Side order of Christian, hold the Tomko

"Captain Charisma" rolls on his 'peeps,' leaving the WWE, and coming to TNA
By Jon Chattman
Credit: TheCheapPop

On the Total Impact Wrestling (TNA) website, Christian Cage says he "hates" Pop Tarts. Luckily, he has no problem with thecheappop.? We caught up with "Captain Charisma" recently and asked him how his first couple of months on TNA have gone, how hard his decision to leave WWE after a near-decade was, and how pumped he is to be teaming up with wrestling icon Sting this Sunday against "The Alpha Male" Monty Brown and NWA champ Jeff Jarrett at the "Final Resolution" Pay-Per-View.?As we found out, the 31-year-old veteran is enjoying his run with TNA. Whereas WWE didn't appreciate him, he says his new employer and his peeps do. With that, let's roll:?

?? JC: How hard was it to jump to TNA?

CC: Well, obviously the decision to leave the WWE was a pretty tough decision. You know I'd been there for eight years. I was always involved in the mix some how. I was on the show steady and I was always factored in, in some respect...that comfort level of knowing where you're going to be and that you know that it's steady: it's hard to give up. On the flipside of it, sometimes it seemed like no matter what I did, things weren't going to change for me even though I felt like the?fans were perceiving me in a different way maybe creative wasn't. That was a hard thing for me to accept so I decided maybe it was a good time to venture out and try to do some other things, try to satisfy my creative juices that way.

JC: Were you thinking about leaving WWE for a while? Was it always in the back of your head?

CC: I thought about leaving the WWE for awhile, probably seriously considering it the last two or three months I was there. It was just a factor of many different things: the road schedule was starting to get to me. I was on the road for eight years straight wrestling without a break, so my body was really starting to feel it, and feeling frustrated on the creative end and things like that. It just seemed like the right time to leave, and you know not a lot of guys get to leave on their own terms. That is something that I felt I really wanted to do and you know I did it and haven't looked back since.

JC: Coming into TNA, were you nervous at all? You were going in labeled as the biggest acquistion in TNA history and the name to put TNA on the map.

CC: No, if anything I was excited about the opportunity of that happening; that somebody's going there that wasn't fired or released... being the first one that kind of chooses to go there, which was kind of an exciting thought. I'm just excited to be that guy.

JC: You changed your name when you came to TNA from Christian to Christian Cage, a name you used to go by. Why?

CC: It was a name that belonged to me and? a name that I wrestled under before I went to [the WWE], and just from talking with people at TNA, I thought it would be best to kind of take it back to my roots a little and kind of go from there. It's worked out so far.

JC: Yes, the fans have welcomed you with open arms in TNA. Do you think you caused a little bit of a cross over by going there? You had a large fanbase in WWE??

CC: The crowd has been unbelievable. They've been very well to me, and it's weird, toward the end of my run in WWE, the fans were starting to cheer for me, which was something that I wasn't used to. The fans know what they want, and if they want to cheer for me, they can cheer for me. If they want to boo, they boo. That's their right.

JC: They'll be cheering for you, no doubt, this weekend when you tag with Sting. That's surreal for me I can only imagine how it is for you...

CC: Yeah, it's funny because I've had the opportunity to meet a lot of legends in the business [but] I've never met Sting before - obviously with him being one of the only guys never to come to WWE.? I had a chance to meet Sting? briefly and he seems like a very humble, nice guy. He looks in fantastic shape so it's going to be fun and I'm really looking forward to it - [it'll be] even more surreal when I'm standing right? beside him in? the match.

JC: After this PPV, what's the next step for Christian Cage? Is it to get the belt, or to continually? have main event status - something you didn't have WWE?

CC: I think that in WWE, honestly I felt that I can compete at a main event level for the last few years. I feel that every time I was put in that position, I came through and to me you can't fool the fans and the fans' reactions told me so. For whatever reason, it didn't happen. I don't know why and I still feel the same that I did then. I can be a main event guy and if they do in TNA, if they give me a real opportunity to do so, I'm going to take the ball and run with it.

JC: Where do you see TNA going as a whole? The goal is obviously at some point to hit the road, and compete with WWE.? Do you see that happening sooner or later?

CC: I think you may see that at some time this year. I'm not sure exactly how many shows you would see,?That will be a step that has to be taken at some point. It will probably happen this year and everyone is pretty excited about it.

JC: You obviously have friends still in WWE. Do they ask you questions or express interest in TNA?

CC: No one has really come out and said to me "hey, you know we want to come over there' or whatever. But, I think everyone is happy that there is some good competition. Competition is healthy in this business. It makes it intriguing, and it makes it more entertaining for the industry as a whole I think.

On what ever happened to the tag-team division in the WWE:

"It was Edge and Christain, The Dudleys, the Hardys, Too Cool and The Outlaws for awhile. Then, it was X-pac and Roaddogg, Test and Albert... it was such a great part of the show to me and I think one of the better parts of the show for years especially with the three-way feud we had with the Hardys and with the Dudleys. I wish that it was still like that. It was an exciting time, and an exciting part of the show. I feel that TNA has some good tag teams headed in that direction."

On favorite wrestlers growing up:

"I was obviously a Hulk Hogan fan, but I also loved Bret Hart. I was a big fan of Ted Dibiase and 'Cowboy' Bob Orton... loved Steamboat, Owen Hart... guys like that."

On whether Bret Hart will return to wrestling:

"I don't know if he will ever comeback in a wrestling capacity. It wouldn't be out of the question to see him comeback in some capacity."

On the cheesiest gimmick ever:

"That's tough for me, there's a lot of bad ones. The Goblidy Gooker would have to rate up there."

On playing a heel or face:



"I think my natural instincts are heel by nature. I think that when you're going out there, and people are entertained by you, whatever it is that your doing, they're going to decide. Even though I'm getting cheered now, I really haven't? changed anything that I do. "