Black Widow
10-30-2007, 08:02 PM
CHRISTIAN CAGE DISCUSSES TNA, HIS HORROR MOVIE, TOMKO'S IMPROVEMENT, BACKSTAGE POLITICS IN WRESTLING AND MORE
Jay Reso a.k.a Christian Cage joined Mauro Ranallo on Fight Network Radio this past week. Catch Fight Network Radio everyday on Hardcore Sports Radio at 3pm EST and archived at hardcoresportsradio.com
Mauro: I’m very happy to have live and in living color the original man of the peeps, the head of the Christian Coalition now known as Instant Classic, Jay Reso aka Christian Cage. The former NWA world heavyweight champion from TNA who’s in Toronto to promote a movie, Christian welcome to Fight Network radio my friend.
Christian: Hey thanks for having me, I appreciate it.
Mauro: Wow, first off here I am been a long time fan of yours but you come in the studio and blow me away recalling the days of Moron Renerdo what was that all about?
Christian: Mauro the mouth Ranallo. It’s like I told you, one day I was, a few years back when I was sitting back watching some Pride fighting and I saw you pop up on the screen and they put your name on the bottom. I said “Mauro Ranallo, where do I know that name from?” Then it hit me, Mauro the mouth Ranallo, B.C. All Star Wrestling. Can you get me Mojo the B.C. Hulks autograph?
Mauro: See there we go, this is the beauty about professional wrestling, no matter if your in front of 25 people or 25 000 people there’s that 6 degrees of separation. What’s it like to be back in Hogtown?
Christian: It’s always great to be back, you know, I love Canada . I love the people, you know so anytime I get to come back its special and its fun. I always get a chance to come back and see family and friends and some things like that but it is always never long enough.
Mauro: Yea, definitely and obviously you’re here for business reasons, you’re appearing in a new movie called Dark Rising. It’s gonna be screened tonight at the Scotia Bank theater in Toronto at 7pm, it will be available on DVD on Tuesday October 30th. Tell us a little bit about this movie. Can wrestling fans expect a super dose of Captain Charisma?
Christian: Yea, you know it’s basically my first; it’s my second movie that I had a chance to do but my first sort of big role. I basically play the best friend of a lead character, it’s kind of, it was a real fun character to pay. It’s a fun movie you know, like I said it’s a smaller budget movie but I think everything was kind of magical about this movie. From the casting to the way the cats gelled to the way the director put the film together. There was something about this movie right from the start and we al had a blast doing it and I am really proud of it. Like I said it’s just one of those movies, you go in there and it is what it is. You go in there and it’s a fun movie and everyone will laugh and I think will enjoy it.
Mauro: Are you a protagonist or antagonist in the flick?
Christian: I’m a little bit of both, I’m kind of the guy that always, the best friend that everyone always has. You should hate him but there’s something about him that makes you like him and he always puts his foot in his mouth so it was real fun to play.
Mauro: Is it a romantic comedy, an action flick, what is it?
Christian: It’s sort of, it’s more, it’s kind of….Sort of a campy kind of horror movie and comedy all rolled in to one. It’s a fun movie for sure.
Mauro: Alright well it is going to be screened tonight at the Scotia Bank Theater in Toronto . A lot of people say that professional wrestling is the worlds biggest acting school. How did you find going from what is really live theater in a way to being on a movie set? How much did it help you and how much is it different?
Christian: It’s different in the sense that you don’t get the immediate reaction that you get from fans; like you said it’s more of a live theater, like a stage production. Where you’re in the ring you get that immediate feedback. Where as with movie acting, your on the set and there are long days or long nights, as we did for this movie. We were 7 at night till 7 in the morning some times. It was all outside in September so it was freezing. Sometimes you have to do the same scene but you have to do different camera angles and different takes and “Oh maybe that didn’t work so well, try it this way.” So there’s more of a net to work with in the respect and it’s more tedious as far as getting the right camera angles and the right shots the director is looking for so. They have their similarities but they have their differences and I definitely think that wrestling is a great platform to learn acting. Especially add libbing and that sort of thing so in that respect it helped me out a lot. I don’t think wrestling gets enough credit for being, you know you see a lot of basketball players or other athletes or baseball players having a chance to do movies, even rappers and things like that, I don’t think any of those are as good of a training ground as being in the ring and being in front of a live audience wrestling and doing the back stage vignettes and things like that. I don’t think that platform is as good as the one we have to train to act.
Mauro: You have always had unique chemistry with anyone you’ve worked with. I know you and Edge of course, your long time Canadian friend Adam Copeland, you grew up near each other.
Christian: Saw him last night, had coffee last night.
Mauro: Oh really, obviously he is scheduled to make a return to the WWE, do you know when?
