Christian Cage has had a career resurgence in 2023, putting on some of the best work of his career, both in the ring and as a character.
The TNT Champion has built himself up as the top heel in AEW, main eventing TV shows and pay per view events as one of the most despicable characters in wrestling history.
This came after he spent years on the shelf, only coming out of retirement in 2021 after seven years out of the ring. Before that, Christian Cage wrestled in the WWE and TNA, becoming a multi-time world champion, as well as being one half of one of the greatest tag teams of all time.
In this article, we’ll examine ten of Christian Cage’s best matches from his hall of fame-worthy career, including his bouts from the WWE, TNA and AEW.
10. Christian Cage Vs. Samoa Joe (Destination X 2007)
Christian Cage felt like a team in the away stadium, as he heard the deadly chants of “Joe is gonna kill you” echoing around the Impact Zone.
His clash with Samoa Joe at Destination X in 2007 has gone down as one of TNA’s best ever matches, with Christian Cage having another instant classic in the promotion.
With Christian’s NWA World’s Heavyweight Championship on the line in this match, it seemed time to make Joe the world champion in TNA.
He decimated Cage, systematically targeting his limbs and wearing him down throughout the match. Somehow, Christian Cage managed to steal the win, putting his feet on the ropes to cheat his way to victory in one of the best matches of his career.
9. Christian Vs. Randy Orton (WWE Over The Limit 2011)
After Christian Cage had a career-defining moment by beating Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship at Payback 2011, his reign lasted a pathetic two days.
Randy Orton beat him on the following episode of Smackdown, preventing the Canadian from enjoying a meaningful run as world champion in the WWE.
The rematch took place at Over The Limit, with Christian angling to get his title back. While he failed to beat Randy Orton, he gave The Viper one of the best matches of his career, with every single move in the match being crisp, smooth and expertly executed.
The selling by Christian was fantastic to watch, and he played the underdog perfectly. Randy Orton always seemed one step ahead of Captain Charisma, and the crowd were completely split down the middle for one of Christian Cage’s best ever matches (although the rematch at Summerslam 2011 was even better, which we will talk about later on in this list).
8. Edge & Christian Vs. The Hardy Boyz (WWF No Mercy 1999)
If you like multi-man ladder matches, then you’re in luck – the majority of Christian Cage’s best matches are ladder matches that involve some combination of him & Edge, Jeff & Matt Hardy and Bubba Ray & D-Von Dudley.
One of the first ladder matches in their career took place at No Mercy 1999, where Jeff & Matt (wrestling as “The New Brood”) competed with Edge & Christian in a tag team ladder match. This match was not fought for a championship belt, but for two very distinct prizes;
- The managerial services of Terri Runnels
- $100,000 in cash
The money was dangled from the ceiling, in a bag that the competitors had to grab to win the bout. This match is less extreme than future TLC matches, but clearly showed the building blocks that would culminated in the epic bout at WrestleMania X7.
7. Christian Vs. Randy Orton (Summerslam 2011)
We mentioned Orton and Christian’s clash at Over the Limit earlier in the list as one of Christian’s best ever matches.
However, that clash was quickly overtaken by the No Holds Barred rematch at Summerslam 2011, where a heel Christian tried desperately to keep his title from Orton in just one more match.
Christian won the title at Money in the Bank 2011. The stipulation saw that if Orton was DQ’d, he would lose the belt. The Canadian goaded Orton into kicking him in the groin, which along with immense testicular pain saw him walking out with his second ever World Heavyweight Championship title in the WWE.
The match at Summerslam 2011 was one of Christian’s best singles matches ever. There were all kinds of reversals, extreme spots and amazing near falls, with amazing chemistry between the two men with a pretty good crowd that wanted to see Orton overcome the champion.
He did just that, but both men walked out of the feud in a much better place than they walked into it.
6. Triangle Ladder Match (WrestleMania 2000)
Before the iconic TLC match at WrestleMania X7 (which will be mentioned later on in this list), Edge & Christian defended the WWE Tag Team Championships against the Dudleys and the Hardys in a triangle ladder match.
This match walked so that TLC matches could run, and you will clearly see the influence in those matches by watching WrestleMania 2000.
All six men in the match sold the terror and the carnage perfectly. The Dudley Boys introduced their trademark tables into this match, making an impromptu-TLC match, before that kind of stipulation even had a name.
