NWA CHAMPION CHRISTIAN CAGE Speaks about winning the NWA Title, his decision to leave WWE, Edge's WWE Title win, wearing the Puffy Brood Shirt and more...
This week's 70 minute edition of JG's Radio Free Insanity is on the air and available for download at www.WorldWrestlingInsanity.com
by clicking on the audio link. This week, host James Guttman is joined by the NWA World's Heavyweight Champion Christian Cage.
James starts the show off with some site notes before welcoming World Wrestling Insanity columnist ZAH to the broadcast. They discuss Triple H, the state of WrestleMania, the two World title matches, TNA's position in the industry, new WWE gimmicks and more.
When we switch to part 2, James begins by talking about all the happenings at the website including the site's new MySpace.com profile. After that, he welcomes the NWA Champion Christian Cage to the show.
Christian begins by talking about how it's been surreal hearing himself introduced on shows as the NWA Champion. He mentions that it's been his goal since the day he started wrestling. Guttman says that it must mean more as an old school fan to win the NWA Championship. Cage agrees and talks about the lineage of the title and how it's an honor to hold the title that so many greats did.
James asks Christian to walk him through the aftermath of his title win. Cage says that most of the guys came up and shook his hand. Almost everyone of them said "You deserve it." CC says that meant more to him than any money. It justified his decision to leave WWE and come to TNA. They're all excited about he future of the company,
JG says that when he had Rhino on the show, they had talked about the vindication of going from Midcard in WWE to World Champion. Guttman says that Cage was in the Rob Van Dam spot of being held down when so many said he could be more. James says that the vindication of knowing you're talented must mean more than money. Cage agrees saying that you come to a point where money doesn't even matter anymore. He did well financially in WWE and was there when business was good. He had to examine his career and do what makes him happy. He always felt he was more than a midcard guy and delivered in any position he was put in. No matter his card spot, Christian feels he came through nine times out of ten. He's never had a problem with working for what he's got.
James asks about all the Christian false starts and how it always seemed like he was about to break out to the next level. Cage says that they would give him the ball and then ask for it back before letting him run with it. They talk about his failed jump to Smackdown during last year's draft, how he found out about it and his feelings on his program with John Cena at the time.
Guttman says that many people call for wrestlers to leave WWE and go elsewhere for recognition. However, few, if any, do it. He asks who Christian spoke to about the decision and how his family handled it. Cage says that his wife was his top confidant and he told her that he wanted to leave. She told him it was his dream to be a wrestler in WWE. It was his decision and whatever decision he made would be "the right one." He says it was really reassuring and helped with his decision.
JG and Cage then talk about his debut in TNA and how he was greeted by some of his old coworkers like 3D and Rhino. Christian goes into detail and says it was like "being the new kid in school."
Guttman asks Cage when it stopped being fun at WWE for him. He said that it wasn't always not fun. When he stepped in the ring, it would all go away. He was frustrated creatively and burnt out from 8 years on the road. Says that the last six months to a year were when he was most burnt out.
JG asks if Christian was ever given a reason by WWE for his scaled back push. Cage goes into detail on what he was told at times and speaks about the haircut controversy during the UnAmerican stint. He says he didn't want to be a bitter ex-WWE wrestler. The fans wanted to see him perform on a different level, but it never happened. Says that everything happens for a reason and this could have been all arrows pointing to TNA for him.
James asks about Edge winning the World Title around the same time as Cage. He asks Christian if he spoke to Copeland since then and he says that he got a text message from him the night he won it. He asks if it would have been strange if they won it at the same time. JG compares their wins to Guerrero-Benoit at WrestleMania last year. Christian says they should have given Edge longer to run with it.
JG then asks the most important questions. When in the Brood, why was Edge too good to wear the puffy Seinfeld shirt? Christian laughs and says that Edge was smart because he (Cage) didn't want to wear the puffy shirt. He says it was hard to wrestle in and had to be ironed every night. Christian mentions David "Gangrel" Heath and how he saw him not too long ago.
The interview continued on with the NWA Champion Christian Cage. You can hear the rest of it at WorldWrestlingInsanity.com. Cage went on to discuss Ricky Steamboat, who he'd like to wrestle in TNA, who he'd like to wrestle out of any period of history, advice to frustrated young wrestlers, thoughts on TNA and it's future, a message for his Peeps and more. JG's Radio Free Insanity is on the air each and every Friday. James Guttman's book, World Wrestling Insanity, is available at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble for pre-order.
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