#I'm not particularly fond of blending kayfabe with reality

[hanitje]

Christian Cage: Heels Have To Be OK With Being Hated For It To Really Work

Christian Cage knows you can’t half-ass being a heel for it to truly resonate.

Cage has been a dastardly heel in All Elite Wrestling. He has repeatedly taken shots at “Jungle Boy” Jack Perry’s late father (Luke Perry) in a number of promos, and he even referenced Arn Anderson’s son Barrett, who recently passed away. Cage has made it clear that nothing is off limits, and this mindset has helped him become one of the most detested villains in AEW.

Christian Cage described his mindset about being a heel. He detailed how he thought a heel needs to believe what they are saying. The veteran stated that the performer has to go all in and ensure the character doesn’t have redeeming qualities.

“I think, as a heel, when you’re delivering your message, you have to have a nugget of truth, and you embellish it, and you believe what you’re saying, and you believe it with every ounce of your being, for you, that’s true, and you’re right, and you’re justified, even though it’s probably wrong. That’s how I look at it. When it comes to my character, especially these days, the turtleneck guy, zero redeemable qualities, but he can go out and say and do things that Jay Reso would never go say and do. In that respect, you have to have full commitment to it for it to really work. You have to be okay with being hated for it to really work. You can’t be on the fence like, ‘Ah, these few people are booing me and it kind of bothered me.’ No, you have to be all in. You have to make sure everybody hates you.” 

When asked whether he worries about the backlash for what he does as a heel, Christan Cage stated that his job is to get heat. He detailed how it’s possible to infuriate the audience with mannerisms or pauses, and he pointed to a recent example. The veteran also made it clear that, as a heel, you have to be okay with being hated.

“I go out there to get heat. That’s my job, to go out there and to get heat. But I think also, you can get that kind of heat, even with just your mannerisms, pauses, and timing, the way you stop,” he explained. “If you just even give a glance to the audience in a certain way, or if they’re trying to get under your skin, where they’re reacting, and you just keep talking through their noise.

“A lot of times, that elevates the heat, if you just keep talking. You’re not even acknowledging the fact that they’re booing you this loud. Now they will even try to get louder and louder to try to drown you out. It just happened recently happened in Detroit a few weeks ago, it was very much that way. But that’s how I approach being a heel. Zero redeeming qualities. Just kinda go out there and understand that you gotta be okay with being hated.”