Christian Cage

Jason Reso
Born	(1973-11-30) November 30, 1973 Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Christian Christian Cage Captain Charisma Conquistador Dos The Male Nurse
Billed height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Billed weight
Billed from	"Tampa, Florida, by way of Toronto, Ontario, Canada"
Trained by	Ron Hutchison Dory Funk, Jr.
Debut	June 1993

William Jason "Jay" Reso^[1] (born November 30 1973) better known by his ring name Christian Cage, is a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. He is currently performing for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling where he has won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on two separate occasions.

He is also well known for his work in World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment as Christian. Reso initially rose through the ranks as one half of the tag team Edge and Christian, alongside his storyline brother and real-life longtime friend Adam Copeland.

Career

Early career

One of Reso's early lasting ring names, Christian Cage, was a spur of the moment combination of the names of the actors, Christian Slater and Nicolas Cage. Trained by Ron Hutchinson, Christian's wrestling career began in June 1993 in a match against Zakk Wyld a fellow trainee from Sully's Gym in Toronto. During 1997 he was part of THUG Life, a stable that included Joe E. Legend, Bloody Bill Skullion, Rhino Richards, and Cage's tag team partner and real life childhood friend Adam Copeland, who went by the ring name Sexton Hardcastle.

As a tag team on the Canadian indy scene, Copeland and Reso were known as "High Impact", and later "The Suicide Blondes". Also allied with Judd the Studd, the duo held titles in numerous wrestling promotions, and he held the East Coast Wrestling Association title before signing with the World Wrestling Federation in August 1998.

World Wrestling Entertainment (1998-2005)

The Brood

Main article: The Brood (professional wrestling)

When Reso came to WWF, he shortened his ring name to Christian. He made his televised debut at the September 27, 1998 pay-per-view entitled In Your House: Breakdown, distracting Edge during his match against Owen Hart to reveal his allegiance to Gangrel. He had some early singles success, capturing the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship in his debut match. However, his real success came while wrestling in the tag circuit. Christian, given the character of a vampire, formed a stable with Edge (who was finally convinced to join {kayfabe}) and Gangrel known as The Brood. The Brood briefly feuded with, then joined, The Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness, but upon learning that Christian was beaten down into telling Ken Shamrock the whereabouts of Stephanie McMahon, Undertaker wanted to punish Christian. More loyal to the Brood than to the Ministry, Edge and Gangrel turned on the Undertaker and rescued Christian.

Edge and Christian

Main article: Edge and Christian

The Gothic angle was successful, but soon after, Edge and Christian began to reach their full potential. On October 17, 1999, at No Mercy 1999, Edge and Christian competed against The Hardy Boyz (then known as The New Brood) in a Ladder Match for the Terri Invitational Tournament. Although the Hardys won the match, the careers of both tag teams soared, and fans gave them a standing ovation. After a run as faces most notable for their tendency to approach the ring via the audience, Edge and Christian redefined themselves as a bumbling comic duo of surfer / teenyboppers. They were most known for their "5 second poses" ("for the benefit of those with flash photography"), which mocked either the opponents or city they happen to be in. They repeatedly captured the WWF Tag Team Championship, as well as winning a Triple Threat Ladder Match and two TLC matches.

Friction arose within the team after Edge won the annual King of the Ring tournament. Christian appeared to be jealous, and insisted on carrying Edge's trophy to the ring. His true colors were revealed to the world after he assaulted his tag team partner Edge after he lost a WCW Championship Match to The Rock in September 2001. The former partners went on to feud over the Intercontinental Championship for several months.

Singles competition

The Un-Americans (Christian and Lance Storm)

Christian began a singles career, becoming known for throwing tantrums in the ring when he was unable to gain a pinfall. After a series of defeats, Christian announced that he was quitting (kayfabe) the WWF. Diamond Dallas Page persuaded him not to quit and adopted him as his protegé. He then betrayed DDP, later. Christian faced DDP for the European Championship at WrestleMania X8, but was defeated and once again threw a tantrum in the middle of the ring. Christian then formed a tag team with fellow Canadians Lance Storm and Test as part of The Un-Americans faction and then became the sidekick of Chris Jericho, with whom he once again won the Tag Team Championships.