Edge and Christian started their streak of ladder match victories in this match, although it did not match up to later TLC matches in the WWE.
5. Money in the Bank Ladder Match (WrestleMania 21)
The first Money in the Bank Ladder match was invented by Chris Jericho, but is still considered one of the best matches of Christian Cage’s career.
The bout featured five future-WWE Hall of Famers (Chris Benoit will not be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame), and is one of the most star-studded matches the WWE have ever put on. The seven men in the match were;
- Christian
- Edge
- Shelton Benjamin
- Chris Benoit
- Chris Jericho
- Kane
The took the blueprint of the original TLC matches made famous by Edge and Christian, and worked it into working in a singles format.
Edge picked up the win in the bout, but not after some incredible bumps and some epic, star-making performances from Shelton Benjamin that proved him to be one of the best wrestlers in the world at this time.
4. Christian Cage Vs. Darby Allin (AEW WrestleDream 2023)
Christian Cage’s second AEW pay per view main event took place at WrestleDream 2023, with his match against Darby Allin turning out to be Christian Cage’s best match in AEW so far.
Cage defended his TNT Championship against Darby Allin in a grudge match main event, battling in a two-out-of-three falls match that saw Allin go ahead early on, pulling Christian’s turtleneck over his head and rolling him up to earn the first pin fall.
Chrstian Cage then went on to destroy Allin, launching him from the ring apron to send Darby Allin crashing into the jagged steel steps on the outside – one of the worst bumps ever seen in AEW – to get the second pin fall, before hitting a frog splash onto the outside to add insult to injury.
The match ended when Nick Wayne turned on Darby Allin to help Christian Cage win, before Adam Copeland (formerly known as Edge) debuted to begin a feud with Christian Cage that would help bookend both of their legendary careers.
3. Edge & Christian Vs. The Dudleys Vs. The Hardys Vs. Chris Jericho & Chris Benoit (Smackdown May 24, 2001)
The third TLC match ever is one that is often glossed over when looking at the best matches in WWE history, but this four-way tag team ladder match came close to living up to the hype of the first two TLC matches the year before.
Adding the duo of Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit to the mix changed the dynamic of the match. Benoit and Jericho’s addition was a fresh element, as the underdog babyfaces who are inexperienced in the field, going up against the TLC experts who had battled in this match type on the biggest stage possible.
Due to Chris Benoit’s death (and the horrific situation surrounding it), this match is rarely talked about by the WWE, if at all. This is sad, as it is one of the best matches of all time, and is a big miss from Christian Cage’s already impressive canon.
2. TLC (Summerslam 2000)
The first ever Tables, Ladders and Chairs match (oh my!) comes in just at number two on Christian Cage’s best matches as one of the most innovative matches in WWE history.
Despite Christian’s incredible singles match performances throughout his career, there is no doubt that the various TLC matches in WWE have come to define his career.
Taking place in the Hardy Boyz’ hometown of North Carolina, the crowd was firmly on the side of Matt and Jeff Hardy. This helped wake the crowd up after a frankly poor show, which was defined by the first ever TLC match taking place at Summerslam 2000.
The match was paced fantastically, with excellent transitions from spot to spot. They left no dead-air time, nor any moments where the wrestlers were standing around and waiting for things to happen.
It innovated the TLC genre, which has only been beaten once (in both the best TLC matches and the best Christian Cage matches).
1. TLC 2 (WrestleMania X7)
The early 2000s were a haven for innovative tag team matches, with none more impressive than the TLC match at WrestleMania X7.
Three of the top tag teams in the WWE (Edge & Christian, Hardy Boyz and Dudley Boyz) did battle in the second ever TLC match in what has become one of the most replayed bouts in WWE history.
No matter how good all of Christian Cage’s matches have been over his career, this match has to be top of the list. TLC 2 is one of the best WrestleMania matches of all time, and stole the show (according to “Stone Cold” Steve Austin) at WrestleMania X7.
The match was a pure car crash, with some of the most insane bumps you’ve ever seen. Bubba Ray Dudley jumped from a ladder through a table on the outside, Rhyno, Lita and Spike Dudley all ran in to get involved, and Jeff Hardy was hit by the legendary “Spear spot” by Edge, as we swung from the title belts in the center of the ring.