Christian Cage has been a valuable asset for Vince McMahon. He and Edge inspired the tag team revolution in the Attitude Era with the iconic TLC matches, and he was great as a heel and a babyface. However, how did Vince himself influence the former World Champion at the beginning of his career?

Christian Cage reveals valuable advice from Vince McMahon

In Christian’s first run in the WWE, he turned heel effectively and had a tremendous run with the Intercontinental Championship. His rivalry with Chris Jericho in 2004 over Trish Stratus’ affection attracted a different level of heel heat.

Despite his success, Christian struggled in the promo department on an episode of Raw. In an interview with Bleacher Report, he revealed a lesson taught to him by Vince McMahon himself.

“One time, I was doing a promo on Raw, and I had memorized words I was going to say,” Christian said. “It was Edge and me, and Mick Foley was going to come out and interrupt it. Midway through talking and I just went blank and couldn’t remember anything. Edge was looking at me like ‘What’s wrong with you?

“I started fumbling words. They say you can’t see the faces in the crowd, but trust me when I say I saw every face in that moment. I started to panic, and it wasn’t good. When Foley came out, he said something like, ‘Did you forget your lines?”

What did McMahon say to him?

To no one’s surprise, Vince’s advice ended up being valuable and helped him in the latter stages of his career

“The next day, I walk in and I saw Vince. He said ‘Great stuff last night.’ I said, ‘Really? I forgot everything.’ He said, ‘You’re a heel, right?. When you’re a heel, you can get away with anything. If that ever happens again, step back, take a breath and look at your partner. Ask him what you were talking about and go back to it. Act like these people don’t get to hear you talk until you’re ready.

“It was a big lesson. From that point on, I stopped trying to memorize things. You have to go out there with your own voice and some bullet points of what you want to talk about.”

Was Christian Cage more effective as a heel or a babyface? Where would he have been without this advice from McMahon, and what’s next for him after his big win over Powerhouse Hobbs on AEW Dynamite?

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