Christian: Yea, I think if he’s not cleared he’s about to be cleared.
Mauro: He’s looking good?
Christian: Yea, he looks great and he’s chomping at the bit to get back for sure.
Mauro: Now you went from WWE where you held many tag team titles with Edge to, TNA. Talk, just quickly about the reason you left, you were involved in what I thought was going to be a great feud with John Cena. At the time there were some very incredible promos going back and forth, what happened? Why did the rug get pulled out from under you there?
Christian: I’m not sure. You know I have speculated about it a lot and tried to play it over a bunch of times in my head and I can never figure it out. You know I just didn’t see my role there changing and I think I have always been under the belief that you let the people decide what they want. I think it was pretty apparent that they wanted to see me at another level and stay at another level, not moved up or down or stay at certain level. I think at the time I just didn’t see that changing. You know I was kind of worn out and burnt out from eight years straight on the road. With all that factoring in and other things and my contract coming up I just decided that maybe it’s time for a fresh start somewhere else. There are no hard feelings; I have nothing but good things to say about WWE. I know a lot of people that work there; I mean I don’t want to be the bitter guy. “Oh I hate that place, I hate everybody there, blah, blah, blah.” I don’t wanna be that guy because when it comes right down to it I had a great career there, made a lot of money so I mean what really do I have to complain about? You know it was just time for me to move on and I saw an opportunity in TNA to be able to step in right away and when we talked about the possibility about working together that is what they made me feel. That I could step in right away, be a factor, be one of the main guys and to really help this company to grow. Since I have been there the 2 years it has grown leaps and bounds so it’s exciting to be a part of something that’s growing.
Mauro: Were you ever cognizant of the fact that the so called smart marks in the pro wrestling media thought that when Edge and Christian would end that Edge would become Shawn Michaels and Christian would become Marty Jannetty. You really, obviously have grabbed the bull by the horns and become a huge commodity in the business but was there ever that danger, even being in WWE, did you feel that you were not going to be given the respect?
Christian: Sometimes you hear rumblings or people say stuff like that but I mean I always knew….
Mauro: Did that motivate you more?
Christian: Everything motivates me; I mean my biggest fear as a performer is failing. I never want to put myself in a position to fail and that is more than anything else I’m scared to have a bad match. I’m scared to have a bad promo, that’s the things that drives me most to be the best is that I don’t want to fail.
Mauro: I think that’s why you are successful because of that fear of failure. Once you become complacent, once you say “I’m the man, I’ve made it.” That’s when shit starts to happen.
Christian: Yea, I mean I still right before I go through the curtain no matter where it is, I still get nervous and to me that’s a sign that hey I don’t want this to go bad. You know what I mean? Once those butterflies and that nervousness goes away maybe it’s time to hang it up. But the thing is if I did hear any of those things, yea I heard it a little bit here and there but I mean I always knew what I could do. There was never a doubt, I never doubted my own abilities or the confidence I had in myself. I always knew if you’re going to open the door a crack for me, I’m gonna kick it open.
Mauro: TNA obviously gave you that opportunity, here we are 2 years later and the show has expanded to a 2 hour time slot on Spike TV Thursday nights. You guys are coming off probably one of the best pay per views the company’s delivered in a long, long time, everyone raving about your match with Samoa Joe. What was morale like before that pay per view and what’s it been like since? Has there been a big change? I mean you guys hit a home run and I’m going to be honest with you Christian, I’m one of the guys, I love the business, I love the product when it’s good but I’m one of the guys who’s been bashing the booking in TNA because frankly I don’t understand, at times, where it’s going.
Christian: Yea, I think the feeling before, I mean anytime we get a big pay per view especially one like Bound For Glory which is our biggest pay per view of the year, you know guys obviously want to be on the show. That’s the goal to be on that show and to be able to perform on the biggest stage in the company. So I think everybody was pretty excited leading up to it and I mean anytime at this point we can get that pay per view outside of Orlando, nothing against Orlando or the people in Orlando or anything like that. It’s just that they’ve seen so much there, I mean they see every pay per view, they see the TV 2, 3 times a month and they’ve seen everything so in that sense maybe a little bit spoiled. So now that we’re on the national television, we have a national television deal, we’re on Spike TV every Thursday night at 9. It’s nice to be able to get that product out there and take it live. Whether it’s a live event, a house show or a pay per view and the crowd in Atlanta was unbelievable. They were up for everything, I definitely think, honestly since I have been there that’s the best show we have had.
Mauro: I was going to say the same thing. That crowd, I mean it was an 8 out of 10, that crowd made it a 9 and a half.
Christian: I think personally, that’s the, that’s the kind of show we can deliver. That’s the kind of show we need to deliver and that’s how I feel about it.
