10 Times WWE Actually Worked With Other Companies

2. TNA - The Ric Flair/Christian Cage Talent Trade

Christian TNA
WWE

TNA faded fast as a relevant wrestling force after the 2010 arrival of Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, despite the original intentions of their arrival being the exact opposite.

Calling the company the North American Number Two had mostly only ever been accurate as a colloquialism, but the days of them massaging a perception as WWE's chief competition collapsed when Hogan's presence not only failed to bring them much closer to Vince McMahon but seemed to widen the gap.

It was perhaps why the two sides came to such amicable agreements on the use of Ric Flair and Christian Cage on each other's shows in 2012.

WWE wanted 'The Nature Boy' for their Hall Of Fame again, having elected to put The Four Horsemen in and give Flair (by then taking bumps and talking sh*t in TNA) his second ring four years after his first. As per an agreement with Dixie Carter, Christian (Cage) cut a nice promo about his time in TNA at their Slammiversary pay-per-view in response. Hogan himself 'Captain Charisma' to the buzzing audience.

That he was even allowed to do it tragically spoke to how little WWE cared.

In this post: 
Christian
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett