According to AEW star Brian Cage, WWE once flat-out told him that he’s ‘average at best’.
Cage recently appeared on Insight with Chris Van Vliet and looked back on being released from WWE back in 2009. The former IMPACT World Champion recalled the reasoning for his release, where he was told that he needed more experience on the independent scene…to avoid being too much of an indie wrestler.
“I was waiting on a raise, I was due for a raise and everyone was talking…well Dr. Tom [Prichard], the head trainer was like ‘Hey, someone’s going to call this weekend and you’re going on the road,’ and everyone thought it was me,” said Cage. “Everyone’s like Logan…because my name there was Chris Logan, I had to change it from Brian Cage and Chris for Canyon, Logan for Wolverine and I missed a call from the office and I was like ‘Oh, man! Everyone thought that was going to be me, it is gonna be me!’ I’m so stoked, I call them back, I’m so excited and they’re like, ‘Hey, Brian how’s it going?’ And I go ‘Good, good, ya know, just in the gym!’ and trying to play it cool. And they go, ‘Well, this is the hard part of the job sometimes, but we’re going to have to come to terms with your release.’
“And I literally went [confused look], not even being a smartass, I was like ‘Did you call the right number?’ I was so in disbelief, it didn’t even cross my mind, and they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, sorry!’ and I’m like, ‘What? why?’ And of course, they always give you a BS reason. And they go, ‘Oh we just think you need some more experience because you’re a little too indie.’ And I go, ‘Hmmm, you’re going to release me to go get more experience in the indies to not be so indie? Okay, sure, that makes a lot of sense!’”
Cage then described how he nearly returned to WWE a few times, and in a pivotal conversation, a WWE official told him that he was “average at best.”
“…They were gonna put me on Tough Enough, like the first one when they brought Stone Cold back, then they took me off the list,” said Cage. “Then they came to Fresno when I was living there, and they invited me down and I thought they were gonna bring me back and they wanted me for NXT season three before it became all girls, then they change their mind on that. And it went back-and-forth and finally, I got a message saying ‘Oh, never mind, we’re no longer interested. “And I go, ‘What do you mean? what happened?’ And they go, ‘Oh, let’s just face it, you’re average at best and we’re no longer interested’ in a text and I was so heated. I kept it as ya know, as professional as I could because I couldn’t say what I wanted to say, so I went ‘Okay, well I think you and I both know I’m better than average, I appreciate you getting back to me, maybe we’ll get a chance to work together in the future.”
“The Machine” went on to explain that while he hasn’t shut the door on working with WWE, this experience shifted his mindset about his goal to sign with the company. He emphasized that he thrived, personally and professionally, once he moved on and found success elsewhere.
Related: Brian Cage Wants To Work Both AEW And Ring of Honor Shows
