Former WWE star Christian signs with All Elite Wrestling on wild night at Revolution

After returning to wrestling at the Royal Rumble in January, having not wrestled since 2014, Christian Cage has linked up with Tony Khan’s company

Matty Paddock
Monday 08 March 2021 11:59 GMT
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Christian had only returned to a WWE ring in January
Christian had only returned to a WWE ring in January (WWE)

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All Elite Wrestling have landed another huge coup with the signing of former WWE star Christian.

AEW revealed their latest signing at their Revolution pay per view event, the 47-year-old’s arrival one of the highlights of a wild night of action.

The Canadian had only just made an incredible comeback at WWE’s Royal Rumble event in January, having not wrestled since 2014 due to concussion related injuries that lead to him retiring.

Many WWE fans had hoped that would mean he’d reunite with fellow returning legend and good friend Edge to recreate one of the most iconic tag teams in the company’s history, but those plans have well and truly bitten the dust with the athlete now reverting to his previous non-WWE name of Christian Cage now linking up with Tony Khan’s company.

Khan said after Revolution: “I met Christian Cage seven years ago and he’s a great person and I’ve always really liked him as a person but long before that, I’ve been a huge fan of him as a wrestler. I think he’s one of the great wrestlers the last couple of decades. He’s had great matches in different companies, he’s been a great singles wrestler, a great tag champion, and I think he’s one of the best minds in wrestling.

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“He’s in great physical condition and we saw him very recently compete on pay-per-view. There was a lot of interest in it, it generated a lot of interest, and he was interested in wrestling on a regular basis and you know he gave me a call and said, ‘I’d really like to come wrestle in AEW for you,’ and I said, ‘I’d really like to have you come and wrestle for me.’ It all came together great and I think it’s going to be really good.”

Cage’s AEW debut follows hot on the heels of their recent signing of another WWE Alumni in Paul Wight, who wrestled for two decades as The Big Show. It’s thought both men will play an active, in-ring role with the company, although Wight’s may focus more predominantly on duties away from active competition.

Some of the in-ring action on a night of pure chaos at Revolution also saw AEW World Champion Kenny Omega successfully defend his title in an all-out war against Jon Moxley. The two battled in a ‘Barbed Wire Death Match’ that for the most part lived up to its rather grim billing, even if the promised ‘explosion’ at the climax of the affair was on the twee side at best.

Omega nails Moxley with an exploding barbed wire bat
Omega nails Moxley with an exploding barbed wire bat (AEW)

The evening featured one high-quality match after another; with problems persisting in the Inner Circle after Chris Jericho and MJF failed in their attempts to down AEW World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks, while Women’s World Champion Hikaru Shida overcame challenger Ryo Mizunami.

In his first match since 2015, former WCW legend made a triumphant return to wrestling with a perfectly-crafted cinematic-style match, teaming with Darby Allin to defeat Team Taz in a bout that accentuated the strengths of all the athletes involved, not least the 61-year-old who eventually won the contest with a Scorpion Death Drop after Allin in particular had jumped off or through everything and everyone in sight.

Scorpio Sky also netted a significant win - and a future TNT Championship match - as he overcame the likes of Cody Rhodes and Lance Archer in a ladder match that also included former TNA star Ethan Page as a surprise entrant.

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