Todd Grisham Reiterates That Vince McMahon Told Him How To Announce Christian’s WWE Return In 2009

Todd Grisham was instructed to undersell Christian’s return.

After spending multiple years with TNA Wrestling, Christian Cage made his return to WWE in February 2009, debuting on the ECW brand to face Jack Swagger.

The moment wasn’t met with excitement from commentator Todd Grisham, who simply said “It’s Christian” in a tone that was devoid of any excitement.

Speaking with Chris Van Vliet for a new interview, Todd Grisham reiterated that Vince McMahon told him exactly how to call Christian’s return.

“Christian was one of my better friends at WWE. We’d hang out in catering all the time and talk. He was the most, I mean, I think even most superstars or wrestlers will tell you that you got to be a little bit insane to be a wrestler. He was the most normal person backstage him, and like Shane Helms, The Hurricane and Edge, those were kind of the guys I would hang out with. And Christian we would play this game called Words with Friends, which is like an app back and forth. So he left WWE to go to TNA for a while. We’d still hang out and text and talk, and he was coming back. So I was excited all day long. Yeah, that’s great. Here’s the match, was talking to him about his match, and I’m thinking, I gotta nail this when he comes out. I had something to say. I’m standing in Gorilla about to walk out, and Vince had glasses on his nose, and he did one of these [come here gestures]. I’m like, Okay, I walk over. He’s just said to me, ‘When Christian walks out, I want you to just say “it’s Christian”, and that’s it. Understand?’ I’m like, Yes sir. And I’m thinking, Oh my god. So that’s how I did it. But I felt like, How do I do it? So I almost did it, like in my brain, like I couldn’t believe it. I was stunned silence, like, ‘It’s Christian. How can this possibly be?’ So that’s how I tried to do it. And, man, that’s probably the most criticism I get from fans. Like, ‘Why does Todd hate Christian? Why did he do that? He ruined it.’ But Vince just did not like Christian. I think he thought he liked big guys, and he thought Christian just didn’t look the part. But he was such a good in-ring performer. I mean, has he ever had a bad match?”

Elsewhere in the interview, Todd Grisham recalled another incident where Vince McMahon cussed him out for saying that John Morrison liked poetry. Check out his full comments by clicking here.

Special thanks to Chris Van Vliet and his team for the quote(s) in this article.