Mauro: We talk many times here on this show that there’s WWE and what Vince McMahon’s vision of what professional wrestling is, there is Ring Of Honor which is the niche audience which has tremendous workers and a lot of TNA talent comes from Ring Of Honor. I always thought TNA could be an amalgam of both. Like the tremendous workers you guys have, like yourself, the tremendous promos, with that sports entertainment but not overly focusing on the gimmicks and storylines.. It seems to me and I know his name has come up and you can talk about him if you want but since Vince Russo has arrived ,I find the talent hasn’t been utilized properly, for the most part. Like look at we just saw with 3D coming in and destroying Sabin and Shelley.
Christian: Ya that’s true but also it‘s looking probably at the first piece of a puzzle. We will have to wait and see what happens with it and the way it unfolds before everyone is quick top pass judgment on it. It’s a hard job; I don’t think I would want to be in it.
Mauro: I was gonna ask you would you ever want to be a booker or writer?
Christian: I’m not sure, you know I think I would be more apt to help guys with their matches and things like that I think.
Mauro: You’ve been around the business a long time, what’s the job of a booker nowa days? What’s the difference between a booker and a writer and what should they be looking at?
Christian: I guess they should be booking the shows in a sense to build up the pay per views, I mean that’s what it’s all about right now right? Is building your TVs to sell a pay per view and that basically what a bookers job is, is to build the television, to build your television to sell your pay per view. That’s jist of it.
Mauro: How much do politics dominate TNA backstage?
Christian: I think politics are around in any form of job, entertainment especially. They’re there I’m sure but it’s not bad I don’t think. I know I’ve heard these rumors lately about different things happening Jarrett and Kurt but I haven’t seen any of that. I think those things get blown out of proportion, people take maybe a pebble and make a mountian out of it.
Mauro: We’re talking with Christian Cage, TNA superstar. He’s in Toronto for the screening of his new movie Dark Rising. Christian you guys have done some entertaining things, you Tomko and A.J. Styles. A.J. Styles has really come into his own as the group’s goofy heel sidekick, how impressed have you been with his performance lately?
Christian: I think A.J.s ability is second to none. The guys just an unbelievable athlete, I can only dream of doing the things that guys does in the ring. He just an unbelievable talent as far as in ring performance goes but I think as everybody knows if you want to get to a certtian level you have to have a little bit of everything. You have to have personality, you have to be able to talk and I think he has really come out of his shell. Not that maybe he was in a little bit of a shell but needed to find himself and I think that he’s doing a great job of it. I think you’re going to see him evolve from here in to something really special. I think that he’s going to take this, what he’s doing now, like you said being the goofy sidekick and he’s going to kind of over come that at some point and become what everyone really thinks he could be and that’s top star in the business. I mean he already his but he’s going to be one of the futures of this business for a long time.
Mauro: Someone who has impressed a lot of us and in a way maybe surprised us is obviously a friend of yours, your problem solver in WWE, Travis Tomko. We had Samoa Joe on the show not long ago and he said that he’s probably the most improved guy in the organization and wanting to do a program with him. Where is it do you think Travis has improved the most? I think time in Japan has helped but where do you see Travis Tomko going in this business?
Christian: I think Tomko, the sky's the limit for him. He’s got everything, he’s got size, he’s got the look and he’s got the right attitude. His attitude was that he just wanted to get better and he knew that he had to get better and that’s one of the reasons he went to Japan . He’s one of my best friends in the business, one of the closest guys; he’s one of my closest friends so I am rooting for him. They were a bit leery of it at first with him going in, going off of what they saw on WWE TV but he came in and he just impressed the hell out of everybody. So I think Japan really helped him and I think the turning point was, funny things happen when you realize that your 6 foot 7 and close to 300 pounds. When you finally realize that things start to happen so he using everything he has to his advantage and he’s doing a great job.
Mauro: Why do you think Andrew “Test” Martin never panned out? I mean another Canadian and obviously you know him well. What happened with Test?
Christian: I’m not exactly sure what exactly happen. I don’t think the doors closed on him, I just think right now I don’t think on either side they really know what was best to be done with him. So I don’t think the doors been closed on Andrew by any means and I think he’s a tremendous talent and he’s a good friend of mine also. I wouldn’t be surprised if you saw him there again at some point.
Mauro: Kurt Angle, what has he meant to TNA and what has it been like working with him?
Christian: Kurt’s a great guy, you know Kurt and I go way back and a lot of people don’t even know this but Kurt stood up in my wedding.
So ya, he’s a friend. I think that anytime you get a legitimate athlete like Kurt Angle, Olympic gold medalist, multi time world champion, coming to your company I think that adds legitimacy right away and credibility to your company and that’s what he’s brought.
