Jim Ross Discusses The 'Unique Journey' Of AEW's Christian Cage

It's been a long road for Christian Cage since his professional wrestling career began in 1995. He has enjoyed two runs with WWE, as well as a successful stint with TNA between 2005 and 2008. At present, "Captain Charisma" is the reigning AEW TNT Champion while in the midst of a feud with Adam Copeland, his longtime friend and former tag team partner. On a recent episode of his "Grilling JR" podcast, WWE Hall of Famer and AEW broadcaster, Jim Ross recently talked about Cage's wrestling journey. 

"He's had a very unique journey with some interruptions," Ross said. "He was the underachiever. He was, 'Oh yeah, that's Edge's partner.' You know what I mean? He had a hard time building his own identity. I think probably going to TNA helped him as much as anything because he got the chance to be in the spotlight and work in main event slots on television to see how he would deliver, and he delivered well."

Ross described Cage as "a hell of a worker," but his favorite aspect about the former WWE Intercontinental Champion is his verbal skills. Cage, who briefly retired from the ring between 2014 and 2019 due to injury, has been able to utilize his ability on the microphone to become one of the top bad guys in AEW — with henchmen Killswitch (formerly Luchasaurus) and Nick Wayne by his side. Although many feel that Cage is delivering some of his finest work right, Ross thinks that fans are still "way away from seeing the best" of Cage.

When asked if he thought there was such a thing as "wrestler prime," Ross answered that he didn't really think so but also admitted that Cage, who turned 50 years old on November 30, was an exception. Ross pointed out that Cage has been delivering some of his most stellar work recently between being the leader of the Patriarchy to his singles matches on AEW programming.

Before Cage signed his first deal with WWE in 1998, Copeland approached Ross, who was the Head of Talent Relations at WWE at the time, about signing his best friend. Ross spoke about when Cage was first on his radar.

"It was early," Ross said. "It wasn't too long after I signed Adam. I knew of him because here's the thing: Looking at tapes of Adam, it generally included Christian ... He was on as much tape as I watching of Edge, Adam, as Adam was ... Jay's [Christian's real given name] biggest issue is that everybody knows, to some degree, Vince McMahon is a body guy ... I think we can all agree, without being naughty, that Christian's body is not his forte. He's athletic, he's lean. I like it, because it's a different look than the typical vision of a pro wrestler these days."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Grilling JR" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.