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Profile: Christian Cage
Debuting for the World Wrestling Federation in September 1998 as Edge's on-screen brother and a member of The Brood under Gangrel, Christian won the WWF Light Heavyweight Title in his first televised match, defeating TAKA Michinoku. After being targeted by The Brood, Edge eventually joined the group, pairing up with Christian as a regular heel tag team. In early '99 the trio were absorbed into The Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness after being abducted by the evil cult-like group, but later became the only members to defect from the Ministry.
The Brood went on to feud with The Hardy Boyz, which saw Gangrel turn on Edge and Christian and recruit their opponents into The New Brood, leaving Edge and Christian as babyfaces. During the feud, Gangrel would be removed from the picture, and the teams' first high profile match was for $100,000 and the managerial services of Terri Runnels. The bout was a ladder match at No Mercy 1999, and turned heads with its innovative content before a victory for Matt and Jeff.
The No Mercy contest set the bar for the two teams, who were joined by The Dudley Boyz at WrestleMania 2000 for a three-way ladder match won by Edge and Christian, earning their first WWF Tag Team Titles (now the WWE World Tag Team Titles). Falling out with the babyface Hardy Boyz, Edge and Christian turned heel and began incorporating humor into their promos, introducing a five-second pose before their matches "for the benefit of those with flash photography." At SummerSlam 2000 and WrestleMania X-Seven, they would score further victories over the Hardy and Dudley duos in the first two TLC (Tables, Ladders and Chairs) matches.
After Edge won the 2001 King of the Ring tournament, a jealous Christian turned on him and the brothers feuded over the Intercontinental Championship. Briefly adopting a "temper tantrum" gimmick when losing a match, Christian then feuded with "motivational speaker" Diamond Dallas Page in early 2002 over the European Title, which Christian had won from Bradshaw on a house show. After little success against DDP, he briefly joined mostly Canadian faction The UnAmericans, before teaming up with Chris Jericho and debuting an interview segment named The Peep Show - referencing his new name for his fans, the "Peeps."
Jericho and Christian began feuding in early 2004 over Jericho's on-screen relationship with Trish Stratus, but at WrestleMania XX, Trish turned heel on Jericho to join Christian in a short-lived union. His partnership with Stratus was cut short by an injury he suffered in a cage match with Jericho, but the feud continued upon his return. During this time he also introduced a bodyguard, or a "problem solver," Tyson Tomko.
In early 2005, Christian began having run-ins with and cutting promos on John Cena, despite being on different brands. When Cena was drafted to Raw, he successfully defended the WWE Title against Christian and Jericho in a triple threat match, and Christian was drafted to SmackDown soon after. In October, he quit WWE, refusing to sign a contract when put on the spot. He quickly went on to debut for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling at Genesis 2005, using his old indy name of Christian Cage - a last minute combination of actors' names Christian Slater and Nicolas Cage. Refusing to align himself with Team Canada, he turned babyface by helping Team 3D - former enemies The Dudley Boyz - put Jeff Jarrett through a table.
At Against All Odds in February 2006, Cage defeated Jarrett for the NWA World Heavyweight Title, and went on to feud with Abyss. He would lose the title in a controversial King of the Mountain match at Slammiversary, where Championship Committee member Larry Zbyszko and referee Earl Hebner both aided Jarrett to victory. The title was declared vacant on the next episode of Impact.
At Hard Justice, despite assisting and teaming with Sting in recent months, Cage turned heel on his so-called ally by smashing a guitar over his head during Sting's match with Jeff Jarrett. Outraged by what he had seen, Rhino confronted his long-time friend Christian demanding answers, and the two began a violent feud.
At Final Resolution 2007, after introducing his old "problem solver" Tomko to TNA, Cage regained the NWA World Title by defeating Sting and champion Abyss in a three-way elimination match, last pinning Sting. He would go on to add Scott Steiner and AJ Styles to his stable of heels, dangling the carrot of a World Title shot in front of them in exchange for their help.
On May 13, prior to the Sacrifice pay-per-view, Christian was stripped of the NWA World Heavyweight Title by the National Wrestling Alliance itself when the NWA and TNA ended their business relationship. Cage would still wear the belt to the ring that night and be introduced by TNA as NWA World Heavyweight Champion, though would not be successful in his triple threat match against Kurt Angle and Sting.
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