Mauro: Obviously you know that the internet is rife with a lot of bullshit, with a lot of rumors and conjecture. We’ve heard the stories about Kurt Angle, the demons he’s possessed, the pain pill problems. He was arrested for DUI, I mean when I see him on TV I’m like is this guy some kind of magician, how does he do it? Has he been the model employee so to speak?
Christian: He has, he has been perfectly healthy since he’s been there and I say that with all honesty. He’s been terrific so, I mean I don’t know where all these rumors and all these things are coming from but he’s been a model citizen.
Mauro: Where do you want to see that character of Christian Cage go? How much more evolution are we going to see in your onscreen persona?
Christian: In this business I like to stay fresh and I kind of attribute that to Madonna, the way she is constantly changing and growing and evolving. You have to do it, you never want to become stagnant and that’s one thing. So I’m always trying to find something new, whether it’s a new nickname or a new little phrase to say or something kind of catchy. I’m always looking for something to do that will kind of keep refreshing myself. I am always thinking, I think wrestling all the time so sometimes things just come to me when I’m out there. I don’t even think about it, I just do it and that’s what you get and that’s one of the great things of being in front of live audience.
Mauro: That’s the key, the ability to ad lib like you said. Des in California , you’re on with TNA superstar Christian Cage, Fight Network Radio, what’s up?
Caller: Hey Mauro and Christian, Christian I just wanna say I’m one of your peeps, you really rule man. I wanna ask you I had read that you wrestled with Kurt Angle in his first ever match in the developmental tone. Can you just give me a like a detail of what he was like when he first started out in pro wrestling?
Mauro: Alright Des, thank you for your question. Sorry Christian couldn’t hear that. He said that you wrestled Kurt Angle in his first professional match or one of his first matches and what was he like when he first started?
Christian: Ya, you have a guy like Kurt he’s just a natural athlete; you know he picks up things real quick. Yea I did have his first match with him; I believe it was at an armory in Massachusetts and a few hundred people there, I think he may have been training for maybe 4 or 5 days at the time.
Mauro: He was a natural though right?
Christian: He was a natural. A natural from day one, he went out there, that match that we had you have thought he had been wrestling for 2 or 3 years professionally at the time. That’s how quick he picked it up.
Mauro: Allen Calgary, a great wrestling city, joining us on Fight Network Radio, you’re on with TNA superstar Christian Cage, what’s up Allen?
Caller: Guys how ya doing today?
Mauro: Good buddy. Ok, just give me the question for some reason Christian can’t hear you.
Christian: Sorry.
Mauro: No problem but what’s the question you have for Christian, Allen?
Caller: I am wondering who thinks the new up and coming star will be as a major headliner in the next couple of years?
Mauro: Within the business or within TNA?
Caller: Either one.
Mauro: Ok, thanks a lot Allen. Allen of course from Calgary, Stampede Wrestling city and I know we’re quickly running out of time but he wants to know who do you the next big thing in the business whether TNA or the entire sport, who do you see becoming a major player?
Christian: You know something; I think that as far as TNA goes I think that Robert Roode is going to step up here. He’s an unbelievable talent and he’s kind of untapped at this point. Anytime you see this guy on a live event or house show, he really goes out there and he really goes. He’s a great, great, great talent and I think that you’re really going to see him come up here in the next year or so. Like I said I can’t say enough about his in ring ability and I think he’s at the same stage like we were talking about with A.J. before, as long as he keeps developing his, he can talk but he really needs to develop his personality and keep going with that. I think that he will really find his groove in the next year or so.
Mauro: Christian, obviously you know this, you seem to know a lot about my family, as we’re wrapping things up, involved with Stampede Wrestling. I’m sure you followed the great years of Stampede wrestling as well, some of the biggest names coming from the sport. Teddy Hart recently axed again, I think it’s his 4th time with WWE. You’ve had dealings; I mean this kid has all the talent in the world, what’s the story with Teddy Hart, why is he not getting it together?
Christian: I don’t know, to be honest with you, I haven’t seen Teddy in a couple of years but every time I see him he is very pleasant to me and we always have good conversations so I don’t know what the deal is but I hope, he has a lot of raw talent for you. I don’t know what the deal is, I hope that he can get it together and things work out for him.
Mauro: Alright, it’s a special screening tonight at the Scotia Bank Theater in Toronto , its Dark Rising staring Christian Cage available on DVD October 30th. Christian it has been a pleasure my friend and best of luck to you.
Christian: It’s been my pleasure.
Mauro: I hope to have you on the show again sometime my friend.
Christian: Thank you
Mauro: Christian Cage, TNA wrestling, you can see it of course, 2 hours now, 9 o’clock, Spike TV every Thursday.
