Christian's Re-debut in WWE has occurred!

[Angles Broken Fricken Neck 0]

Personally i wouldnt consider Jeff to be better, more over yes. But then Jeff always has been.

[The Truthiness 0]

Career wise I think Jeff has the better body of work.

[dubq 0]

HBK maybe, but Jeff? No way.

[The Truthiness 0]

Christian isn't very good.

[Angles Broken Fricken Neck 0]

Ive always been a huge fan of his, cant really fault him with anything tbh.

[The Truthiness 0]

That is understandable.

 

I'm not a big fan of either, but Jeff does bring a certain something to his matches, I never seen that in Christian.

[jericho4life 0]

BENOIT!~!

 

 

Speaking of...Christian also has added the Flying Headbutt to his aresenal. I don't recall him using that in WWE before. Did he do so in TNA?

[Silence 0]

Speaking of...Christian also has added the Flying Headbutt to his aresenal. I don't recall him using that in WWE before. Did he do so in TNA?

 

No, he used the Frog Splash right after Eddie died.

 

[Thanks for the Fish 0]

HBK is obviously better, but Hardy isn't. Hardy certainly does bring excitement to his matches and has improved greatly, I just think you put Christian in with the same opponents and given the same amount of time and he'd give you the better match.

[bob_barron 0]

HBK is obviously better, but Hardy isn't. Hardy certainly does bring excitement to his matches and has improved greatly, I just think you put Christian in with the same opponents and given the same amount of time and he'd give you the better match.

 

Jeff Hardy is much better than Christian, it's not even that close. Christian has his moments, but he relies way too much on restholds that just kill the crowd.

[Scroby 0]

Can Christian and Jeff Hardy even be compared? They're really night and day when you're comparing wrestling styles and the types of matches they have. Jeff Hardy has more high spoty, fast paced matches, and overall doesn't really have technical type of wrestling matches. While Christian has more slower paced, technical/chain and some high spot matches. If you're gonna compare someone to Christian, Randy Orton would be better choice or even Chris Jericho.

[ANKLELOCK 0]

And Orton and Jericho are both way better than HBK and Jeff, so they're sure as hell better than Christian.

[garfieldsnose 0]

No sir.

[Jebus 0]

It looks like nothing has changed since 2005.

 

First, they take away his big program with Jeff Hardy. Now this...

Maybe you should've stayed in TNA, Christian. Time will tell.

 

----------

 

EDIT: Sorry about the repost, I didn't feel like reading the thread before posting the Observer story...ah well.

 

Source: Wrestling Observer

 

- SmackDown writer Michael Hayes originally came up with the idea of Christian Cage doing all the sneak attacks on Jeff Hardy to be revealed at the Royal Rumble. As time went on and people figured that Christian was behind it, and/or Hayes realized how Vince felt about Christian, he approached Vince with the idea of giving the role to Matt Hardy. Hayes sold the idea on the fact that Matt vs. Jeff would be a bigger surprise and bigger draw than Jeff vs. Christian, and Vince agreed with him.

 

John Laurinaitis had been pushing to do something with Christian sooner, rather than have him sit and wait until April. While all the talk about his return was going on, Vince started to sour on Christian. Back in 2005, whenever ideas were brought up for Christian, Vince always nixed them and only saw Cage as an upper midcarder. Vince even said in meetings that Christian had no star aura about him and that his head shot promotional photo was one of the worse he had ever seen.

 

RAW writer Brian Gewirtz asked about bringing him to RAW after Matt got the spot on SmackDown, but there was concern he would end up like D-Lo Brown - just hired and forgot about without getting a chance. They came up with the idea to give him a new feud with someone Vince is high on, that being Jack Swagger. They felt the longer they didn't get him on TV, the more likely he'd end up never to get going and this was the best thing they had for him. The original idea for the ECW show had the same opener with the two but several segments were planned that showed Christian meeting the talent on the brand and putting him over like it was a big thing he was there.

 

The actual match was booked to be a short sprint for him to shine some more, ending with Swagger getting counted out or some crazy no contest. Vince ended up changing the show to what it ended up being. It was seen internally as Vince having no vision of Christian as a star.

[foleyfanforever88 0]

----------

 

Source: Wrestling Observer

 

- SmackDown writer Michael Hayes originally came up with the idea of Christian Cage doing all the sneak attacks on Jeff Hardy to be revealed at the Royal Rumble. As time went on and people figured that Christian was behind it, and/or Hayes realized how Vince felt about Christian, he approached Vince with the idea of giving the role to Matt Hardy. Hayes sold the idea on the fact that Matt vs. Jeff would be a bigger surprise and bigger draw than Jeff vs. Christian, and Vince agreed with him.

