Taken from Tyson Tomko's interview on Monday Night Mayhem (04/17/06)
Tomko has been extremely impressed with his good friend, Christian Cage, and his reign as NWA World Heavyweight Champion. Tyson mentioned to Blade & Mosh that he keeps in constant contact with “Captain Charisma," and that he is still one of his closest friends in the wrestling business. He is extremely happy for him and wishes him all of the best in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Tomko sees Christian as a huge asset to TNA, and that nothing but good things can come from their mutual relationship.

Taken from Tracy Brooks interview on WrestlingEpicenter.com
When, on an episode of iMPACT!, Christian Cage referred to Tracy's breasts by saying "Nice bulbs." Cage had asked permission to say it before the bit, then apologized afterwards. Tracy then says it didn't bother her in the least, as she "bounces" to the ring. She then says that her joke is that she's "nothing but floating breasts."

Taken from Tommy Dreamer's interview in "The Sun"
Which star from TNA would you most like to see signed for the WWE? Sarah Dunne, Co. Cork, Ireland

I like a lot of their guys.

I'm a big fan of Abyss, AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels and can't say enough good things about Christian.

It's also nice to see good friends of mine from ECW and WWE getting the chance to do well in TNA.

I think it's great to have competition in the wrestling business and Vince McMahon would say that himself.



Taken from an interview Batista did in Germany

Batista also talked about TNA being a possible serious competitor to WWE. He'd wish that would happen. TNA has got a lot of talent but their problem is their low budget, which keeps them from being a serious competitor so far. He wishes them all the best and competition would always be the best for the business. He understands that some of his friends left WWE and went to TNA, because many of them needed to in order to feed their family and make a living. It might be selfish saying it, but he wants Christian back to WWE. Christian is still one of his best friends and many people underrate his talent. Batista hopes TNA builds anything around him because Christian is great worker and very creative. He's so happy for him being in the spotlight right now and wishes him and TNA all the best.
wwe-germany.net


Taken from an interview with Monty Brown from Slam! Wrestling
But first, he'll have to get past the popular Christian Cage at this weekend's Pay-Per-View show, Turning Point, in a Number One Contender's match. This will be Cage's first PPV match for the company, and Brown is glad to be the man on the other side of the ring.

"I'm looking forward to (working with Christian) a lot. I think, as you saw the other day on Impact, that we have really good chemistry together. Christian's a heck of a worker, it's going to be a big challenge for me to get in there with a guy of his caliber."

As both men are excellent promo guys as well (though, admittedly, Brown's allusions to life on the Serengeti and his occasional bizarre tangents are an acquired taste), so if this feud goes on after Turning Point, fans can expect to be treated to an excellent war of words as well. While Brown doesn't know if the two will work a long-term program, he would definitely look forward to the opportunity.

"We did a great number (in terms of ratings) for that segment," Brown said proudly. "It was one of the hottest segments that's ever been on Impact. I know I held my own when we were mic to mic. Honestly, I don't think there's a man on the planet that I can't rip the stick with, and I don't think there's a man on the planet that I can't get in and work with in the ring. I can't tell you where it's going (with Christian), but I've really enjoyed what we've done together so far."


Taken from an interview with Matt Sabin from Slam! Wrestling
The recent departing of Jay Reso, better known as Christian, from WWE has started the rumor mill around the wrestling world. With Reso living close to TNA television headquarters in Orlando, Florida, it is only natural that the former "Captain Charisma" would take a look at competing for the promotion.

Certainly someone with Reso's star power would be a fantastic addition to the TNA locker room and may even attract some WWE viewers to take a look at the "competition's" product. Sabin believes that the celebrity rub from Reso would be excellent for TNA. "I think that would really help having someone as popular as he was in WWE. That would be really cool; he'd do nothing but help us out."

Taken from Matt Hardy's Byte This interview
He is also best friends with Christian and although he hated to see him leave, “In life you have to be happy and I think he was kind of at the point where he wasn’t necessarily happy doing what he was doing.” Matt says that on a selfish note he would have loved to be able to go out and wrestle against or with him every night because he is that good. Matt reports that Christian was torn about leaving WWE. “For the last couple of weeks this was something that was burning inside of him and we talked about this. And it was a really hard decision because this is his home, he loves the WWE but it was just at the point in his life where… I mean, it’s hard here… We’re on the road constantly, non stop.” He points out that WWE has a two-week tour of Europe coming up soon. It’s not a normal schedule and so it was a tough decision and one that Christian needed to make.

Taken from Chris Jericho's BetweenTheRopes interview
When asked about his good friend Christian leaving WWE, Jericho said he's very proud of him for walking away on his own terms. He said it took a lot of guts. "He's a great performer, he's a great talker, he's a great wrestler, he's a great character. He's just not 6'6", 300 pounds of shredded muscle. And that shouldn't make a difference, but for some reason it does. He never got his due that he deserved."