(Transcribed by Jenn Poczik)
PWInsider.com
Jay Reso a.k.a Christian Cage joined Mauro Ranallo on Fight Network Radio this past week. Catch Fight Network Radio everyday on Hardcore Sports Radio at 3pm EST and archived at hardcoresportsradio.com
Mauro: I’m very happy to have live and in living color the original man of the peeps, the head of the Christian Coalition now known as Instant Classic, Jay Reso aka Christian Cage. The former NWA world heavyweight champion from TNA who’s in Toronto to promote a movie, Christian welcome to Fight Network radio my friend.
Christian: Hey thanks for having me, I appreciate it.
Mauro: Wow, first off here I am been a long time fan of yours but you come in the studio and blow me away recalling the days of Moron Renerdo what was that all about?
Christian: Mauro the mouth Ranallo. It’s like I told you, one day I was, a few years back when I was sitting back watching some Pride fighting and I saw you pop up on the screen and they put your name on the bottom. I said “Mauro Ranallo, where do I know that name from?” Then it hit me, Mauro the mouth Ranallo, B.C. All Star Wrestling. Can you get me Mojo the B.C. Hulks autograph?
Mauro: See there we go, this is the beauty about professional wrestling, no matter if your in front of 25 people or 25 000 people there’s that 6 degrees of separation. What’s it like to be back in Hogtown?
Christian: It’s always great to be back, you know, I love Canada . I love the people, you know so anytime I get to come back its special and its fun. I always get a chance to come back and see family and friends and some things like that but it is always never long enough.
Mauro: Yea, definitely and obviously you’re here for business reasons, you’re appearing in a new movie called Dark Rising. It’s gonna be screened tonight at the Scotia Bank theater in Toronto at 7pm, it will be available on DVD on Tuesday October 30th. Tell us a little bit about this movie. Can wrestling fans expect a super dose of Captain Charisma?
Christian: Yea, you know it’s basically my first; it’s my second movie that I had a chance to do but my first sort of big role. I basically play the best friend of a lead character, it’s kind of, it was a real fun character to pay. It’s a fun movie you know, like I said it’s a smaller budget movie but I think everything was kind of magical about this movie. From the casting to the way the cats gelled to the way the director put the film together. There was something about this movie right from the start and we al had a blast doing it and I am really proud of it. Like I said it’s just one of those movies, you go in there and it is what it is. You go in there and it’s a fun movie and everyone will laugh and I think will enjoy it.
Mauro: Are you a protagonist or antagonist in the flick?
Christian: I’m a little bit of both, I’m kind of the guy that always, the best friend that everyone always has. You should hate him but there’s something about him that makes you like him and he always puts his foot in his mouth so it was real fun to play.
Mauro: Is it a romantic comedy, an action flick, what is it?
Christian: It’s sort of, it’s more, it’s kind of….Sort of a campy kind of horror movie and comedy all rolled in to one. It’s a fun movie for sure.
Mauro: Alright well it is going to be screened tonight at the Scotia Bank Theater in Toronto . A lot of people say that professional wrestling is the worlds biggest acting school. How did you find going from what is really live theater in a way to being on a movie set? How much did it help you and how much is it different?
Christian: It’s different in the sense that you don’t get the immediate reaction that you get from fans; like you said it’s more of a live theater, like a stage production. Where you’re in the ring you get that immediate feedback. Where as with movie acting, your on the set and there are long days or long nights, as we did for this movie. We were 7 at night till 7 in the morning some times. It was all outside in September so it was freezing. Sometimes you have to do the same scene but you have to do different camera angles and different takes and “Oh maybe that didn’t work so well, try it this way.” So there’s more of a net to work with in the respect and it’s more tedious as far as getting the right camera angles and the right shots the director is looking for so. They have their similarities but they have their differences and I definitely think that wrestling is a great platform to learn acting. Especially add libbing and that sort of thing so in that respect it helped me out a lot. I don’t think wrestling gets enough credit for being, you know you see a lot of basketball players or other athletes or baseball players having a chance to do movies, even rappers and things like that, I don’t think any of those are as good of a training ground as being in the ring and being in front of a live audience wrestling and doing the back stage vignettes and things like that. I don’t think that platform is as good as the one we have to train to act.
Mauro: You have always had unique chemistry with anyone you’ve worked with. I know you and Edge of course, your long time Canadian friend Adam Copeland, you grew up near each other.
Christian: Saw him last night, had coffee last night.
Mauro: Oh really, obviously he is scheduled to make a return to the WWE, do you know when?
Christian: Yea, I think if he’s not cleared he’s about to be cleared.
Mauro: He’s looking good?
