Since the very beginning of Lucha Underground, one of the promotion’s top stars has been Brian Cage, also known as They Call Him Cage. He’s been involved in some of the most brutal matches in the promotion and has parlayed his popularity on the indies and in Lucha Underground to become a big star in Mexico as well. But the one-of-a-kind big man was under a WWE developmental contract way back in 2008 and 2009, and since his rise on the indies, he’s led many to wonder how WWE could have missed the boat on him.
In an interview with Channel Guide Mag, WWE never considered him a boat worth missing out on when he was under contract. More of a dinghy, I guess.
“Everyone asks me why I’m not at WWE or why TNA didn’t sign me,” Cage said.
“I’ve always been a guy who shows up. I’m not one to say, ‘Oh, I wish they have given me the ball.’ I’m out in the end zone with my hands in the air with my hands up saying give me the damn ball, and I’ll run end zone to end zone. Lucha has let me be myself and given me a decent push to show my talent.
“I feel like when I first started out I was similar size and felt I was good. I felt like I looked like a star from the get-go and worked pretty well. I feel like even when I was in developmental with WWE they never saw me as a star, so I would always have to put everyone over. People say wins and losses don’t’ matter. Yeah, they kind of do in a way because Hulk Hogan wouldn’t have been Hulk Hogan had he lost all his matches. You’re not going to be selling a lot of merchandise if you are losing all your matches. So it kind of irritated me that someone would think I wasn’t capable of the job. Now I’m getting this time to shine and let loose.”
It also turns out that one of WWE’s most recent signees, former German soccer player Tim Wiese, is now being billed as “The Machine.” Cage is uh … less than ecstatic about that! He pulled no punches in talking about Wiese, even goofing on his ring attire.
“I thought, ‘Are you kidding me,” Cage said.
“I did have a lot of social media support on Twitter and social media about ‘The Machine’ being Cage. They were vocal and showed encouragement. I know WWE knows who I am, but there are people who don’t watch independent wrestling or Lucha and may not have a clue. And that’s fine. WWE knows who I am. I already worked for them before. They contacted me several times for tryouts and to come back even before I signed with Lucha Underground …
“He is not at even close with what he looks like and does. I don’t know the guy. I know he was this soccer player on the German team. Cool. Whatever. No disrespect to him or hard feelings or ill will. But even when I was in FCW (Florida Championship Wrestling), I wasn’t thrilled with hand-me-down contacts. The former MMA guy, the former NFL player, guys come in and get a contact and get paid more than all of us right out of the gate. At the same time, the real boys bust their asses and fight to be there their entire life.
“Many walk in unappreciative and say their sport was a real sport. They come in and get shocked. They don’t learn the business. They don’t learn their craft and don’t want to learn. They don’t’ last, and they don’t’ get ‘it.’ They get fired or let go. I’m thinking that is pretty much 97 percent of them …
“He comes out in this wife-beater and jeans. That’s your wrestling attire? Give me a break. It was a joke. I felt like a lot of people saw through that. I’m not opposed going back there if the stars lined up later in my career. But I’m not going to stand by and not say something. I’m going to call that s— out. Then the WWE fan boys are saying that they had the ‘Big Red Machine,’ ‘Suplex Machine,’ in the past. It’s not the same thing and moniker. So I felt a bit of a sore spot and posted about it and made fun of it. So I made a meme. I had fun with it, but I am not losing sleep over it.”
But Cage … tell us how you REALLY feel!
The good news, of course, is that Cage is doing just fine for himself outside of WWE, and if he never makes it back there, it doesn’t appear that he’ll be languishing or anything like that. But we can still hold out hope that he’ll show up one day, perhaps to challenge Wiese for the title of One True Machine.
