Background and career
William Jason Reso (born November 30, 1973) is a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Christian Cage and is one-half of Cage & Cope with Adam Copeland. Reso made his debut in 1995. He wrestled in Canadian independent promotions early in his career, where he competed in singles and tag team competition with his best friend Edge. In 1998, he signed a developmental contract with the then-World Wrestling Federation (WWF, renamed to WWE in 2002) and made his debut the same year as Christian, immediately capturing his first championship in the company, the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship, in his debut match. Edge and Christian gained notoriety for their participation in Tables, Ladders, and Chairs matches. They won the promotion's World Tag Team Championship on seven occasions. They are considered one of the major teams that revived tag team wrestling during the Attitude Era. The team parted ways in 2001, after which, Christian held various singles titles in WWE, including the European, Hardcore, and Intercontinental Championships. In 2005, Reso departed WWE and signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under his Christian Cage ring name, after which, he won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship twice. He left TNA in late 2008 and re-signed with WWE in 2009, where he won the ECW Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship twice each until retiring in 2014 due to concussion issues. He was the 23rd Triple Crown Champion and 11th Grand Slam Champion in WWE history. In March 2021, Cage made his debut for AEW, again reverting to his Christian Cage moniker, and officially resuming his in-ring wrestling career. Following this, he won the Impact World Championship on the first episode of AEW Rampage in 2021 (as AEW and Impact, now once again TNA, had a partnership at the time), and in 2023, he won his first title under the AEW banner in the AEW TNT Championship, which he has held twice. Additionally, he is a former one-time AEW World Trios Champion. He has headlined multiple pay-per-view events between WWE, TNA and AEW, and was one of WWE's most prolific pay-per-view performers. Between the three aforementioned promotions, Cage has held 27 total championships, including seven world titles and ten tag team titles.
William Jason "Jay" Reso was born in Kitchener, Ontario, on November 30, 1973, the son of Canadian mother Carol and American father Randy Reso. He played ice hockey and was a wrestling fan as a child. He lived in Huntsville and East Luther-Grand Valley before moving to Orangeville, where he met Adam "Edge" Copeland, who became his best friend and tag team partner. They attended Orangeville District Secondary School together, from which they both graduated.
In September 1994, Reso enrolled in a wrestling school run by Ron Hutchison at Sully's Gym. One of his early ring names was Christian Cage, a combination of the names of actors Christian Slater and Nicolas Cage. Cage's wrestling career began in June 1995 in a match against Zakk Wyld, which resulted in a draw. In 1997, he was a part of Thug Life, a stable that included Joe E. Legend, Zakk Wyld, Rhino Richards, and Copeland (under the name Sexton Hardcastle). As a tag team on the Canadian independent circuit, Reso and Copeland were known as High Impact and later The Suicide Blondes. The duo held titles in numerous promotions and competed in the United States and Japan. Reso won the East Coast Wrestling Association (ECWA) Heavyweight Championship on July 18, 1998, which he held until October 15, 1999. When Copeland received a tryout match with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Reso went with him and they faced off in a non-televised tryout match, which Copeland was booked to win. After the tryout, once Copeland was promoted from his developmental status to touring with the WWF, he put in a good word for Reso and got him invited to Dory Funk Jr.'s WWF-affiliated Funking Conservatory training camp in 1998. After completing his training at the conservatory, Reso signed a contract with the WWF to become a full-time performer.
When Reso came to the WWF, he shortened his ring name to Christian. Christian made his television debut as a heel at WWF's pay-per-view event Breakdown: In Your House on September 27, distracting Edge during his match against Owen Hart to reveal his allegiance to Gangrel. Christian won the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship in his debut match against Taka Michinoku at Judgment Day: In Your House on October 18. He lost the title to Gillberg a month later. Christian was given the character of a vampire and formed an alliance with Gangrel and Edge, who (in storyline) was finally persuaded to join what became known as The Brood. At Rock Bottom: In Your House on December 13, The Brood defeated The J.O.B. Squad in a six-man tag team match, then they briefly feuded with The Undertaker's Ministry of Darkness and later joining the team, but upon learning that Christian was beaten into telling Ken Shamrock the whereabouts of Stephanie McMahon, The Undertaker punished Christian by flogging him. More loyal to The Brood than to The Ministry, Edge and Gangrel betrayed The Undertaker and rescued Christian from sacrifice.