 

John Laurinaitis had been pushing to do something with Christian sooner, rather than have him sit and wait until April. While all the talk about his return was going on, Vince started to sour on Christian. Back in 2005, whenever ideas were brought up for Christian, Vince always nixed them and only saw Cage as an upper midcarder. Vince even said in meetings that Christian had no star aura about him and that his head shot promotional photo was one of the worse he had ever seen.

 

RAW writer Brian Gewirtz asked about bringing him to RAW after Matt got the spot on SmackDown, but there was concern he would end up like D-Lo Brown - just hired and forgot about without getting a chance. They came up with the idea to give him a new feud with someone Vince is high on, that being Jack Swagger. They felt the longer they didn't get him on TV, the more likely he'd end up never to get going and this was the best thing they had for him. The original idea for the ECW show had the same opener with the two but several segments were planned that showed Christian meeting the talent on the brand and putting him over like it was a big thing he was there.

 

The actual match was booked to be a short sprint for him to shine some more, ending with Swagger getting counted out or some crazy no contest. Vince ended up changing the show to what it ended up being. It was seen internally as Vince having no vision of Christian as a star.

 

O RLY

 

[Maztinho 0]

Can Christian and Jeff Hardy even be compared? They're really night and day when you're comparing wrestling styles and the types of matches they have. Jeff Hardy has more high spoty, fast paced matches, and overall doesn't really have technical type of wrestling matches. While Christian has more slower paced, technical/chain and some high spot matches. If you're gonna compare someone to Christian, Randy Orton would be better choice or even Chris Jericho.

 

Jericho would be the optimal comparison, (Vitamin C anyone?) but I think alot of fans don't really see Christian as a Go To Guy. He could be built as one, but he's going to go down as a guy who tops out at the IC level in the WWE barring a year where every Main Eventer goes down to injury.

[HollywoodSpikeJenkins 0]

Christian can bring it in the ring like a main eventer, they just won't let him. He had his shot against Batista and Cena and they jobbed him out.

[Scroby 0]

It looks like nothing has changed since 2005.

 

First, they take away his big program with Jeff Hardy. Now this...

Maybe you should've stayed in TNA, Christian. Time will tell.

 

----------

 

Source: Wrestling Observer

 

- SmackDown writer Michael Hayes originally came up with the idea of Christian Cage doing all the sneak attacks on Jeff Hardy to be revealed at the Royal Rumble. As time went on and people figured that Christian was behind it, and/or Hayes realized how Vince felt about Christian, he approached Vince with the idea of giving the role to Matt Hardy. Hayes sold the idea on the fact that Matt vs. Jeff would be a bigger surprise and bigger draw than Jeff vs. Christian, and Vince agreed with him.

 

John Laurinaitis had been pushing to do something with Christian sooner, rather than have him sit and wait until April. While all the talk about his return was going on, Vince started to sour on Christian. Back in 2005, whenever ideas were brought up for Christian, Vince always nixed them and only saw Cage as an upper midcarder. Vince even said in meetings that Christian had no star aura about him and that his head shot promotional photo was one of the worse he had ever seen.

 

RAW writer Brian Gewirtz asked about bringing him to RAW after Matt got the spot on SmackDown, but there was concern he would end up like D-Lo Brown - just hired and forgot about without getting a chance. They came up with the idea to give him a new feud with someone Vince is high on, that being Jack Swagger. They felt the longer they didn't get him on TV, the more likely he'd end up never to get going and this was the best thing they had for him. The original idea for the ECW show had the same opener with the two but several segments were planned that showed Christian meeting the talent on the brand and putting him over like it was a big thing he was there.

 

The actual match was booked to be a short sprint for him to shine some more, ending with Swagger getting counted out or some crazy no contest. Vince ended up changing the show to what it ended up being. It was seen internally as Vince having no vision of Christian as a star.

Thanks for reposting this.

 

I think switching the two was a good idea by Hayes as I think he's right that Matt Hardy vs Jeff Hardy could draw some more plus both the Hardy turn and the Christian surprise debut were both good surprises people didn't see coming.

[Twisted Intestine 0]

Plus with crowds chanting "We want Chritian", he would get a big face reaction which is not what they wanted for Jeff's attacker and the worry that the crowds won't let him turn.

[Perfection 0]

I knew vince was an idiot but this just reconfirms it. When christian is allowed to shine in his promos, there is hardly anyone better. Before he left the wwe for tna, he was gold on the mic and is one reason why he started getting over so much. His head shot is bad? Are you fucking kidding me vince? Vince is so out of touch it amazes me sometimes the wwe is where it's at.

[dubq 0]

Say what you want about Christian's size or style but he's leaps and bounds better in the ring over BOTH of the Hardys, IMO. Matt goes through the motions in EVERY match he has and Jeff is a glorified spot-monkey. Add to that the fact that Christian can cut a promo without soundling like a high school drama student who had trouble memorizing his lines and you've got a pretty good package. I'm not sure if he'd ever be "THE main event" but he's at least an upper-midcard face, or an excellent heel foil to the main event face.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Yeah I was going to post the Observer stuff last night but didn't. There's a lot of small tidbits about this and that though, so I might revive an "Observer Notes" thread later. Or I might not. We'll see.

