Brian Cage will give WWE credit for putting on a great show, but don’t ask him which company has the better pay-per-views. Put WWE’s best against AEW’s best, and Cage believes AEW is walking away with it.
Speaking on the Smooth Vega Podcast, Cage was talking about how AEW has changed wrestling since arriving in 2019 when the conversation moved toward what separates the promotion from WWE. For Cage, it starts with the wrestling itself, which he believes is currently “second to none.”
“Second to none. Like, top. Take any WWE pay-per-view, not even trying to throw shade at WWE, any pay-per-view of theirs and throw any pay-per-view of ours against theirs, and ours smashes theirs.”
That’s a big statement, but Cage isn’t pretending everyone watches wrestling for the same thing. He knows a great story can make a slightly lesser match stick with fans longer, and sometimes the build is every bit as important as what happens after the bell rings.
“There’s two schools of thought there, too. There’s a five-star match, right? If you want to use the Meltzer line, and a five-star match is freaking amazing, but also if there is a four-star match with a great build, it can be almost more memorable than that five-star one-off match.”
Cage just knows which side he naturally gravitates toward. He likes the more sports-based style, so when he watches wrestling as a fan, a great in-ring match is usually going to mean more to him than the entertainment surrounding it.
“There’s different flavors of ice cream in wrestling, too. Like, I myself also pride myself in being more of a fan of the sports-based wrestling, if you will. So, like, yeah, having that awesome match to me stands out more to me and is what I’m into as a wrestling fan more than the entertainment aspect, if you will.”
That preference already got Cage into trouble once. After Bryan Danielson faced Will Ospreay, Cage declared that fans could “finish whatever story” they wanted, but he believed Danielson and Ospreay had produced the match of the year. Fans immediately took that as Cage taking a shot at Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns.
Cage says that wasn’t the point. He thought Cody and Roman delivered exactly what WrestleMania needed and enjoyed all the chaos surrounding it, but if the question is which was the better actual wrestling match, his answer hasn’t changed.
“Everyone attacked me thinking I was shitting on Roman Reigns and Cody’s match and stuff, and I go, ‘No, that match was awesome and it was fun, and it was very entertainment-based with all the run-ins at WrestleMania.’ It was rad. It was awesome. It was fun. It was a fun time. But was it a better match than Danielson-Ospreay? Not even close.”
Cage eventually felt like he got some backup. When ESPN later named Danielson vs. Ospreay its match of the year, he remembered all the criticism he had received for making essentially the same argument.
“Then I got my justification at the end of the year when ESPN said, ‘Oh, the best match of the year was…’ I go, ‘Oh, where’s all the hate now?’”
The Machine also believes AEW has momentum on its side right now. Cage stopped short of simply trashing WWE, but he feels the two companies are currently moving in different directions.
“I do feel like AEW is on more of an up and WWE feels like it was more on a down, so to speak. Again, I’m not even trying to, like, crap or whatever, but, like, I think AEW’s in a good spot.”
All In only strengthened that feeling for him. Cage claims people who normally stick exclusively with WWE, including some who tuned in ready to criticize AEW, came away having to admit the company delivered.
“There’s so many people after All In that watched All In, just like you said, too. There’s so many WWE lifers that don’t like AEW, don’t watch AEW, that wanted to crap on AEW, and they watched All In like, ‘Damn, yeah, that was a hell of a show.’”
Cage isn’t saying WWE can’t tell a great story or put on a huge spectacle. He just knows what he wants when he watches wrestling, and right now he believes AEW does that better. Put the two companies’ pay-per-views side-by-side, and “smashes” is the word he chose.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
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