Otherwise known as “Captain Charisma” and “Edge’s Friend,” Christian is one of the most underrated stars of WWE, having made impressions on countless fans from the Attitude Era and Ruthless Aggression all the way to the PG era of the late 2000s and early 2010s -- in addition to a brief but memorable stint in TNA under his old ring name of Christian Cage.
Over the years, Christian proved himself to be a talented star so versatile that he could work effectively both heel and as a babyface. But which is better: good guy Christian or villain Christian? There are compelling arguments for both, so let’s evaluate both of Captain Charisma’s alignments.
10 Heel: Was a Vampire
Christian made a big splash by winning the WWF Light Heavyweight Title from Taka Michinoku in his debut, which is pretty impressive. But WWE fans best remember Christian as a vampire alongside Edge in Gangrel’s stable The Brood, which would later (and appropriately) become a part of The Undertaker’s Ministry of Darkness. It was a strong, pretty cool gimmick that worked with Edge and Christian’s looks, as they kind of looked like vampires anyway.
9 Face: Was Not A Vampire
For some pro wrestling fans, realism is very important, and “being a vampire” is far too outlandish a gimmick for these kinds of people to take seriously. However, as a babyface, Christian was never a vampire or even vampire-affiliated, as being an undead nocturnal bloodsucker and a hero is a far too difficult line to walk (unless you’re The Daywalker). So, for many fans, babyface Christian is the way to go.
8 Heel: Christian’s Coalition
In 2005, Christian, not seeing much opportunity to transcend the midcard in WWE, jumped ship to TNA as the fledgling company was beginning to hit its stride. There, Christian Cage was treated like a star and even got his own stable in the form of Christian’s Coalition, which included AJ Styles and Tomko, the latter of which was Christian’s bodyguard for a spell in WWE.
Aided by his Coalition, Christian was the most entertaining kind of cowardly heel champion, with his trademark bad guy smarminess at full blast.
7 Face: Underdog
As a babyface, however, Christian’s better qualities surface, revealing an easy-to-root for underdog. As a high-flying, less muscular Canadian, it’s easy to compare Christian to his modern equivalent, Sami Zayn, who’s also great at being both the hero of the people and the most annoying person on the planet. The fact that Christian is overshadowed by his tag team partner adds to his underdog nature. He rarely made it to the main event scene, but a whole lot of fans rooted for him anyway.
6 Heel: Feuding With John Cena
For many fans, Christian was at his peak in 2005. He was not only an overconfident heel backed by Tomko, but also starting to get super over with the crowds. Some of his best heelwork was against John Cena, which included several entertaining freestyle battle rap promos. Unfortunately, Christian was up against John Cena in Cena’s first WWE Championship run, so the company was going to keep their top guy strong at the expense of a heel with grassroots support -- which only furthered cemented him as an underdog for fans.
5 Face: TNA Babyface Run
As great at Christian’s Coalition was, for many wrestlers being a heel is thankless work because it’s easy to be written off as a top star, as bad guys exist to make heroes look good. But Christian Cage’s time with TNA not only showed off his value as a main event talent, but also showed him off as a babyface main eventer, as he put on some great matches like his bout against Samoa Joe at Destination X and the King of the Mountain Match at Slammiversary 2007.
4 Heel: Won The World Heavyweight Title By Getting Kicked in the Nuts After Spitting In The Viper's Face
It got overshadowed by CM Punk’s big WWE Championship win the same night, but Christian also managed to capture the World Heavyweight Championship at Money in the Bank 2011, and in the most hilarious way.
Taking on defending champ Randy Orton, the match had the stipulation that a DQ finish or bad referee officiating would result in a title change, which worked in Christian’s favor because he’s a tremendously obnoxious heel. So what did he do? He got Orton worked up so much that he kicked Christian in the nuts, resulting in a title win for Christian. Incredible.
3 Face: ECW Champion
After four years or so away from WWE, Christian made his return to the company in 2009 but joined the ECW roster instead of Raw or SmackDown. There, he became not only a two-time ECW Champion for a total of 247 days but also proved himself a fighting babyface champion, putting on great, competitive title defenses against wrestlers like William Regal, Shelton Benjamin, and even Yoshi Tatsu. He was rarely considered a main eventer on the main roster, but in ECW he really had a chance to shine.
2 Heel: Turned Heel After Edge’s Retirement
In 2011, Edge sadly retired due to a neck injury, resulting in Christian scoring his first World Heavyweight Title. Sadly, the reign only lasted about a week and facilitated a surprising heel turn for Christian. It was an interesting scenario, as it kept Christian from relying on the goodwill of being associated with Edge, but it was also a great heel move, because it used up all the sympathy fans built up for Christian.
1 Face: Won The World Title for the First Time
Christian’s two runs with the World Heavyweight Title are interesting, because they happened around the same time, but the first one was a babyface win and the second one was won as a heel. As great as the aforementioned heel win from Randy Orton was, the first win as a babyface was a major moment. Christian was a veteran at this point, frequently overlooked by management, and his title win felt huge, like WWE was finally pulling the trigger on the underrated star. It didn’t work out that way, but it sure felt exciting at the moment.