Asked whether Christian would do well in TNA, "I think he would do great because all he needs is a little bit of a push which would give him the confidence to be that top guy that Vince didn't think he could be. That's why I'm glad that he left. He needed to get away from there and they're going to see the talent roster is getting thinner and thinner and thinner. And these guys that they're bringing in just aren't ready for the spot. But they have no choice because they have nobody else. If you lose a guy like Chris Jericho, if you lose a guy like Christian, if you lose a guy like Steve Austin, there's only so many of those guys you could lose before you basically have amateur hour on live TV. It's becoming that way. Guys are working hard and trying, but you can't take a guy who has only been wrestling for two years and put him in a main event spot. He just doesn't know what to do. A guy like Christian to go to TNA is great for him and great for that company because they need guys who are considered top stars that show up in TNA that haven't been fired."

Taken from an interview with Randy Orton
Are you surprised that Christian didn’t renew his contract?
Randy: You know ah, Christian and I, we were friends, we didn’t talk too much, but ah… I knew enough to know that … you know and I’d been in the ring with him of course enough to know that he is a talented dude, man, he can really have a good match with anybody. I think he just felt as if he was, ah… he was capable of doing a lot more than what he was doing on the show, and whether he was frustrated with the Company or himself, or the writers or whatever it was, I think that, you know, one of his, ah, you know, one of his deals was he hasn’t missed a show, except for like about 3 months ago, when he hurt his back wrestling RVD, he hasn’t missed a show since then in 8 years, with the Company, and I think that, I think that he’s just burnt out.

You know I think him, just like Jericho, you know, a couple of years go by, maybe 6 months, a year, you know, they’re gonna know people are gonna want them back. I think it’s just a matter of them going out and going away, you know, getting their head on straight, resting, and just getting that ah, getting that feel for it again. And they’re gonna get it.

Once you do this, once you wrestle in front of a crowd, you get a response, and you kind of feel like, people sitting in those seats have paid to see you, there’s nothing else you can picture doing. Like I said before, I can’t picture myself doing anything else, and I don’t think either of them can, either, and they just have enough money right now, where they can take a year off, raise a, raise a child, you know, enjoy their wives, their lives, and ah, come back and be more over than they were when they left, just because of that absence. You know, and I think that’s the smart way to do it. You know, if you do it the right way, of course.
Credit: NZPWI.co.nz


Matt Hardy's Homecoming loss leads to a SmackDown homecoming
By Ed Williams III (WWE.com)
October 14, 2005

Just weeks after coming up short in a Loser Leaves RAW Ladder Match to Edge, Hardy has found a new home on SmackDown. In fact, Hardy will make his SmackDown debut next week on the Peep Show, which is hosted by a Superstar Matt is very familiar with - Christian.

WWE.com: Who are you most looking forward to working with on SmackDown?

Matt Hardy: Right now, one of the first guys that stands out, of course, is Christian. I’ve done so many great things with him in the past. I think he’s an amazing athlete in the ring as well as an amazing personality out of the ring. Then you have guys like Rey Mysterio, JBL who has come so far; he’ll be interesting to work with. And obviously, the Champion, Batista. When I go to SmackDown, my goal is to be the World Heavyweight Champion at some point. I’m going to aim high. To me, if you don’t go in there with the goal to become the Champion, you’re not going in with the right mindset. I just feel like now I’m at a time in my life where I have enough knowledge of the wrestling business and my body is in the best condition it’s ever been in. I feel like now I’m one of the best competitors in the entire wrestling business. I want to give everyone a run for their money. Shawn Michaels always says he’s the Showstopper, I want to go out there night in and night out and be the showstopper. There’s also other guys like Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit that I’ve never wrestled that I look forward to facing.

WWE.com: You also have a history with Christian from your tag team days. What will it be like being on the Peep Show with him?

Matt Hardy: I’m just looking forward to getting out in front of my SmackDown fans and making the official announcement that Matt Hardy is coming home. In a lot of ways SmackDown is what created Matt Hardy as a singles wrestler. In some ways it feels right to go back there and be a member of the blue team. Although, I hated to leave RAW under the circumstances in which I did. But I feel like everything happens for a reason, and SmackDown is where I need to be. It’s time for Matt Hardy to achieve all the dreams and goals I’ve always dreamt of.




Audience with The Animal
The Sun Online interview with Batista
October 15, 2005

The LilsBoys: When we interviewed you before WrestleMania you said Smackdown made you "sick" and that some of the stars were "not there to work" - did you get much heat for those comments?

Batista: Oh yes - tons of heat!

I got lectured by Vince McMahon, The Undertaker and all the way down. I had good friends who just turned on me. Well, I thought they were good friends. Some of them are not with the company now.

But I spoke from my heart then and I still feel that today.

Maybe I chose the wrong forum to voice that opinion but I was speaking from the heart.