During this time, The Rock jumped to the RAW brand as a reward from Mr. McMahon for defeating Hulk Hogan at No Way Out. Christian befriended him and was therefore told by The Rock himself that Christian was "his new favorite WWE Superstar". Delighted to hear that from The Rock, Christian began using many of The Rock's mannerisms, which varied from calling his fans "The Peeps" (similar to The Rock calling his fans "The People") to using The Rock's one arm raised victory pose. He even called himself "The New People's Champion". He used his new found charisma to defeat Booker T at Judgment Day 2003 for the vacant WWE Intercontinental Championship in a special nine man over-the-top-rope battle royal. The following night on RAW, he appeared on Chris Jericho's "Highlight Reel" talk show segment, sporting a new haircut and ring attire. The Rock would confront Christian on the "Highlight Reel" stating that The Rock is "The one and only People's Champion". Unhappy about this, Jericho and Christian assaulted The Rock, only to fall victim to The Rock Bottom and The Book End when Booker T made the save.

Late in 2003, Jericho and Christian started to court WWE Divas Trish Stratus and Lita, as part of a bet (for one Canadian dollar) to see who could have sex with the target first. Although the girls found out about the bet, Jericho and Stratus would stay together for the time being, leading to Jericho and Christian's split over her in early 2004. During a match between Christian and Jericho at WrestleMania XX, however, Trish turned on Jericho, allowing Christian to defeat him. Trish then joined forces with Christian, becoming his (kayfabe) girlfriend in the process. During a steel cage match against Jericho on May 10, 2004, Christian suffered a severe back injury, causing him to miss almost four months of ring action. He returned on the August 30 2004 edition of RAW, picking up where he left off and continuing his feud with Jericho.

Captain Charisma

Christian's gimmick became that of a cocky, overconfident heel, although he was popular in Canada and the United Kingdom. He dubbed himself "Captain Charisma". On December 6, 2004, he was forced to wrestle as Captain Charisma, complete with a superhero costume, by Chris Jericho, who was general manager for the night. Christian was often accompanied by Tyson Tomko, whom he called his "problem solver", and usually won his matches with interference from Tomko or by some other method of cheating. He wrestled with The Hurricane as part of a tag team called "The Heroes," for one night, then faced The Hurricane the next week in a battle of the heroes. After this, the heroes aspect of the gimmick was dropped - though Christian continued to go by the nickname of "Captain Charisma". Christian was loosely paired with Edge again several times in late 2004 and early 2005. Despite being a heel, he acquired a fanbase, who he refers to as his "Peeps", "Peepulation" (a play on the word "population") or the "Christian Coalition" (which later became the name of his and Tomko's stable in TNA). He was given new entrance theme music, an edited version of "Just Close Your Eyes" by the rock band Waterproof Blonde.

At the 2005 Royal Rumble, Christian had an encounter with John Cena and claimed that he was a better rapper than Cena. Over the next months, Christian began cutting promos denouncing John Cena as a 'poser'. Christian was noticeably cheered during these segments, and was thought to be finally rising into the main event picture. Soon after Cena came to RAW from SmackDown!, Cena went on to successfully defend the WWE Championship in a Triple Threat Match between himself, Christian and Jericho at Vengeance 2005.

Between the run-ins with Cena, Christian participated in the Money in the Bank ladder match at WrestleMania 21. He had a primary role in the parody trailer for Basic Instinct in connection with the "WrestleMania Goes Hollywood" theme at the event. On the June 30 episode of SmackDown!, Christian was the second-to-last man drafted to SmackDown! in the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery. He replaced The Big Show in a six-man elimination match for the new SmackDown! Championship, and lost to John Bradshaw Layfield. Christian had previously said in a promo that he hoped to be drafted to SmackDown! because the show needed a Canadian (though it had gotten one earlier in that same draft in the form of Chris Benoit). Christian bragged about how he was on the main event of both RAW and SmackDown! in the same week. Christian was soon given his own interview segment on SmackDown! called "The Peep Show."

Departure from WWE

On October 31, 2005, Reso quit WWE. According to Dave Meltzer, he was asked on the spot to sign a new contract. He declined to sign the contract, and his last match occurred during the tapings for the November 4, 2005 edition of SmackDown! Despite his quitting, Christian would appear on RAW and at Taboo Tuesday 2005, fulfilling his obligations to the company, as he was one of 5 SmackDown superstars eligible to be voted Rey Mysterio's partner by the fans. As WWE had already announced his departure, there were notable chants of 'We want Christian' during the match, ironic considering the fans hadn't voted him into the match.

