PWP’s Brennan Daly takes a look back on the underrated career of Christian.
There have been plenty of amazing talented performers in WWE, but there just hasn’t always been enough room for everyone to succeed. Many people didn’t believe Christian could succeed in the business. Oh, were they wrong! Little did they know he overcame all the odds against him and through hard work and dedication became a Star. Although he was never booked as a serious contender he certainly played a part in some of the best angles in WWE history.
Being unlucky actually pretty much sums up Christians whole wrestling career. Former tag team partner Edge, who went on to achieve tremendous feats as a perennial main event attraction, always overshadowed Christian’s accomplishments. Christian on the hand was a guy that had the kind of charisma you just couldn’t buy, teach, or sell. His skill also allowed him to be a stellar in-ring worker, and was great on the microphone.
There is a reason he was called “Captain Charisma”.
Growing up in Ontario, Canada, Christian and his childhood friend Edge always wanted to become professional wrestlers. Tearing apart the Canadian Indy scene, these two finally began to get some recognition abroad wrestling in singles and tag team competition.
In 1998, he made his debut at the pay-per-view Breakdown: In Your House. Instead of trying to help his best friend, he ended up distracting Edge against Owen Hart. The Brood was born as he aligned with Gangrel to form an extremely odd Vampire group (Edge later joined). They were a good group that served as the launching pad for both Edge and Christian. Gangrel wasn’t too shabby either. If you want to checkout a pretty cool entrance and theme song that fit their characters to perfection here it is.
The group was pushed pretty well as they had a feud with The Undertaker‘s Ministry of Darkness. Working alongside The Undertaker, Paul Bearer, Bradshaw and Farooq allowed for The Brood to gain mainstream appeal.
Breaking off from The Brood and The Ministry of Darkness, Edge and Christian decided to do what was best for them. In doing so, E&C were born and no longer were they doing the vampire gothic gimmick. Instead they turned to something more realistic and relatable. E&C were now the “cool dudes,” creating their trademark the “five second pose.” E&C and the Dudley Boyz helped to not only reinvigorate tag wrestling but evolved it in a way that is still under appreciated. I was never a huge Hardy Boyz fan, but these 3 teams don’t get enough credit for what they did. If you take away any member of these tag teams and replace it with someone else I can guarantee that it wouldn’t have been as successful.
No one can forget the classic ladder match performances. They were something that we had never seen before. Creativity and being innovative is what made Christian and Edge reek of awesomeness.
E&C led the way in my opinion and could have continued for more years as a team and still not have gotten old. They were the perfect team and their chemistry was unbelievable. It’s a shame both Edge and Christian got hurt because with the Dudleyz back I would kill to see them go at it one more time. His comedy stuff with Edge was pure gold. I enjoyed what he did and looked forward to the shenanigans with his “brother” Edge. It wouldn’t be a Christian appreciation article if I didn’t mention how funny he was.
The best chance to push this guy when he was young was in 2005. Christian was one of the best heels in the company, generated some great heat, was over with the peeps, entertaining on the mic and had the enforcer in Tomko. If they had really put effort in him he could have had one of the feuds of the year with John Cena for the WWE Championship. Unfortunately, Vince made it clear that Christian was never going to reach his full potential in the WWE. Therefore, Christian decided not renew his contract and joined Total Nonstop Action.
As much as TNA has failed over the years, they did do one thing right. Christian was booked perfectly as he had the companies backing for pretty much his entire stint. The freedom that was allowed for him to do his own thing is what enhanced his overall repertoire. Many of TNA’s great programs were when Christian was put with the likes of Samoa Joe, Kurt Angle and others.
In 2009, he came back and carried the “C” show. Being in ECW was great for him as he was pushed to the top and brought credibility to the show. Christian was really the only reason to watch ECW the last two years. When ECW died it was time to reintroduce Christian back on Raw and Smackdown. Well…. he was thrust right back into the mid card scene again.
Everything changed in 2011 though, as Edge was forced to retire due to his neck injuries, Christian was basically given Edge’s spot on the roster. The boyhood dream came true as he took the vacant World Heavyweight Championship title from Alberto Del Rio in a great match at Extreme Rules. A one-month title run would be nice, right? False, as he was involved one of the most shocking moments that I could remember. He was thrown into a title match on Smackdown, yes that’s right, on Smackdown against Randy Orton.
Looking back, it may have been the only time in the past 4 years that Smackdown brought some kind of significance toward the future of the WWE. Orton not only shocked me but the world as well, winning the World Heavyweight Championship. From this point on the feud was set. The feud and series of matches with Orton back in 2011 were an absolute work of art. In fact, Orton considers him his favorite guy to work with which is saying a lot from a 12-time WWE World Champion.
Still, throughout his in-ring career in both WWE and TNA Wrestling, the Toronto native repeatedly demonstrated the ability to adapt to the scenario he was in. Christian used comedic timing to deliver some of the most humorous moments in WWE history. When necessary he was great at turning his rage and violence, proving that he was not a one-trick pony in the process. Whether he was a tag team champion, an Intercontinental champion or the World Heavyweight Champion of the world, Christian could always deliver an entertaining product. One of the best traits that Christian brought to the table is that he was equally capable of being a great heel or a face.
Christian really should have gotten more from his WWE return. Besides 2 concussions, a somewhat decent IC Title Run, and 2 pitiful World Heavyweight Championship Runs. He was underrated and underused, that’s a cold hard fact. You know you aren’t appreciated that much after being in the industry for 19 years and the people in charge don’t even give you a proper last match or mention that you are retiring. I was very frustrated when one day I was looking at wrestling news and came upon an article that said he was retired. It really came out of nowhere.
What exactly did we miss when he retired? We missed out on some damn good matches/feuds! Just imagine how good the matches would have been if he could have locked up with Cena, Daniel Bryan, Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler or Cesaro. Those dream matches would have been show-stealers. We also never got Edge vs. Christian in a major feud because of Edge’s career ending neck injury. Damn, that would have been one of the best feuds in recent memory.
Look at the roster now; it could use a veteran like Christian to help overcome the injury bug that has plagued many of the top of Superstars. “Captain Charisma” would be a good trainer for developmental prospects and also a good commentator. Here’s to hoping that WWE finds a role for the guy that really proved all the doubters! Rightfully so, expect to see Christian in the WWE Hall of Fame in the not too distant future.
What do you think of Christian’s career? Was he underrated and do you think he should have role in today’s WWE?
