Christian Cage Patriarchy Plans Prompt AEW Booking "Slowdown" (AEW News)

With All In 2025 on the imminent horizon, many AEW fans have been under the belief that the PPV could see the reunion of Cope and Christian Cage, aka Edge and Christian.

Of course, this comes on the heels of Cope being attacked by FTR at Dynasty back in April, where the Rated-R Superstar was taken out by a conchairto. The WWE Hall of Famer has been absent from AEW programming since then, with speculation that Cope could turn to Christian Cage for help, in turn setting up a big Cope & Cage vs. FTR bout for All In.

When asked about this situation, Fightful Select's Sean Ross Sapp said that the match still is a plan, but he hasn't heard if it's the plan for All In. From what he's heard, SRS notes how there has been a "slowdown" on plans because Christian wants to make sure that things with his Patriarchy faction are "fleshed out".

As for the Patriarchy, that group has been together since late 2023, although cracks have started to show within the stable in recent months, notably with tension brewing between Cage and Nick Wayne. Whether AEW is waiting for a formal split of the Patriarchy - or at least Christian's removal from the group - before pulling the trigger on the Cage and Cope reunion, that remains to be seen.

Could We Still Get Cope & Cage At All In?

Is it possible that we could still get that 'Edge and Christian' reunion at this year's All In? Of course. Is it wise to do that reunion for All In? In your writer's opinion, no, not really.

As Edge and Christian, Cope and Cage were one of the greatest tag teams of their generation and beyond. Alongside the likes of the Hardyz and the Dudley Boys, E&C rejuvenated tag team wrestling at a time when it had sadly become an afterthought in the then-WWF. And once Cope signed with AEW, fans immediately started fantasy booking one last run for this legendary tag act. However, the company instead opted to have the pair feud, which was a smart move as they eventually did battle over the TNT Title and later both became involved in the AEW World Title picture.

It's also a smart move to bring Cope and Christian Cage back together at some point in time, and FTR is the perfect opponent to face off against the two multiple-time World Champions. To some, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler are the greatest tag team in the game these days, having put on a bunch of fantastic matches against a bunch of vastly varied teams. Not just that, but it's long been established that FTR and Cope are close friends away from the ring.

The problem right now, though, is that running Cope & Cage vs. FTR at All In 2025 would just feel too rushed were it to happen. As of this writing, All In takes place in less than three weeks - July 12 - and you'd ideally want to let something like this play out over a longer period of time, especially as Cope and Christian have been such heated, hated rivals during their time in AEW. The reunion of the two should be a fantastic, multi-layered story that has time to breathe and develop. Can you really do justice to that story in just over two weeks? You could certainly try, but you'd be better served by looking at running that big tag team match against FTR at a PPV later in the year, by which point you've given plenty of time to aligning the babyface Cope with the currently-heel Christian Cage.