When we were having that discussion we were talking about the competition between Raw and Smackdown.

I didn't mention anybody on Raw, but there were guys on Raw I had the same sentiment about - who were absolutely lazy, had no passion and I thought should not be there.

The same goes now. I'm putting my foot in my mouth again but I still think there are guys on both shows who are lazy, couldn't care less and show no dedication. But we're slowly weeding those guys out.

I want everybody in this company to work as hard as me, Triple H and The Undertaker do. I want them to sack the guys who lack the passion for this business and this company - I don't want them to be part of my show. Some of the guys who I think should be on their way out the door are still being given opportunities to shine, and it's up to them to take the bull by the horns and show that they really want to be out there.

Then there are some guys, like Christian, who are dying for that chance and aren't being given that opportunity.

I'm a huge fan of Christian - I enjoy every aspect of his work, the fans love and appreciate him, he has a great attitude, awesome work ethic, is always in shape and is very smart about the business. I feel very strongly that he's underutilised.


Taken from an interview with Edge from Silvervision.co.uk

Before WWE you wrestled as Sexton Hardcastle - who came up with that name?
Actually a friend of mine that now wrestles as Sin came up with the name - we would always sit in French Class and come up with names, we didn't pay attention at all in French class, I took ten years of it and didn't retain any of it, that's because we sat there and thought of character names and just weird stupid names. Christian, was "sweet daddy freak out" - I was the "Blonde bomber splint", and Sin he came up with the name Sexton Hardcastle - he thought the first name Sexton was the coolest name he had ever heard and he liked the TV show Hardcastle and McCormick so he combined the two and I thought it was ridiculous but I loved it. So when I took my character basically it was about Venus, I was a promiscuous character I guess and I asked Nick (Sin) can I use Sexton Hardcastle cause it would fit perfectly.

You formed a friendship with Christian - How long have you known him?
We were actually friends way before we got into wrestling, he moved to my town in grade 6 (11 years old) and we both liked wrestling at that point everyone liked it, but we were the 2 diehards. He had a Ninja star and at grade 6 that was the coolest thing in the world. I looked past the fact that he wore huge tennis sweatbands! And from that point onwards we kind of stuck to each others sides through high school and then from high school we went to college together, moved into the same house in college, then from college he started training, I started in high school and then when he was done training I brought him on the road. Then started wrestling as a tag team, a year or so after that. We always talked about it sitting in side yards talking about how we would be champions one day, making cardboard belts and wearing them around.

Christian and yourself wrestled as the Suicide Blonds and High Impact - did you think about using either of those names in WWE before you settled on Edge & Christian?
Well when I first came out they created Edge and Christian around the same time, Sexton Hardcastle went out of the window because it didn't fit. Vince Russo words were the modern day Jim Morrison you can understand why I didn't know I had no clue what that was but I came up with the name Edge and some other names like Rage and Riot, but I didn't really like them so I pitched Edge. So going with that Edge and Suicide Blonds doesn't really go together that well, so Christian wrestled as Christian Cage, so when they brought him in as my brother they just dropped the Cage off, so we became Edge and Christian. I would have liked a tag team name but Edge and Christian started rolling of everyone's tongue.

What were your experiences with Gangrel and Christian in The Brood?
That's when I first started to feel comfortable - that's when I first started to say "this I get". Up until that point I really did not have a modern day Jim Morrison reciting poetry and walking on the streets of America beating people up there's no real direction. So then when they brought in Christian as my brother and then they brought in Gangrel after that then they started that story line and there's really no explanation why we joined, so that didn't make sense, but when we did join it was the first time I felt kind of comfortable in my skin. It was fun I really enjoyed it, but we got broken up too soon. We had the entrance and the music the whole thing was really cool. We had cool music. We were the Brood. The crowd loved us I think because of the way we wrestled, we had some cool moves, and we felt really comfortable with each other. At the time I loved being the mysterious gothic sort of creepy guy, now I don't think I would like that too much, as a performer I think I am better as a baby face, than I am as a heel.

In late 2002 you took part in some amazing tag team matches. How did Rey Mysterio compare as a tag team partner to Christian?
With Christian it was like second nature because we had grown up together so we knew what the other was thinking before we did it, or if he wanted to do something I knew right away what he was going to do. So we were basically one. So that was easy. With Rey it was too but I just had to throw him around more. I think I threw him around more than our opponents threw him around. It was a lot of fun, we just clicked.

What wrestlers do you admire?
I was really happy with the way Christian had developed his character; he really had turned the corner. He is finally getting that chance. His character I really enjoyed. Randy Orton has really evolved his too, he's a different guy, you can really see his confidence and his real character coming through. He's really fun to watch and wrestle. And there's Ric Flair - no matter what he does he's so entertaining, he's awesome. I don't get to watch Smackdown much but I know Eddie's on the ball, he's really morphed his character well. Mysterio - he's awesome to watch, he is an action movie.