10 Things That Didn't Go The Way AEW Wanted

9. Christian Cage Signing Can't Live Up To Tony Khan's Hype

Christian Cage
AEW

You won't find a bigger Christian Cage fan than your writer here, but the AEW arrival of of the five-time World Champion didn't go down as well as Tony Khan would have hoped.

This was nothing to do with Christian himself, but it was a case of Khan hyping something up to such an extreme level that he was always going to struggle to appease his audience. Ahead of AEW Revolution 2021, Tony went hard in promoting - initially via Paul Wight - that a "Hall of Fame worthy" signing would be revealed at the PPV.

Of course, Christian is unequivocally a Hall of Fame talent by any definition, but the hype and hoopla drummed up by Khan meant that he gave the wrestling world the chance to dream up all kinds of scenarios. And when that opportunity to dream presented itself, the excitement levels generated by the AEW President meant that people were expecting a CM Punk, a Brock Lesnar, a Kurt Angle, a Batista.

No disrespect to Christian Cage, but he isn't viewed at being quite at the level of the likes of Punk, Lesnar, Angle and Batista by the mases, and thus him walking out at AEW Revolution felt a little underwhelming. Rather than getting the big-time reaction that Tony Khan thought this signing would get, the main response was an apathy-laced golf clap.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.