[Twisted Intestine 0]

Dooooooo ittttt.

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

I still say they could have stuck while the iron was hot and done a Christian/Jeff program. I mean, he would have had the momentum upon his return if they had brought him back as the attacker, and booked him next to Edge. This shit writes itself quite well and they somehow fuck it up. It's astounding.

 

Hardy vs. Hardy is the kind of feud they could have done whenevs. It doesn't matter if it's now or later. Matt turning on Jeff would have gotten the same reaction at One Night Stand or some random SmackDown in September as it did at the Royal Rumble. He doesn't even have to screw him out of the WWE Championship.

[cd213 0]

I still say they could have stuck while the iron was hot and done a Christian/Jeff program. I mean, he would have had the momentum upon his return if they had brought him back as the attacker, and booked him next to Edge. This shit writes itself quite well and they somehow fuck it up. It's astounding.

 

Hardy vs. Hardy is the kind of feud they could have done whenevs. It doesn't matter if it's now or later. Matt turning on Jeff would have gotten the same reaction at One Night Stand or some random SmackDown in September as it did at the Royal Rumble. He doesn't even have to screw him out of the WWE Championship.

 

I think the idea is that more people would be watching the RR than One Night Stand or Smackdown, which is certainly true. I see nothing wrong with Christian not being the one behind the attacks, as no one was expecting Matt. It was a bigger surprise, and has a better pay-off, buy-rate wise for the WWE.

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

I still say they could have stuck while the iron was hot and done a Christian/Jeff program. I mean, he would have had the momentum upon his return if they had brought him back as the attacker, and booked him next to Edge. This shit writes itself quite well and they somehow fuck it up. It's astounding.

 

Hardy vs. Hardy is the kind of feud they could have done whenevs. It doesn't matter if it's now or later. Matt turning on Jeff would have gotten the same reaction at One Night Stand or some random SmackDown in September as it did at the Royal Rumble. He doesn't even have to screw him out of the WWE Championship.

 

I think the idea is that more people would be watching the RR than One Night Stand or Smackdown, which is certainly true. I see nothing wrong with Christian not being the one behind the attacks, as no one was expecting Matt. It was a bigger surprise, and has a better pay-off, buy-rate wise for the WWE.

 

Except that:

 

A) It doesn't matter how large the viewing audience is when the trigger is pulled. They're not going to keep it a secret between the Rumble and Mania.

 

B) A Hardy-Hardy match isn't going to make the same kind of a dent in WrestleMania that it would in any other PPV.

[The Buzz 0]

I'm not a huge Christian fan, but I always kind of ranked him at that level with the Hardys, Edge, Jericho, and a few others of the same era. Christian knows how to have a helluva match when it's time, and I can say the same about the others that he's being compared to. As far as promos go, of the guys listed above I'd put him only behind Jericho and Edge.

[Twisted Intestine 0]

Let's give them points!

 

Promos:

 

Jericho - 5

Christian - 4

Edge - 3

Matt - 2

Jeff - 1

 

Matches:

 

Jericho - 5

Edge - 4

Jeff - 3

Christian - 2

Matt - 1

 

Overness:

 

Jeff - 5

Edge - 4

Jericho - 3

Christian - 2

Matt - 1

 

Charisma

 

Jeff - 5

Jericho - 4

Christian - 3

Edge - 2

Matt - 1

 

Good Looks:

 

Christian - 5

Jericho - 4

Jeff - 3

Edge - 2

Matt - 1

 

Overall:

 

Jericho - 21

Jeff - 17

Christian - 16

Edge - 15

Matt - 6

 

[johnson316cane 0]

Let's give them points!

 

Promos:

 

Jericho - 5

Christian - 4

Edge - 3

Matt - 2

Jeff - 1

 

Matches:

 

Jericho - 5

Edge - 4

Jeff - 3

Christian - 2

Matt - 1

 

Overness:

 

Jeff - 5

Edge - 4

Jericho - 3

Christian - 2

Matt - 1

 

Charisma

 

Jeff - 5

Jericho - 4

Christian - 3

Edge - 2

Matt - 1

 

Good Looks:

 

Christian - 5

Jericho - 4

Jeff - 3

Edge - 2

Matt - 1

 

Overall:

 

Jericho - 21

Jeff - 17

Christian - 16

Edge - 15

Matt - 6

 

Wow, a 1 for looks for Matt Hardy. Is that you Paul London?

 

[haVoc 0]

It's funny years ago everybody was pissed during Edge's lame duck face push Christian was being "held back." Now Edge is one of the greatest heels ever while Christian is getting the run of the mill face push.