The Piledriver Report 11.12.08: The Main Event Mafia’s Induction of Christian Cage

This past Sunday during the TNA pay per view, Turning Point, the big topic of conversation was contract status of Christian Cage. Will he or won’t he remain in TNA once his current deal expires shortly? According to the reports, most in the company feel that he will be heading back to World Wrestling Entertainment. Despite this belief, the executives are still trying to resign Christian to a deal.

As part of the storyline, Christian Cage lost to Booker T at Turning Point, and was forced to join the Main Event Mafia. During the Impact TV taping the following night, Kurt Angle questioned Christian’s commitment to the Main Event Mafia, as he heard Cage will be heading back to the WWE. He told Christian that this isn’t a welcoming party, but a goodbye party. The Main Event Mafia attacked Cage, and left him lying, as they celebrated over his prone body.

This angle was either the dumbest angle from a business standpoint, or a great segment that will hopefully springboard TNA to greater heights.

There are a couple of concerns that could be had over this storyline. First off, Cage was having a match against Booker T at the pay per view. One of the stipulations was if Christian LOST the match, he would be forced to join the Main Event Mafia. He wasn’t joining because he WANTED to be in the group. He was joining because he had to. Of course Angle would be questioning Cage’s commitment to the group. Would you be committed to a group if you hated the members, but was forced to join them? If Booker T, who you feuded with, beat you in a match, why would you be enthused to join forces with him?

This also leads me to ask, from a storyline standpoint, why would the Main Event Mafia even want to add this stipulation to the match? If you were part of a prestigious group, would you add a member that you hated? Not to mention that by adding this hated rival, Christian could now try to destroy the Mafia from within. If humiliation was the reason for the stipulation, why not just have Christian put up his career in the match instead. This way, he could never bother you again.

The other MAJOR complaint in the angle from the Impact taping was why in the world would they mention that Christian might be possibly heading back to the WWE. I can understand it when the ex-WWE wrestlers talk about their former company on TNA television. When they do they, these wrestlers usually aren’t giving rave reviews about Vince McMahon and the WWE. They talk about how the WWE doesn’t give those who deserve a real break, and that TNA is the future of pro wrestling.

However, in the case of what they did to Cage at the TV tapings, what they basically told the viewer is that “look, one of our top stars may be going to the WWE.” That may lead the viewer into having two thoughts. The first being that why would Christian be willing to go back to the bad company when he raved about TNA being the “future of the business?” Does he not believe in TNA anymore? The other thought is that the viewer may see the defection of one of TNA’s most heavily pushed talents as confirmation that TNA is not competition, but a breeding ground for the WWE to find new talent.

The creative staff at TNA could have run the same exact angle without mentioning the letters W-W-E, and the segment would have had an even bigger impact then it may have now. Kurt could have still questioned Cage’s commitment to the group, and the other members could have then brutalized Christian, leaving him for dead. Next week, the Main Event Mafia could have bragged to the world that they ended the career of Cage. If Christian were to show up on WWE television after this, then the Mafia could brag how they ran him out of town, and he chose to go back to a place he hates, rather then fight like a man against the Main Event Mafia.

There are some positives to the Main Event Mafia/Christian Cage angle. At first, I was questioning the whole old guys vs. young guys rehashed angle from the dying days of WCW. However, they started off on the right foot with the name. The “Main Event Mafia” moniker is an awesome name for a faction. In an interview, Kurt Angle compared them to the nWo. Hopefully, he meant the early days of the nWo. When it comes to the group’s name, this is the best group name since the New World Order came into existence.

Secondly, they have the right members in the group. They should keep the group to this many members. Maybe they could add Team 3-D to be their tag team representatives. However, if they keep adding members, they will water down the group, and it will turn into the crappy Red-White/Hollywood nWo.

If Christian does decide to return to TNA, then the angle that they ran the other night could lead to big things. After months of bragging about the destruction of Cage, a returning Christian attacks the Main Event Mafia. This time he has Samoa Joe, A.J. Styles, Mick Foley, and Jeff Jarrett as his back up. He can then tell the world that he was thinking about returning to the WWE, not because they are a better promotion, but because Kurt Angle’s power and influence was worse then Triple H could ever be. Once he lost to Booker T at Turning Point, he knew he had to leave. He’d rather dance with the devil then be forced to be a part of Angle’s entourage. However, after the beating that the Main Event Mafia gave him, Cage knew where he had to be. He had to stay right here in TNA, and bring down every member of the Main Event Mafia.

If this is where the storyline is heading, then TNA could become extremely interesting and fun, not painful, to watch again. However, if this was TNA’s attempt to blow off the Christian Cage character before he returns to the WWE, then they made grave mistake by mentioning the WWE and Christian’s return by name. Never mention the competition unless it benefits your company. In this case, it can only come back to hurt TNA. Will this hurt TNA, or be the start of something big? Will Cage resign with TNA or resurrect his buddy, Edge, from Hell, in the WWE? Only time will tell. One thing is for sure, for fans of Christian, things are about to get interesting.