Christian reveals how Randy Orton angle motivated him to return to wrestling
Christian Cage recently made his AEW debut and seemingly committed the rest of his active pro-wrestling career to the promotion. Before that, Christian returned on WWE RAW as part of Edge and Randy Orton's feud back in 2020.
Christian was one of the WWE legends who came to Edge's aid when Orton targeted the Rated-R Superstar. He also stepped inside the ring with The Viper in an unsanctioned match that ended with him taking a Punt.
Christian recently appeared on Chris Jericho's Talk is Jericho podcast and discussed that WWE segment. He revealed how the anticipation surrounding this segment motivated him to make an in-ring return. Talking about his segment with Randy Orton, Christian discussed how it led to his contract signing with AEW:
"It did. It was a part of it as well. Then afterward, I saw the rating and at the time it was the best rating that they had done since the post-WrestleMania RAW or something like that."
"I thought, 'Man! People were really interested to see if I was actually going to have a match.' And then I was like, I kind of let them down by not having a match. It was a really cool angle. It served its purpose and did whatever it was supposed to do for Randy Orton and Edge. But the flip side of that is people would obviously be excited if I came back. So, that coupled with the other things, really made me want to go on and do this."
Christian was one of the WWE Superstars who competed in the 2021 Royal Rumble before signing with AEW.
Christian Cage leaves WWE for AEW
During the WWE Royal Rumble match, Christian Cage reunited with Edge inside the ring to deliver one of the most memorable moments this year. Both superstars were once forced to seek retirement from in-ring action due to health concerns. Thus, they had an emotional reunion inside the ring following their respective battles in coming back.
A few weeks after the Royal Rumble PPV, Christian Cage signed a deal with AEW during the promotion's Revolution pay-per-view. He then faced Frankie Kazarian on AEW Dynamite and picked a convincing victory in his first single's match in over seven years. Cage believes that Tony Khan's promotion is the best fit for him at this stage of his career.