There are many reasons why the WWE needs a Christian Cage, that is, the ultimate scumbag heel. As good as the promotion is doing and as many Superstars as they have on their roster, the WWE has no one as good at playing a scumbag as AEW star Christian. Ironically, the WWE failed to utilize “Captain Charisma” during his last run in the WWE, effectively writing him off as one of Randy Orton’s victims. Now, it’s abundantly clear that the WWE left money on the table when they let Cage leave and head to AEW.

What's So Special About Christian?

Fans who are only familiar with Christian’s work in the WWE might wonder why the WWE needs him. While Christian was always a stand-out worker and a solid upper-card talent who occasionally worked programs in the main event, he never broke out as a lasting main eventer. However, if you’ve seen his work in TNA Wrestling or his current AEW work, it’s a night-and-day comparison.

If ever a wrestler epitomized the scumbag heel, it’s Christian Cage. “Captain Charisma” (or “The Patriarch” as he now calls himself) is a fantastic worker who knows how to press the fans’ buttons with surgical skill. His run in AEW has been phenomenal, particularly after he turned heel by betraying his protégé Jungle Boy, revealing he’d spent nearly a year waiting for the right moment to turn on him. If that isn’t a textbook case of sociopathic behavior, what is?

However, why does the WWE need someone like Christian? After all, the WWE has heels like Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre, Shinsuke Nakamura, Karrion Kross, Dominik Mysterio, and Logan Paul. Why would the WWE need a wrestler similar to Cage?

He's Diabolically Different

What makes Christian different than many heels? It’s easy to describe him as “diabolically different” but what exactly does this entail? Sure, Christian is a traditional heel in that he cheats, runs for his life when he’s in trouble, and talks mountains of trash. Yet even here, there are differences. Cage is the guy at the party who is stone cold sober yet has no filter. Cage always aims low, whether it’s bringing up a wrestler’s dead parent or promising to injure a wrestler so badly they’ll have to have their kids cleaning up after them. If TNT’s censors would let him, Cage would probably dropkick a puppy if it meant getting the edge on an opponent.

The WWE has plenty of heels of different stripes. For example, there’s Drew McIntyre, a wrestler who doesn’t see himself as a heel but is portrayed as someone embittered by past setbacks. Then it has Dominik Mysterio, who excels as a young punk whose proverbial bark is bigger than his bite. There’s also “The Tribal Chief,” who blends the character of a traditional power-hungry heel with organized crime elements.

Somehow, Christian has even found a way to eclipse AEW’s previous top scumbag, MJF. Perhaps it’s because fans have seen a kinder, gentler MJF as he forged his friendship with Adam Cole. Both wrestlers have used flunkies to get ahead (Killswitch and Wardlow, respectively), but only Christian has turned friends against each other and even family members. At times, fans must wonder whether Christian has a faction or a cult backing him up.

How Christian Could Help the WWE

Christian can’t help the WWE because he’s signed to a long-term deal with AEW, but the WWE could definitely benefit from a scumbag like Christian. Wrestling fans like variety when it comes to opponents, which is why wrestlers seem to succeed the most when they have a gimmick that separates them from their peers.

Perhaps the closest thing the WWE had to a Christian Cage type was Seth Rollins. Seth’s run as “The Monday Night Messiah” showed some similarities with Christian’s current work. Rollins was utterly ruthless, showing no qualms about his insidious actions, including blinding Rey Mysterio and Aleister Black. Rollins also assembled a cult around him and terrorized RAW. Rollins’ effectiveness was obvious as he didn’t need a title to get over. It bears mentioning that while Christian has a title, he doesn’t need it, but it does add a layer to his villainy since he’s essentially co-opted the belt from Killswitch, further demonstrating what a scumbag he is.

That doesn’t mean the WWE needs to bring “The Monday Night Messiah” back because Seth Rollins is excelling in his current role. Furthermore, Rollins is a good example of a wrestler who knows that if you want to stay fresh, you don’t recycle old gimmicks but build new layers to your character.

However, there are several candidates who could play a similar role in the WWE. Best of all, such a role could help them break out and become stars.

Some Top WWE Candidates

There are several wrestlers the WWE could use to create a scumbag character similar to Christian Cage. Naturally, any character should stand out on their own, but emulating some of Cage’s qualities is a good start while the character develops.

Dexter Lumis: Dexter Lumis is one of the WWE’s most underutilized talents and a Superstar with the potential to become a major player. The WWE dropped the ball with its Cape Fear-style storyline involving Dexter stalking The Miz when it revealed that Lumis’ original obsession with The Miz and his family was a way for The Miz to get publicity for his Hollywood career. Lumis is perfect at playing a cold, calculating lunatic, yet the WWE seems to see him as a goofy sidekick for Johnny Gargano. The WWE could do so much better by portraying Dexter as a cold, calculating heel who mesmerizes wrestlers to his side, having them do his bidding as he terrorizes the WWE.

Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn: Fyre and Dawn got the short end of the stick when the WWE made the lamebrained decision to unify the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship with the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship, taking the NXT tag titles off Fyre and Dawn and putting them on the short-lived tag team of Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler.

Since then, the WWE hasn’t found much for Fyre and Dawn to do (although it looks like they might be starting a feud with Damage-CTRL). It’s unfortunate as Fyre and Dawn’s spooky side is a good gimmick that could be expanded into them starting a heel coven, recruiting female Superstars to their side, and forming their own faction. It might seem like a stretch for Fyre and Dawn, given their relative lack of experience in the WWE, but they wouldn’t be the first wrestlers thrown into the deep end of the pool and who succeeded.

It's time for the WWE to consider adding a new style of heel to their roster to prove some variety for its babyfaces and to create fresh storylines. The WWE doesn’t need to copy everything about Christian Cage but his character is an ideal prototype for designing a WWE version of the ultimate scumbag.

Do you think Christian Cage is wrestling’s ultimate scumbag heel? Would the WWE benefit from a similar character?