Christian: Yea, he looks great and he’s chomping at the bit to get back for sure.
Mauro: Now you went from WWE where you held many tag team titles with Edge to, TNA. Talk, just quickly about the reason you left, you were involved in what I thought was going to be a great feud with John Cena. At the time there were some very incredible promos going back and forth, what happened? Why did the rug get pulled out from under you there?
Christian: I’m not sure. You know I have speculated about it a lot and tried to play it over a bunch of times in my head and I can never figure it out. You know I just didn’t see my role there changing and I think I have always been under the belief that you let the people decide what they want. I think it was pretty apparent that they wanted to see me at another level and stay at another level, not moved up or down or stay at certain level. I think at the time I just didn’t see that changing. You know I was kind of worn out and burnt out from eight years straight on the road. With all that factoring in and other things and my contract coming up I just decided that maybe it’s time for a fresh start somewhere else. There are no hard feelings; I have nothing but good things to say about WWE. I know a lot of people that work there; I mean I don’t want to be the bitter guy. “Oh I hate that place, I hate everybody there, blah, blah, blah.” I don’t wanna be that guy because when it comes right down to it I had a great career there, made a lot of money so I mean what really do I have to complain about? You know it was just time for me to move on and I saw an opportunity in TNA to be able to step in right away and when we talked about the possibility about working together that is what they made me feel. That I could step in right away, be a factor, be one of the main guys and to really help this company to grow. Since I have been there the 2 years it has grown leaps and bounds so it’s exciting to be a part of something that’s growing.
Mauro: Were you ever cognizant of the fact that the so called smart marks in the pro wrestling media thought that when Edge and Christian would end that Edge would become Shawn Michaels and Christian would become Marty Jannetty. You really, obviously have grabbed the bull by the horns and become a huge commodity in the business but was there ever that danger, even being in WWE, did you feel that you were not going to be given the respect?
Christian: Sometimes you hear rumblings or people say stuff like that but I mean I always knew….
Mauro: Did that motivate you more?
Christian: Everything motivates me; I mean my biggest fear as a performer is failing. I never want to put myself in a position to fail and that is more than anything else I’m scared to have a bad match. I’m scared to have a bad promo, that’s the things that drives me most to be the best is that I don’t want to fail.
Mauro: I think that’s why you are successful because of that fear of failure. Once you become complacent, once you say “I’m the man, I’ve made it.” That’s when shit starts to happen.
Christian: Yea, I mean I still right before I go through the curtain no matter where it is, I still get nervous and to me that’s a sign that hey I don’t want this to go bad. You know what I mean? Once those butterflies and that nervousness goes away maybe it’s time to hang it up. But the thing is if I did hear any of those things, yea I heard it a little bit here and there but I mean I always knew what I could do. There was never a doubt, I never doubted my own abilities or the confidence I had in myself. I always knew if you’re going to open the door a crack for me, I’m gonna kick it open.
Mauro: TNA obviously gave you that opportunity, here we are 2 years later and the show has expanded to a 2 hour time slot on Spike TV Thursday nights. You guys are coming off probably one of the best pay per views the company’s delivered in a long, long time, everyone raving about your match with Samoa Joe. What was morale like before that pay per view and what’s it been like since? Has there been a big change? I mean you guys hit a home run and I’m going to be honest with you Christian, I’m one of the guys, I love the business, I love the product when it’s good but I’m one of the guys who’s been bashing the booking in TNA because frankly I don’t understand, at times, where it’s going.
Christian: Yea, I think the feeling before, I mean anytime we get a big pay per view especially one like Bound For Glory which is our biggest pay per view of the year, you know guys obviously want to be on the show. That’s the goal to be on that show and to be able to perform on the biggest stage in the company. So I think everybody was pretty excited leading up to it and I mean anytime at this point we can get that pay per view outside of Orlando, nothing against Orlando or the people in Orlando or anything like that. It’s just that they’ve seen so much there, I mean they see every pay per view, they see the TV 2, 3 times a month and they’ve seen everything so in that sense maybe a little bit spoiled. So now that we’re on the national television, we have a national television deal, we’re on Spike TV every Thursday night at 9. It’s nice to be able to get that product out there and take it live. Whether it’s a live event, a house show or a pay per view and the crowd in Atlanta was unbelievable. They were up for everything, I definitely think, honestly since I have been there that’s the best show we have had.
Mauro: I was going to say the same thing. That crowd, I mean it was an 8 out of 10, that crowd made it a 9 and a half.
Christian: I think personally, that’s the, that’s the kind of show we can deliver. That’s the kind of show we need to deliver and that’s how I feel about it.
