Despite being a heel whose gimmick consists of constantly trolling others’ dead fathers, Christian Cage has become one of All Elite Wrestling’s most popular stars.
So much so that the former WWE superstar’s condescending facial expressions have often turned into popular gifs and memes among wrestling fans.
But if there’s a downside to having one of your stars go viral among your fanbase on a semi-regular basis, it came during Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite. As Adam Copeland (formerly Edge) faced Minoru Suzuki in the the show’s main event, the camera cut backstage to Christian, who was watching the match featuring his former tag team partner-turned-rival.
The only problem? As many fans noticed, the reaction shot of Christian appeared to be very similar to one that was used five months ago during the build to the All Out pay-per-view. In fact, it appeared to be the exact same shot.
https://twitter.com/DrainBamager/status/1750354871151136787
Looking at the shot — in which Christian can be seen stroking his chin while wearing a black turtleneck with a red sport coat — it would be tough to dispute that this isn’t the exact same shot. The former “Captain Charisma” is even standing in front of the exact same background of the reaction shot that was used last August.
Presumably, Christian either wasn’t booked or wasn’t available to be at Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite, but AEW still wanted him to maintain some sort of presence on the show — especially considering his connection to the main event match. Ultimately, this isn’t that big of a deal. While the seemingly recycled reaction shot will almost assuredly be used as fodder for WWE loyalists who take every opportunity they can to discredit the rival promotion, it will largely go unnoticed by the vast majority of viewers.
Of course, the irony in all of this is that AEW’s creative editing likely wouldn’t have even been noticed by anyone in the first place if not for Christian’s recent rise in popularity.
Hmmm very interesting 😅
*inserts this below* pic.twitter.com/TPx11tuu08— Matt LoneWolf (@Matt_LoneWolf1) January 25, 2024
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.