Contrary to prior rumors, Reso later claimed during his TNA debut speech at Genesis 2005 that WWE did not lowball him on their contract offer; in fact, supposedly, they offered him "a very hefty sum" to stay. He had made the decision to leave months before his contract expired, and had agreed in principle to terms with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling prior to his departure. In that promo, Reso made several criticisms of WWE, citing the disproportionate amount of screen time allocated to Paul Levesque (Triple H) and the use of distasteful storylines, and claiming that WWE had become, like the now-defunct WCW before it, "old, stale, and lacking direction".

In August 2006, WWE challenged Reso's attempts to trademark the name "Captain Charisma", saying that it will cause confusion in the marketplace because the persona was created while Reso was under contract to WWE. WWE feels that anything that Reso called himself in WWE belongs to WWE. As a result, TNA has stopped selling "Captain Charisma" merchandise until this issue is resolved.

From early 2007 onwards, Reso began calling himself the Instant Classic, suggesting that WWE has been ceded the rights to the "Captain Charisma" name. However, he does continue to be referred to as "Captain Charisma" in off-screen appearances and sometimes wears his "Captain Charisma" entrance jumpsuits to the ring at house shows.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2005-Present)

Early face run

Christian Cage debut at TNA

Reso debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling at Genesis 2005 pay-per-view under his original ring name, Christian Cage. After teasing an alliance with longtime friend Scott D'Amore and Team Canada, he delivered an Unprettier to D'Amore and helped Team 3D drive Jeff Jarrett through a table, thus turning face. Cage's debut coincided with the death of fellow wrestler Eddie Guerrero. As a tribute to Guerrero, Cage incorporated Guerrero's signature frog splash into his repertoire.

Cage made his iMPACT! debut on November 19, engaging in a verbal sparring bout and then brawling with "The Alpha Male" Monty Brown. Cage's in-ring debut for TNA was a win against Team Canada's enforcer Bobby Roode. He defeated Brown at Turning Point to become the number one contender to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. At Final Resolution 2006, Cage and the returning Sting defeated Monty Brown and Jeff Jarrett.

On February 12, 2006 at Against All Odds, Cage defeated Jarrett to win his first World title, the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

On April 2, Cage entered into a feud with Abyss after a series of kayfabe videos showed Abyss and his manager James Mitchell stalking Cage's wife and entering his house. They feuded until Lockdown 2006 at which Cage successfully retained his title, but Abyss attacked him after the match and took the title belt. They continued against each other until Sacrifice where Christian regained his belt in a Full Metal Mayhem match.

Cage defended the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Abyss, Ron "The Truth" Killings, Jeff Jarrett, and Sting in a King of the Mountain match at Slammiversary 2006. The match was declared unofficial due to the intervening of Larry Zbyszko and referee Earl Hebner at the end of the match when Zbyszko and Hebner snatched the belt and helped Jarrett win. As a result of the finish, the belt was stripped away and declared vacant until Jim Cornette held a "company meeting" on the June 29 iMPACT!, where Cornette awarded the belt back to Jarrett on the condition that he defend it against the winner of a Fatal four way match at Victory Road 2006 involving Christian Cage, Samoa Joe, Scott Steiner, and Sting.

Heel turn & The Instant Classic

At Hard Justice 2006, Cage watched the Sting vs. Jeff Jarrett match from ringside, supposedly backing his friend Sting. However, at the end of the match, he hit Sting with a guitar, thus turning heel. Immediately following his actions, Cage would be questioned by Rhino. This would eventually lead to a confrontation between the two, as Cage claimed anger and betrayal at Rhino's questioning of his motives and loyalties, and then gave him the con-chair-to. Cage defeated Rhino at No Surrender 2006 after an Unprettier onto a steel chair. At Bound for Glory 2006, Cage earned another victory over Rhino in an 8 Mile Street Fight.

On the iMPACT! prime time debut, Cage faced off against Rhino in the first-ever Barbed Wire Six Sides of Steel match (a conventional Six Sides of Steel match, only with barbed wire bordering the top of the cage). Cage won when Rhino gored Cage with so much momentum, it sent Cage through the steel cage door and onto the floor. Cage then went on to defeat A.J. Styles at Genesis 2006. The next week on iMPACT!, Christian was reunited with his old 'Problem Solver' from WWE, Tomko, who made his debut in TNA attacking Sting during Cage and Sting's match. It was shortly after this that he began referring to himself as "The Instant Classic".

At Final Resolution 2007, Cage captured his second NWA World Heavyweight Championship by defeating former champion Abyss and Sting in a Three Way Elimination Match.

On the February 8 edition of iMPACT!, Scott Steiner attacked Kurt Angle, Samoa Joe and Rhino after a match between Angle and Joe against Cage and Styles, revealing himself as Cage's "special consultant" for his title defense against Angle at Against All Odds 2007, the same PPV where he originally won the title a year ago. At the aforementioned PPV, Cage defeated Angle after interference from Tomko and Steiner and the assistance of a lead pipe to retain the World Title. On the March 6 edition of iMPACT!, Cage had told Angle and Joe that with Tomko and Steiner, he heads a "family" he calls the Christian Coalition, here to prevent anyone from defeating him. Cage, Steiner and Tomko decided to help Abyss, as they beat Sting up.

At Destination X 2007, despite the Coalition's absence from his side (Tomko went to Japan while Steiner fully focused on facing Angle), Cage pinned Samoa Joe by reversing his patented Coquina Clutch into a pin, using the ropes for leverage. Cage became only the third man in TNA history to defeat Joe by pinfall (the others being Angle and Tomko). Prior to the match, he had an exchange with Japanese wrestling legend The Great Muta. At Lockdown 2007, Cage's team of himself, Abyss, Tomko, Steiner, and Styles lost to the team of Angle, Sting, Joe, Rhino, and Jarrett when Sting gained the winning pinfall on Abyss. Due to acquiring the pinfall, Sting earned a NWA World Heavyweight Championship match at Sacrifice 2007. On iMPACT! broadcast on May 3, Sting and Angle forced A.J. Styles to submit to a double ankle lock, setting up a three way for the NWA Title at Sacrifice. Due to a prematch stipulation, Jim Cornette gave both Angle and Sting the title shot.

On May 13, Cage was stripped of the NWA World Heavyweight Championship by NWA Executive Director Robert K. Trobich when the NWA ended its relationship with TNA. Despite this, Cage defended and lost the "World Heavyweight Championship" against Sting and Kurt Angle at Sacrifice later that night, after Angle forced Sting to tap out to his Ankle Lock, as Sting was pinning Cage. The following week on iMPACT! all three men claimed themselves champion. Jim Cornette came to the ring and announced none of the men where champion and announced a King of the Mountain match for the new TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Cage qualified by defeating Abyss via DQ. He went on to lose the match at Slammiversary 2007 when he was speared off the ladder by Chris Harris, and started a feud with him. Then, Cage would defeat Harris at Victory Road 2007 with help from the returning Dustin Rhodes. After Victory Road, Christian Coalition restarted their rivalry with Abyss & Sting. This would lead to a tag team Ladder match on iMPACT! of Cage & Styles versus Abyss & Sting, with the stipulation that if either Abyss or Sting would grab the contract on top of the ladder they would pick the match at Hard Justice 2007. Cage & Styles would lose after TNA debuting wrestler "The Punisher" Andrew Martin would help Abyss to grab the document. On TNA Today it was announced that Abyss choose a Doomsday Chamber of Blood Match. That match would end up with Cage leaving the match and the steel cage before the match ended. The winner of the match would end up being Abyss. On the August 16 iMPACT!, Cage got a shot to become the number one contender for the World Championship once again, after Abyss would put his contendership on the line in a First Blood Match. Thanks to Samoa Joe - who was infuriated, having overheard Cage claim himself "the real World Heavyweight Champion" just days after Joe had been played by Kurt Angle at Hard Justice - more than nullifying A.J. Styles' assistance to Cage, Abyss would win the match as Cage was busted open from chair shots by Joe and Abyss.

Moving into a feud with Joe, Christian defeated him at No Surrender 2007 by disqualification due to Joe attacking the referee after not releasing the Coquina Clutch on Cage. At Bound For Glory 2007, Cage lost to Samoa Joe, tapping out to the Coquina Clutch, thus ending his record 23 month undefeated streak by pinfall or submission since debuting in TNA. More recently, Cage has partaken in the Fight for the Right Tournament coming to a conclusion at Genesis, where he was about to defeat Kaz in "his" ladder match when Styles and Tomko came out against his orders and distracted him, allowing Kaz to pick up the pinfall. Minutes later, they would help Kurt Angle retain the TNA World Title against Kevin Nash, Sting, and the TNA-debuting Booker T, joining the "Angle Alliance" at that point and marking the possible loss of Christian's Coalition.