Mauro: We talk many times here on this show that there’s WWE and what Vince McMahon’s vision of what professional wrestling is, there is Ring Of Honor which is the niche audience which has tremendous workers and a lot of TNA talent comes from Ring Of Honor. I always thought TNA could be an amalgam of both. Like the tremendous workers you guys have, like yourself, the tremendous promos, with that sports entertainment but not overly focusing on the gimmicks and storylines.. It seems to me and I know his name has come up and you can talk about him if you want but since Vince Russo has arrived ,I find the talent hasn’t been utilized properly, for the most part. Like look at we just saw with 3D coming in and destroying Sabin and Shelley.
Christian: Ya that’s true but also it‘s looking probably at the first piece of a puzzle. We will have to wait and see what happens with it and the way it unfolds before everyone is quick top pass judgment on it. It’s a hard job; I don’t think I would want to be in it.
Mauro: I was gonna ask you would you ever want to be a booker or writer?
Christian: I’m not sure, you know I think I would be more apt to help guys with their matches and things like that I think.
Mauro: You’ve been around the business a long time, what’s the job of a booker nowa days? What’s the difference between a booker and a writer and what should they be looking at?
Christian: I guess they should be booking the shows in a sense to build up the pay per views, I mean that’s what it’s all about right now right? Is building your TVs to sell a pay per view and that basically what a bookers job is, is to build the television, to build your television to sell your pay per view. That’s jist of it.
Mauro: How much do politics dominate TNA backstage?
Christian: I think politics are around in any form of job, entertainment especially. They’re there I’m sure but it’s not bad I don’t think. I know I’ve heard these rumors lately about different things happening Jarrett and Kurt but I haven’t seen any of that. I think those things get blown out of proportion, people take maybe a pebble and make a mountian out of it.
Mauro: We’re talking with Christian Cage, TNA superstar. He’s in Toronto for the screening of his new movie Dark Rising. Christian you guys have done some entertaining things, you Tomko and A.J. Styles. A.J. Styles has really come into his own as the group’s goofy heel sidekick, how impressed have you been with his performance lately?
Christian: I think A.J.s ability is second to none. The guys just an unbelievable athlete, I can only dream of doing the things that guys does in the ring. He just an unbelievable talent as far as in ring performance goes but I think as everybody knows if you want to get to a certtian level you have to have a little bit of everything. You have to have personality, you have to be able to talk and I think he has really come out of his shell. Not that maybe he was in a little bit of a shell but needed to find himself and I think that he’s doing a great job of it. I think you’re going to see him evolve from here in to something really special. I think that he’s going to take this, what he’s doing now, like you said being the goofy sidekick and he’s going to kind of over come that at some point and become what everyone really thinks he could be and that’s top star in the business. I mean he already his but he’s going to be one of the futures of this business for a long time.
Mauro: Someone who has impressed a lot of us and in a way maybe surprised us is obviously a friend of yours, your problem solver in WWE, Travis Tomko. We had Samoa Joe on the show not long ago and he said that he’s probably the most improved guy in the organization and wanting to do a program with him. Where is it do you think Travis has improved the most? I think time in Japan has helped but where do you see Travis Tomko going in this business?
Christian: I think Tomko, the sky's the limit for him. He’s got everything, he’s got size, he’s got the look and he’s got the right attitude. His attitude was that he just wanted to get better and he knew that he had to get better and that’s one of the reasons he went to Japan . He’s one of my best friends in the business, one of the closest guys; he’s one of my closest friends so I am rooting for him. They were a bit leery of it at first with him going in, going off of what they saw on WWE TV but he came in and he just impressed the hell out of everybody. So I think Japan really helped him and I think the turning point was, funny things happen when you realize that your 6 foot 7 and close to 300 pounds. When you finally realize that things start to happen so he using everything he has to his advantage and he’s doing a great job.
Mauro: Why do you think Andrew “Test” Martin never panned out? I mean another Canadian and obviously you know him well. What happened with Test?
Christian: I’m not exactly sure what exactly happen. I don’t think the doors closed on him, I just think right now I don’t think on either side they really know what was best to be done with him. So I don’t think the doors been closed on Andrew by any means and I think he’s a tremendous talent and he’s a good friend of mine also. I wouldn’t be surprised if you saw him there again at some point.
Mauro: Kurt Angle, what has he meant to TNA and what has it been like working with him?
Christian: Kurt’s a great guy, you know Kurt and I go way back and a lot of people don’t even know this but Kurt stood up in my wedding.
So ya, he’s a friend. I think that anytime you get a legitimate athlete like Kurt Angle, Olympic gold medalist, multi time world champion, coming to your company I think that adds legitimacy right away and credibility to your company and that’s what he’s brought.
