Rate the Moment 122:
Christian Cage debuts in the TNA Wrestling program.
On October 31, 2005, Christian Cage's contract with WWE expired. According to Dave Meltzer, he was asked on the spot to sign a new contract but declined to sign the contract. His last match occurred during the tapings for the November 4 edition of SmackDown! Despite his quitting, Christian appeared on RAW and at Taboo Tuesday, fulfilling his obligations to the company, as he was one of five SmackDown! superstars eligible to be voted Edge and Gene Snitsky's opponents by the fans. As WWE had already announced his departure, there were notable chants of 'We want Christian' during the match, ironic considering the fans had not voted him into the match (they had voted for Rey Mysterio and Matt Hardy).
Contrary to prior rumors, Christian later claimed during his TNA debut speech at Genesis that WWE did not lowball him on their contract offer; in fact, supposedly, they offered him "a very hefty sum" to stay. He had made the decision to leave months before his contract expired and had agreed in principle to terms with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling prior to his departure. In that promo, Christian made several criticisms of WWE, citing the disproportionate amount of screen time allocated to Triple H and the use of distasteful storylines, and claiming that WWE had become, like the now-defunct WCW before it, "old, boring, and lacking direction". He debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling at Genesis under his original ring name, Christian Cage. After teasing an alliance with longtime friend Scott D'Amore and Team Canada, he delivered an Unprettier to D'Amore and helped Team 3D drive Jeff Jarrett through a table, thus turning face. Cage's debut coincided with the death of fellow wrestler Eddie Guerrero. As a tribute to Guerrero, Cage incorporated Guerrero's signature frog splash into his repertoire.