In July 1999, Christian and Edge parted ways with Gangrel, who associated himself with the Hardy Boyz (Jeff and Matt Hardy) to form The New Brood. As a result, they began feuding with the Hardy Boyz and competed in a ladder match for the managerial services of Terri Runnels and $100,000 at No Mercy on October 17, which the Hardy Boyz won. At Survivor Series in November 1999, Christian and Edge teamed with the Hardy Boyz in a loss to the Holly Cousins and Too Cool. At Armageddon in December 1999, they competed in a tag team battle royal for the WWF Tag Team Championship that was won by the Acolytes. Christian competed in the Royal Rumble in January 2000, but was eliminated by Rikishi. At No Way Out in February 2000, Christian and Edge defeated the Hardy Boyz to become number one contenders to the WWF Tag Team Championship. At WrestleMania 2000 on April 2, Christian and Edge defeated the Hardy Boyz and the Dudley Boyz to win their first WWF Tag Team Championship in a triangle ladder match. Following their victory, Christian and Edge portrayed themselves as heels, shifting their in-ring personas from borderline goth to a comedic pair of "cool dudes". During this time, their trademark became the "five second pose", where they performed a pose in the ring for five seconds "for the benefit of those with flash photography" to mock, insult, or amuse the fans. At Backlash on April 30, Christian and Edge defeated Road Dogg and X-Pac to retain the titles. At Judgment Day on May 21, Christian, Edge and Kurt Angle lost a six-man tag team match to Rikishi and Too Cool. On the May 29, 2000 episode of Raw is War, Too Cool defeated Christian and Edge for the WWF Tag Team Championship after Joe C. interfered in the match.
Christian and Edge won the WWF Tag Team Championship back in a four corners elimination match at King of the Ring on June 25. At Fully Loaded on July 23, Christian and Edge lost to the Acolytes Protection Agency (Bradshaw and Faarooq) by disqualification, but they retained the titles. At SummerSlam on August 27, Christian and Edge successfully defended the tag team titles in the first ever tables, ladders, and chairs match against The Hardy Boyz and The Dudley Boyz. At Unforgiven on September 24, Christian and Edge lost the titles to the Hardy Boyz in a steel cage match and were not allowed another title shot. At No Mercy on October 22, Christian and Edge (disguised as Los Conquistadores) defeated The Hardys for the titles. The next night on Raw Is War, the Hardy Boyz dressed as the Los Conquistadores and defeated Edge in a handicap match after Christian was taken out backstage to regain the WWF Tag Team Championship. At Survivor Series on November 19, Christian and Edge teamed with Right to Censor's Bull Buchanan and The Goodfather in a four-on-four Survivor Series elimination match which they lost to The Dudleys and The Hardyz. At Armageddon on December 10, Christian and Edge regained the tag team titles in a fatal four-way match involving The Dudley Boyz, K-Kwik and Road Dogg and The Right to Censor, but they lost them eight days later to The Rock and The Undertaker only to win them back days later on SmackDown! thanks to special guest referee Kurt Angle. At the Royal Rumble on January 21, 2001, Christian and Edge lost the WWF Tag Team Championship to the Dudley Boyz. At No Way Out on February 25, Christian and Edge were unsuccessful in regaining the tag team titles. Christian and Edge recaptured the WWF Tag Team Championship in the second ever TLC match at WrestleMania X-Seven on April 1. On the April 19 episode of SmackDown!, Christian and Edge were defeated by the Brothers of Destruction (Kane and The Undertaker) for the WWF Tag Team Championship. At Backlash on April 29, Christian was part of the triple threat match for the WWF European Championship which was won by Matt Hardy. At Judgment Day on May 21, Christian and Edge competed in a tag team turmoil match which was won by Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho. On the May 24 episode of SmackDown!, Christian and Edge competed in a fatal four-way tag team TLC match for the WWF Tag Team Championship in which Benoit and Jericho retained the tag team titles. After losing the tag team titles, friction arose within the team after Edge won the 2001 King of the Ring tournament on June 24. It was also during this time that Edge was becoming a face during The Invasion storyline. Christian briefly turned face to help feud with The Alliance. Christian turned heel shortly afterward, resulting in the two feuding for Edge's WWF Intercontinental Championship for several months.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