Independent circuit

In March 2006, Cage competed three times in the United Kingdom for the 1 Pro Wrestling promotion as a part of the All or Nothing event. His first appearance came on March 4 in Doncaster, England when he beat Rhino in a semi-main event match. Cage 'no-showed' his scheduled appearance on night two of All or Nothing, however it was revealed that 1PW and Cage had come to a deal beforehand, as Christian had to return to Canada to shoot a new movie project. Cage was kayfabe injured on an afternoon event by Abyss instead, and this was used to explain his absence from the second night's show. His actual second and third appearances were on two consecutive nights as a part of the Know Your Enemy event, where on night one he beat Steve Corino and on night two lost to Corino and Abyss in a three-way-dance for the 1PW Heavyweight Championship.

In May 2006, Cage made two appearances for the Ring of Honor promotion. His first appearance was on May 12 in Long Island, New York, at "How We Roll", in a tag match with Colt Cabana against Ring of Honor World Champion Bryan Danielson and Christopher Daniels. Cage and Cabana won the match after Cage pinned Daniels. His second appearance in a singles match against Christopher Daniels, who pinned him after an Angel's Wings. After the match, Daniels invited him to come back to Ring of Honor any time, and Christian accepted Daniels' offer.

In wrestling

• Finishing and signature moves
  • Unprettier (WWE and TNA) / Impaler (WWF) (Wrist lock inverted double underhook facebuster)
  • Frog splash - TNA; Used as tribute to his late friend Eddie Guerrero
  • One man con-chair-to
  • Reverse tornado DDT
  • Reverse DDT / Diving reverse DDT
  • Spike DDT
  • Gutbuster
  • Inverted facelock neckbreaker
  • Missile dropkick
  • Sitout inverted suplex slam
  • Spear
  • Cloverleaf

• Managers
  • Kenny Bolin
  • Gangrel
  • Lita
  • Terri Runnels
  • Trish Stratus
  • Tomko

• Nicknames
  • Creepy Little Bastard / C.L.B. (WWE)
  • Captain Charisma (WWE/TNA)
  • The Instant Classic (TNA)

• Theme music
  • Christian's last WWE theme was a slightly edited version of the Waterproof Blonde song entitled "Just Close Your Eyes". Notable edits included a violin intro, the insert of the violin within the song, and the use of only the chorus. After he left and went to TNA, he started using his current theme song, which is an instrumental version of "My Last Breath" by Evanescence covered by Dale Oliver entitled "Take Over". It is featured on the 3rd Degree Burns album.

Championships and accomplishments

• East Coast Wrestling Association
  • ECWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Insane Championship Wrestling
  • ICW Streetfight Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Sexton Hardcastle

• Pennsylvania Championship Wrestling
  • PCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
  • NWA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
  • TNA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)¹

• World Wrestling Federation | World Wrestling Entertainment
  • WWF European Championship (1 time)
  • WWF Hardcore Championship (1 time)
  • WWF/E Intercontinental Championship (3 times)
  • WWF Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • WWF/E World Tag Team Championship (9 times) – with Edge (7), Lance Storm (1) and Chris Jericho (1)

¹Title win and reign aren't recognized as official by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

Acting career

In March 2006, Reso began filming his part in Shoot 'Em Up, a film which was released on September 7th, 2007. Reso has a short speaking part, that of a Secret Service bodyguard for a United States Senator.

He also has a larger part as the character 'Ricky', a man whose best friend is in love with his lesbian ex, in the horror-comedy film, Dark Rising, which was released October 30th, 2007 nationwide in Canada, and to be released worldwide some time late 2007, early 2008.

On April 12, 2006, Reso taped an edition of "Casino Cinema" for Spike TV.

Personal life

Reso graduated from Orangeville district secondary school alongside fellow wrestler and best friend, Adam "Edge" Copeland. Reso has been married to his wife, Denise Reso, since May 25,2001.

External links

• TNA Profile
• Jason Reso at IMDb
• Dark Rising the Movie