February 9, 2007 - Christian Cage has been gored through a steel cage, smacked in the head with steel chairs, and dove off countless ladders throughout his career in a way that makes you believe this two-time heavyweight champ isn't afraid of anything.
But you'd be wrong.
Christian Cage, AKA Jay Reso is afraid of one thing in life...failure.
"I feel like I have something to prove every time I go out for some reason," says Cage. "My biggest fear, the only fear that I have is failing. I hate to fail at anything that I do and that's really my only fear in life, to be a failure. I just work really hard and every time I go out, I try to challenge myself to be the best that I can to make sure that doesn't happen."
And that fear of failure has driven Christian to the top of his sport.
This Sunday on pay-per-view, Christian steps into the ring against another former WWE wrestler, Kurt Angle in the main event of Against All Odds, a title fitting a grappler many saw as only a mid-carder throughout his career, and it took jumping to TNA for the man to finally elevate to a level all of his peeps always knew he could.
"All I wanted was a chance. I don't want anything handed to me, I want to work for everything I have…that's the way I've done everything in my life. I was just looking for an opportunity and that's what TNA gave me."
Here's what else the man with all the gold had to say about his character, his match against Kurt Angle, and his unbelievable ranking in Top Spin 2.
IGN Sports: What's the difference you've felt in terms of freedom of character and expression in TNA as opposed to WWE?
Christian Cage: TNA has been great as far as allowing me to have more input creatively on my character and the direction of my character and promos. I pretty much have free reign on that stuff and it has been really fun, really challenging to me in a good way. It has been a good fit so far.
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IGN Sports: When you cut a promo, do you script the entire segment out or do you basically use bullet points and let things flow from there?
Christian Cage: I find if you try to memorize something or say it word for word, it feels to me like you're reading off a cue card and it doesn't sound natural. I try to go out with bullet points, and you never know, the crowd is going to react different every time you're out there, so you never know what you're going to get. With that being said, you can react accordingly on how the crowd is reacting to you and just let things flow.
IGN Sports: You seem to really be in your element as a heel. Is that more suited to your personality?
Christian Cage: I'm a smart ass by nature, so it's easier for me to fit that role and I have a lot of fun with it. I don't know, people just seem to love to hate me more than they love to love me. [laughs] As long as they're reacting, that's a good thing.
IGN Sports: This Sunday you're defending your title against Kurt Angle. Were you surprised when he jumped to TNA?
Christian Cage: I was very surprised. Any time you see somebody the caliber of Kurt Angle, and obviously everybody knows he's a multi-time heavyweight champion, he's an Olympic gold medalist, it's one of those things that's a big step for TNA. To get guys like myself, like Kurt to step over, it shows that TNA is a legitimate wrestling brand. I know in my case it was a risk, but it was one I was willing to take.
IGN Sports: How will Christian vs. Kurt Angle in TNA be any different than Christian and Kurt Angle matches in WWE?
Christian Cage: Kurt and I have wrestled here and there, but the only time we had a real, real match was at King of the Ring about six or seven years ago. Other than that, we really haven't locked up since then. I think both of our styles have changed a lot. Kurt has gone back to more of his amateur-style roots and more of the MMA shoot-style roots and my game is kind of different than what it was back then as well. I think it's going to be a great match because of the contrast in styles and I'm looking forward walking out of the arena NWA World Heavyweight champion.
