CHRISTIAN’S TNA GAMBLE
“If He Wins, Everybody Wins”

By Will Welsh
(From The Wrestler/Inside Wrestling, Volume 5, 2006; on sale February 7)

You stare out at the track as the horses make their final turn. Your heart races, and you start screaming for the underdog filly you’ve wagered on to pull down the lane and break away. All you need from her are a few scant seconds of glory. At 200 yards out, she’s neck and neck with the favorite, and you realize that you have a chance. At 100 yards out, she seems to have a slight lead. At 50 yards out, you almost can’t believe that you might win. They cross the line, and they announce a photo finish. You run toward the monitor, hoping, praying that your horse came in. The picture comes up. She did … she did come in.

* * *

Texas Hold’em is such an awesome game, you think to yourself before scanning your cards. You’re holding the ace of spades and the seven of clubs. Not the best hole cards you’ve ever been dealt, but at this stage of the game, an ace is always worth testing the waters with. A bead of sweat trickles down your head. You wipe it away while looking at the man across the table from you, his eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses that are so dark they can’t even rightly be called black. He’s the only other one left at the table. There are four cards showing: the three of diamonds, the jack of clubs, the queen of hearts, and the king of hearts. The dealer unveils the river card: the ace of clubs. The other player shifts in his seat ever so subtly, then announces he’s going all in. Is he trying to bluff you into backing off of the pot? Or is he actually holding a 10, giving him a straight? You eye him up and consider the ace you’re holding; it could be enough to win. You take a deep breath, gamble that he’s bluffing, and call. He mutters under his breath, and then turns his cards to reveal a pair of twos. Your pair of aces has won, and you smile as you realize you’re going to have a hard time counting all of these chips.

* * *

You’re sitting at a table across from Vince McMahon. He’s just made you an offer for a contract extension. It’s not as high as you’d like it to be, but it’s not awful, either. The thing of it is, though, you can see how it’s possible how you’ll make less with this offer than what you made with your previous deal—and why in the world would anyone want to do that? You consider the offer, and then consider the options. Honestly, there’s only one: You can turn down the offer and gamble on TNA, the promotion that continues to get just a little bit bigger every year. No, joining TNA might not offer you the kind of long-term security as re-signing with WWE would, but it does offer you a lighter schedule for a decent amount of money and the possibility of finally becoming a full-time main-eventer. After thinking about it, you get back to McMahon and tell him that you’re not re-signing. You realize that it’s a gamble, but gambling isn’t anything new for you, so you jump in head-first. Goodbye, WWE. Hello, TNA.

* * *

Even though the above three scenarios deal with gambling, there’s a difference between the first two and the third one—and it’s an important one. Most of the time, when people gamble, the only person who can either benefit or be hurt from the gamble is the gambler himself. Sometimes, the gambler’s family and friends are affected. Every once in a while, a large group of people is affected. Hardly ever, however, is an entire industry affected—and that’s the difference about the third scenario.

Christian Cage’s decision to jump from WWE to TNA could pay big dividends to an industry that desperately needs to be shaken up. If Christian’s gamble pays off, it could lead to better working conditions for other wrestlers, better pay for other wrestlers, stronger competition to WWE, and a more healthy and robust professional wrestling industry—not to mention the possibilities for it leading to a better and more fulfilling career for Christian, the first wrestler to have the guts to make the jump from WWE to TNA of his own accord.

Christian wasn’t fired from WWE. He wasn’t let go for poor performance or because the promotion felt that he had overextended his stay. He hadn’t gotten into trouble because of any dangerous recreational activities, either. From WWE’s perspective, he was still an important member of its roster. Sure, WWE didn’t consider him main-event material, but WWE executives still wanted his talent on their roster. They didn’t want him going to TNA or anywhere else.

Christian, however, wanted a change.

“My contract came up on October 31 and we negotiated back and forth a little bit,” Christian said in an interview with WWE.com. “But it wasn’t about the money for me, really. There were some other things that were going on that helped sway my decision. It wasn’t a contract dispute, if that’s what you want to call it. It was a number of different things—I’ve been on the road with WWE for eight years straight, and it takes a toll on your body when you’re going 250-300 days a year.

“So part of it was that, and obviously there was some frustration and a lot of other reasons that factored in. But I wasn’t bitter at all. There’s no hostility. There’s just some times when you need a change and you need to do different things. It was something that I felt was necessary for myself at this time.”

Christian’s decision, which may have confounded a few wrestling insiders, makes sense for him at this point in his career. While under contract to TNA, he’ll make a decent amount of money while at the same time cutting down on the excessive travel that is largely cited as the biggest burden to those on the WWE roster. He’ll also get a chance to main-event, something that seemed within his grasp in WWE only a few months ago, only to be seemingly dashed after his move to Smackdown.

Have no doubt about it: Christian is a main-event wrestler without WWE’s main-event size. As long as TNA continues to progress forward, there’s no doubt that his gamble should result in more than a few nice dividends—both for him and for the industry at large.

Make no mistake about it: Christian won’t be the only beneficiary of his decision to go to TNA. Every other wrestler in the industry may wind up feeling the impact of Christian’s move. If he succeeds in TNA in ways that he wouldn’t otherwise have in WWE, and if he continues to provide for his family, there will be other wrestlers looking to make the same move when their contracts with WWE expire. As long as TNA can keep hiring these guys away, some looking to make the jump will get hired; others won’t. At the end of the day, though, TNA’s roster will get a little stronger while WWE’s will get a little weaker.

And that’s where the real story begins.

Once TNA shows that it can compete for wrestlers it wants on its roster, it can compete against WWE in other ways as well. Impact! will get better than it already is, and TNA’s pay-per-views will be more attractive to casual fans. A modest house show schedule may become more than something on a wish list; it may become a necessity.

All of these things will be good for the industry as a whole. If they come to pass, they’ll have one man to thank: Christian Cage.

Perhaps we should start calling him, “The Gambler.”