Mauro: Obviously you know that the internet is rife with a lot of bullshit, with a lot of rumors and conjecture. We’ve heard the stories about Kurt Angle, the demons he’s possessed, the pain pill problems. He was arrested for DUI, I mean when I see him on TV I’m like is this guy some kind of magician, how does he do it? Has he been the model employee so to speak?
Christian: He has, he has been perfectly healthy since he’s been there and I say that with all honesty. He’s been terrific so, I mean I don’t know where all these rumors and all these things are coming from but he’s been a model citizen.
Mauro: Where do you want to see that character of Christian Cage go? How much more evolution are we going to see in your onscreen persona?
Christian: In this business I like to stay fresh and I kind of attribute that to Madonna, the way she is constantly changing and growing and evolving. You have to do it, you never want to become stagnant and that’s one thing. So I’m always trying to find something new, whether it’s a new nickname or a new little phrase to say or something kind of catchy. I’m always looking for something to do that will kind of keep refreshing myself. I am always thinking, I think wrestling all the time so sometimes things just come to me when I’m out there. I don’t even think about it, I just do it and that’s what you get and that’s one of the great things of being in front of live audience.
Mauro: That’s the key, the ability to ad lib like you said. Des in California , you’re on with TNA superstar Christian Cage, Fight Network Radio, what’s up?
Caller: Hey Mauro and Christian, Christian I just wanna say I’m one of your peeps, you really rule man. I wanna ask you I had read that you wrestled with Kurt Angle in his first ever match in the developmental tone. Can you just give me a like a detail of what he was like when he first started out in pro wrestling?
Mauro: Alright Des, thank you for your question. Sorry Christian couldn’t hear that. He said that you wrestled Kurt Angle in his first professional match or one of his first matches and what was he like when he first started?
Christian: Ya, you have a guy like Kurt he’s just a natural athlete; you know he picks up things real quick. Yea I did have his first match with him; I believe it was at an armory in Massachusetts and a few hundred people there, I think he may have been training for maybe 4 or 5 days at the time.
Mauro: He was a natural though right?
Christian: He was a natural. A natural from day one, he went out there, that match that we had you have thought he had been wrestling for 2 or 3 years professionally at the time. That’s how quick he picked it up.
Mauro: Allen Calgary, a great wrestling city, joining us on Fight Network Radio, you’re on with TNA superstar Christian Cage, what’s up Allen?
Caller: Guys how ya doing today?
Mauro: Good buddy. Ok, just give me the question for some reason Christian can’t hear you.
Christian: Sorry.
Mauro: No problem but what’s the question you have for Christian, Allen?
Caller: I am wondering who thinks the new up and coming star will be as a major headliner in the next couple of years?
Mauro: Within the business or within TNA?
Caller: Either one.
Mauro: Ok, thanks a lot Allen. Allen of course from Calgary, Stampede Wrestling city and I know we’re quickly running out of time but he wants to know who do you the next big thing in the business whether TNA or the entire sport, who do you see becoming a major player?
Christian: You know something; I think that as far as TNA goes I think that Robert Roode is going to step up here. He’s an unbelievable talent and he’s kind of untapped at this point. Anytime you see this guy on a live event or house show, he really goes out there and he really goes. He’s a great, great, great talent and I think that you’re really going to see him come up here in the next year or so. Like I said I can’t say enough about his in ring ability and I think he’s at the same stage like we were talking about with A.J. before, as long as he keeps developing his, he can talk but he really needs to develop his personality and keep going with that. I think that he will really find his groove in the next year or so.
Mauro: Christian, obviously you know this, you seem to know a lot about my family, as we’re wrapping things up, involved with Stampede Wrestling. I’m sure you followed the great years of Stampede wrestling as well, some of the biggest names coming from the sport. Teddy Hart recently axed again, I think it’s his 4th time with WWE. You’ve had dealings; I mean this kid has all the talent in the world, what’s the story with Teddy Hart, why is he not getting it together?
Christian: I don’t know, to be honest with you, I haven’t seen Teddy in a couple of years but every time I see him he is very pleasant to me and we always have good conversations so I don’t know what the deal is but I hope, he has a lot of raw talent for you. I don’t know what the deal is, I hope that he can get it together and things work out for him.
Mauro: Alright, it’s a special screening tonight at the Scotia Bank Theater in Toronto , its Dark Rising staring Christian Cage available on DVD October 30th. Christian it has been a pleasure my friend and best of luck to you.
Christian: It’s been my pleasure.
Mauro: I hope to have you on the show again sometime my friend.
Christian: Thank you
Mauro: Christian Cage, TNA wrestling, you can see it of course, 2 hours now, 9 o’clock, Spike TV every Thursday.
(Transcribed by Jenn Poczik)
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