got it back). Bryan Danielson (the backbone of the current ROH) is taking a backseat to Nigel McGuiness (Danielson is taking his turn AWAY from the spotlight). AJ Styles was mid-card as a follower to Christian and Angle (after being a multi-time champion of every belt), and is just now on the rise to becoming the top face of TNA again (He took his turn AWAY from the spotlight, and is now getting his turn BACK to the spotlight again). He's gets a bigger pop than Joe at this point.

The bottom line is that Christian Cage, Cena, Bryan Danielson, and AJ Styles will ALL be world champions again. They're just taking turns in the spotlight.

 

[8five]

Here is what I think after seeing Christian at the JAP indy show tonight. You add the 5 second pose back to his character and he is instantly more effective and popular as a face. He can put on very good matches and just letting him play a more fan friendly interactive character would let him be properly used. As for his status..... TNA needs a second heavyweight title for this point in a headliners career as well as to bring up younger talent. Christian right now could be elevating others through a non world title and just helping the company in general.

 

[GeorgeM01]

Christian should go back to what was his bread and butter, being a tag team specialist. He wasn't ever really that good as a singles competitor. I like the fact that he is trying to be different, but you can't deny his talent as a tag team wrestler. and he is much better off being a heel than a face. Personally if AJ wasn't tied up in this Kurt and Karen love triangle gimmick, I would like to see Christian and AJ work together as a tag team.

 

[Gifted Music]

Ahh, the constant question that has plagued Christian's career...Is he being misused.. Everyone thought when he left WWE for TNA that we'd FINALLY get to see the real Christian.. Now, less than two years and two unforgettable title reigns later, we're left asking the same question.. Not even TWO years in to his TNA tenure, he's in the same spot he was in WWE.

Personally, I can't stand him as a face.. It just doesn't work for him.. He's made his name as a heel..It's what people love him as.. Not this asskissing face who goes around trying to "make things right" with people he's wronged in the past.. That's not the Christian Cage I wanna see.. I wanna see the Christian who led the Coalition... The Christian who feuded with Sting and complained of getting overlooked..

To answer your question, Yes he's being misused.. He's basically being used to fill spots against Angle's henchmen while Angle feuds with AJ.. He hasn't been in a meaningful feud in god knows how long and he's constantly put in meaningless Title matches with Team 3D teaming with Rhino and Kevin Nash.. Christian Cage and AJ Styles could be the Next Edge and Christian If TNA would commit to pairing them up full time. But they have to do some building back up of Christian Cage first because he's looking kinda bad at the moment.

 

[Mr Wrestlemania]

I DO think Christian has been being misused. My post will be heavily biased as I began to cheer for this guy when he first started referring to the fans as his peeps and began to transition into more of a tweener back in WWE. When he first arrived in TNA, he was the hottest shit ever. He was THE man. NWA Title win, getting carried on the shoulders of fans and everything! A couple of years, and more WWE defections later and he loses his spot on the radar completely. With each new veteran signing it seemed like Christian got bumped down just a bit more, and that's pretty crummy. While Kurt Angle (one of the best workers TNA has by the way) is out there running with the neverending storyline involving his wife, and getting hurt more and more every match, Christian is out there wrestling on Impact against Brother Ray. He should be going against Booker T for a chance at Samoa Joe! Or if he really wants to show his versatility, captain Team TNA in the World X Cup. He should headline something. He's certainly capable of doing so. If TNA had the luxury of showcasing more of their wrestlers (aka if they had more than one show) then Christian may be more visible, but until then he's going to just flounder around until they can fit him in the next King of the Mountain match.

 

[Mr Wrestlemania]

Ahh, the constant question that has plagued Christian's career...Is he being misused.. Everyone thought when he left WWE for TNA that we'd FINALLY get to see the real Christian.. Now, less than two years and two unforgettable title reigns later, we're left asking the same question.. Not even TWO years in to his TNA tenure, he's in the same spot he was in WWE.

Personally, I can't stand him as a face.. It just doesn't work for him.. He's made his name as a heel..It's what people love him as.. Not this asskissing face who goes around trying to "make things right" with people he's wronged in the past.. That's not the Christian Cage I wanna see.. I wanna see the Christian who led the Coalition... The Christian who feuded with Sting and complained of getting overlooked..

To answer your question, Yes he's being misused.. He's basically being used to fill spots against Angle's henchmen while Angle feuds with AJ.. He hasn't been in a meaningful feud in god knows how long and he's constantly put in meaningless Title matches with Team 3D teaming with Rhino and Kevin Nash.. Christian Cage and AJ Styles could be the Next Edge and Christian If TNA would commit to pairing them up full time. But they have to do some building back up of Christian Cage first because he's looking kinda bad at the moment.

I almost completely agree with you in that AJ and Christian could be great as a team, but not like Edge and Christian were. I could be wrong, but when they were that tag team it seemed like Edge was favored over Christian. Always. I could see them being more of a Rated RKO type of deal where they're an alliance but both strong in singles competition. AJ and Christian are both main event caliber (Hell, before influx of former WWE talent AJ was the face of that brand other than Jarrett) and could make it work as faces, but if they teamed up to bring down some heel guys and then both made a run at the TNA Title, then Cage could easily turn heel on AJ and both could run with it and have great matches.

 

[RVDgurl]

I consider myself a pretty big Cage fan, and I don't feel that he is being misused. He is a consistent face in the main event picture and TNA always incorporates him into a decent storyline. ust because he is not in the current title picture, doesn't mean he isn't receiving a decent push. I am hoping that TNA finally plays out a good storyline using Cage and Styles, since they have tremendous chemistry.

 

[Jappa121]

I believe TNA is misusing Christians full potential by just simply having him be face, Christian is such a good heel that It hard to see why they would contantly have him be face, Until they make him a bad guy again they are definatly misusing the "Instant Classic"

 

[Rusty]

I like Christian Cage as a face, I really do. I don't think he is really being misused as he is still firmly near the top of the card in TNA. I really want to see a Cage vs Booker T feud, preferable for the TNA title. The Christian/Rhino tag team is actually interesting and I personally like it because its unique.

I haven't seen Christian as a face much as Ive only seen a little of him when he was a heel in the WWE. Ive always liked Christian and I feel he is underrated by many. However, he needs to break out of his little tag team with Rhino so he can challenge for the TNA Heavyweight Title later down the track. I personally feel Rhino is holding him back and vice versa.

While I am aware of the fact that Cage works better as a heel, Ive seen him as a heel but I want to see if he works well as a face as well and so far he has done a pretty good job in my opinion. I hope he wins the TNA title sometime after Bound for Glory.