Subhojeet Mukherjee on April 12, 2024
Brian Cage honed his skills in various promotions before joining AEW. The Machine is a highly skilled in-ring performer, particularly for someone of his size. He was a staple of AEW television before making his way to Tony Khan’s ROH. He also revealed why he didn’t sign with WWE.
Cage would end up signing a long-term contract with AEW and ROH prior to speculation that he would part ways with AEW. Since then, he has seen reasonable success in the company.
Cage shared his experiences with AEW in a conversation with Dan Severn and Eric Carroll on the ‘Unleashed’ show, where he revealed why he signed with AEW over WWE.
”My contract was coming up last year with AEW and I was going back-and-forth with WWE and AEW with my agent. You know, trying to see where we should fit and there’s pros and cons to both and a big reason — I mean, there’s a lot of reasons but, a reason big to stay with AEW was the fact that there was a lot more certainty so to speak. It’s not necessarily a guaranteed contract but more, for lack of a better term, the contract was essentially guaranteed compared to WWE’s which is — I mean, I could be signed there today, gone tomorrow, you know what I mean? So, I thought about it and I got a lengthy, lengthy term with AEW as well so I’m like, alright, you know what?… We (Cage & Melissa Santos) just had another kid too. My son’s about four-and-a-half months old now and I have two other kids but, I was just thinking for, not just professionally but personally, I’m like, for the security, for the length of the contract and comfortability as well. We’re already there, things, you’re used to it. ”
One of the primary reasons Cage chose to stay with AEW is the way Tony Khan, the company’s president, treats his talents with respect and care, viewing them as “actual human beings.” Cage pointed out that while he doesn’t mean to speak negatively about WWE, he acknowledges that Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque is making changes. Historically, however, WWE has treated talents as disposable.
Cage explained that he found more stability and security in his AEW contract, noting that the terms were more reliable compared to WWE, where contracts could be uncertain. He highlighted that he recently welcomed a new child into his family, and the security of AEW’s contract was an important consideration for both his professional and personal life.
”I was like, yeah, if it’s not broke, maybe don’t fix it and I was like, ‘Yeah, maybe it’s just best to stay here and stay put and make the best out of it…’ Going back to Tony (Khan) being such a fan and such a good person and everything else, it plays a big role into that and the way he takes care of his talent and treats his talent and thinks about his talent as actual human beings whereas, you know, not to talk negative crap on WWE and obviously Paul (Levesque), Triple H in charge over there now is making a lot of changes but, for the longest time, it’s kind of looked at as you’re almost just cattle in WWE and once they don’t need you, they’re like, alright, see you later, get the hell out of here, we don’t need you or, they don’t really care as much whereas like, AEW definitely seems like they’re more, like, group and family and if something was to happen.”
”I mean, we’ve had a couple people pass while under contract and Tony still paid off their contract to their family and has taken care of them and stuff which is pretty unheard of so, there’s just a couple examples of how he really cares about the people on his roster.”
Cage, Toa Liona, and Kaun have held the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship twice. Their most recent title reign came to an end when they were defeated by Bullet Club Gold, consisting of Jay White, Colten Gunn, and Austin Gunn, on the January 17 episode of Dynamite. Cage also helped Drew McIntyre bench press ahead of WrestleMania 40, so we’ll have to see what’s next in store for The Machine.
Do you feel Brian Cage made the right decision for himself with this move? Let us know in the comments section below!
April 12, 2024 7:33 am
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