Early Life
William Jason Reso was born on November 30, 1973, in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. He is a lifelong wrestling fan and played ice hockey during his childhood. When his family moved to Orangeville, Ontario, Jay met Adam Copeland. The two of them attended high school together and soon became best friends.
Adam and Jay started training around the same time, but Adam was the one to get a contract with WWE first. Once in the company, he put in a good word for Jay (who was now going by the ring name Christian Cage). In a stroke of luck, Christian was brought on board soon after.
First WWE Run
Once he came to WWE, Christian Cage shortened his ring name to just Christian. He made his debut at Breakdown: In Your House on September 27, 1998. Soon after his debut, Christian and Adam (now going by the ring name Edge) were given vampire gimmicks and joined The Brood under the leadership of Gangrel.
In 1999, Edge and Christian parted ways with Gangrel and focused on their tag team career. They became immensely popular and helped revolutionize tag team wrestling in WWE thanks to their classic matches with The Hardy Boyz.
Friction arose between Edge and Christian in 2001, causing Christian to turn heel. He joined the short-lived stable The Un-Americans alongside fellow Canadians Lance Storm and Test. He departed from WWE on October 31, 2005.
TNA Career
Before leaving WWE, Christian filed a trademark for the moniker “Captain Charisma,” enabling him to use the nickname he’d earned in WWE once he left the company. On November 13, 2005, Reso made his TNA debut under his old ring name Christian Cage.
Christian found immense success in TNA; on February 12, 2006, Christian defeated Jeff Jarrett for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Christian turned heel shortly after he lost the title and became the leader of his own faction called Christian’s Coalition.
WWE Return
Christian returned to WWE on the February 10 episode of ECW as a babyface. On April 26, Christian defeated Jack Swagger to become the ECW Champion. He would lose and regain the title a few times until WWE’s ECW brand was deactivated in February 2010.
Christian was brought back to the Raw brand after the closure of ECW. He then pursued the World Heavyweight Championship and eventually defeated Alberto Del Rio for the title at Extreme Rules 2011.
Injuries And Retirement
Unfortunately, injuries tampered with much of Christian’s WWE career. In the fall of 2010, he tore his pectoral muscle and was out of action for several months. Then, in November 2011, Christian sustained an ankle injury that sidelined him until the following February.
On March 24, 2014, Christian sustained a concussion in the ring. This caused Christian to indefinitely step away from in-ring action, and WWE personnel referred to him as being “retired.” He made sporadic appearances for the company, including competing in the 2021 Royal Rumble.
All Elite Wrestling
At Revolution 2021, Christian Cage made his AEW debut. He started out as a babyface and became friends with Jurassic Express, Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus. Through AEW’s working relationship with IMPACT (formerly TNA), Christian was able to win the Impact World Championship from Kenny Omega.
On June 15, Christian turned heel by attacking Jungle Boy. He began belittling Jungle Boy for having a deceased father, and continues to target fatherless members of the AEW roster.