Brian Cage isn’t interested in pretending PEDs have never been part of his life. He openly admits using them in the past, but if someone thinks a needle is the reason he looks or wrestles the way he does, Cage has a much bigger problem with that.
Speaking on the Smooth Vega Podcast, Cage was initially giving advice about getting into shape when the conversation moved toward something he says he wants to discuss more openly. He knows what usually gets said whenever his physique comes up, so he decided to address the steroid question himself.
“I’ll even just throw this too because I know people will say this. I don’t care. I want to be more and more open about this. Everybody goes, ‘Oh, you just take steroids.’ Listen, if steroids just, if you just did a one-shot cycle, like I call it, like Captain America, guess what? Gyms wouldn’t exist and everyone would be on steroids.”
Cage isn’t denying that PEDs work, either. He readily acknowledged using them and says he has never tried to present that part of his past as some big secret, but he rejects the idea that they deserve the credit for everything he has accomplished.
“Do steroids work? Absolutely. Have I taken PEDs? Absolutely. I’ve never said I haven’t. People try to, like, judge me, and I feel like, too, that’s a thing. People try to, like, call you out as if you’re keeping a secret. Are PEDs what got me to where I am? Absolutely not.”
When it comes to his current physique, Cage gave a different explanation. He said that despite comments about how “gassed up” he looked after returning, he has only been using testosterone replacement therapy, pointing out that he is now 42 years old.
“When people say like, ‘Oh, I’m so gassed up at my return,’ I’ve only been on TRT forever now. I’m 42 years old.”
Cage also believes people would be surprised by how widespread PED use actually is, both inside wrestling and outside of it. In his experience, the attention falls on him because his physique makes him an easy target, even during periods when he says he isn’t using PEDs beyond the TRT he described.
“The amount of people that take stuff is wild. I’ll just say this, there’s a lot more people, not just in wrestling, but everywhere that take stuff than don’t take stuff. That’s for sure.”
That’s where Cage’s frustration really comes in. He feels people look at his body, make assumptions about what he must be taking and then use those assumptions to explain away everything else he does.
“But just because I look better than everybody else, [people think] I take so much or I’m the only one that does take stuff. It’s funny, too, because even when I’m not on stuff and people are like, ‘Oh my God, Brian’s on so much stuff right now. I don’t know, he looks…’ I go, ‘No, it’s just because I do that.’”
Cage’s view is that PEDs can produce physical results when combined with training, but they don’t automatically give someone the ability to perform inside a wrestling ring. Those are Cage’s own views on PEDs, and he argued that athleticism, flexibility and wrestling ability still have to be developed separately.
“They do, if you’re putting in the work, they do work. They will give you results, but they don’t do anything on their own. They don’t make you a better athlete. They don’t make you perform any better. It doesn’t give you any ability. Doesn’t make you a better this, doesn’t make you a better fighter, doesn’t make you more flexible. It doesn’t improve any of that shit. You have to have that ability and train for that ability to still get to that point.”
For Cage, being reduced to “the steroid guy” is especially irritating because he doesn’t see that as criticism of his actual wrestling. If that’s the first negative thing people reach for when discussing him, Cage believes they aren’t saying much about what he does once the bell rings.
“I feel like I get attacked for it all the time. And it always pisses me off because, first of all, if the one big negative you can say about my wrestling is that he’s on steroids, first of all, that’s not even nothing negative about my wrestling. That says, ‘Okay, I’m a pretty good wrestler.’”
He also pushed back against the idea that his physique means he must be taking more than everyone else, or that PED use somehow exists only in his corner of wrestling. Cage sees those assumptions as another way people use his appearance to discredit him.
“But then also for it to, like, be some sort of negative connotation to it. Like, I’m like, what is that even supposed to mean? Like, what? And then also just for the fact that people think that I guess I take so much more stuff or I’m always on stuff or I melt a cup and this and that.”
“And then to also then use it to be like, ‘Oh, nobody else has taken anything. Only Brian Cage.’ I go, ‘You guys are so dumb.’”
When Cage was directly asked whether he believes his physique causes people to discredit him, there wasn’t much hesitation: “Oh, for sure.” Cage understands why the stereotype exists. Wrestling has had plenty of heavily muscled performers whose physiques stood out more than their matches, but that’s exactly why he doesn’t like being described as a bodybuilder who became a wrestler.
“That’s why when anybody says I’m a bodybuilder, even though I love the bodybuilding lifestyle and I’ve obviously competed, I won the title, I say, ‘No, I’m a pro wrestler.’”
For Cage, the order matters. Bodybuilding is something he does, but wrestling is what he considers himself first, and he doesn’t want assumptions about his physique wiping away everything he has put into becoming a wrestler.
“I’m a pro wrestler who just happens to bodybuild. I’m not a bodybuilder trying to be a wrestler. I’m a wrestler through and through. That’s my main passion. That’s my goal. That’s my desire. That’s what I strive to be the best at.”
Cage isn’t denying his history or pretending PEDs don’t produce results. He’s saying the opposite: he has used them, he wants to be more open about it, and he still refuses to let that become the explanation for his entire career.
Do you think Brian Cage’s physique has caused fans to overlook what he can actually do inside the ring? Let us know in the comments.
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.
