Brian Cage Explains Why Original Plans For His AEW Debut Fell Apart
AEW's Brian Cage debuted for the company at the Double or Nothing pay-per-view in 2020. But the company originally had plans in motion to bring in Cage one year earlier.
"I was supposed to be in the original Double or Nothing, in the battle royal as Impact World Champion," Cage told the Going Broadway Podcast. "And IMPACT pulled me off two hours before the show started because I was losing."
Brian Cage says Cody Rhodes had his own concerns about Cage beating AEW contract wrestlers. Cage says the original plans for the Casino Battle Royal at Double or Nothing 2019 would have seen him dominate most of the match.
"They had me eliminating Joey (Janela), both [members of] Private Party, Luchasaurus, Jungle Boy," Cage recalled. "Like, I was going through the whole roster. I was going through everybody and it was going to come down to me and (Hangman Adam) Page at the end and then Page was gonna, you know, eliminate me obviously, to go on to face (Chris) Jericho. So and I thought, I was like, stoked and all this looks great, and if anything, IMPACT had the most to gain because I'd be IMPACT World Champion.
"It'd be a big surprise," Cage continued. "Nobody, even people in the matches didn't know. Like when I showed up there, and so it was going to be this awesome surprise pop and I felt like IMPACT had the most to gain from it and then they threw a fit because I was losing. Because I was their world champion, but I was losing. But like, yeah, but I'm not getting beat. I'm just getting thrown over the top rope."
Brian Cage says there was a last-minute pitch to get permission for him to appear on the show. At the time, Don Callis was a co-executive vice-president in IMPACT.
"I know like Kenny (Omega) and Jericho reached out to Don because Don, you know, was cool with them," Cage recalled. "And they, I think, made him an offer of like sending Page to IMPACT and have me beat Page over there to kind of get the win back. But they didn't really believe that was going to happen and it was a big debacle."
Brian Cage was in a complicated contractual situation at the time of Double or Nothing 2019. He says he thought about going against IMPACT's wishes. But in the end, he decided it wasn't worth the risk.
"Contractually, on my contract work with IMPACT, it was still through Lucha Underground, much like Penta (El Zero Miedo) and (Rey) Fenix, which were both on that show," Cage explained. "So, and I went through it all, so contractually, I should have been able and been allowed to do it. And I was looking at it, but they literally threatened to try and like sue me if I did and told me not to. And then I'm looking through it, I'm like, 'You know what? It's not going to go anywhere.' And maybe we wouldn't even really done it, but I don't know.
"At the end of the day, I remember Tommy Dreamer and Billy Gunn pulled me aside and they're like, 'Look, management sucks,'" Cage continued. "'I know you're in a bad position, but he's just like, 'You're too talented, too good to be locked in this kind of position where if you do this, and say IMPACT does try to sue you and/or AEW, now you're going to have two companies that you just basically pissed off, you know, over this.' And he goes, kind of like, 'Not that you're going to burn any bridges, but it's probably better just to bite the bullet, not do the match, and then you know, just go about it.'
"So, that's what ended up happening, and then I told, you know like I said like, just like, two hours before the show the match was going to happen, I'm like, 'I can't do it anymore.' And I was super bummed, super apologetic. But everybody was like, a lot of them were very apologetic back to me, you know? Tony and Hangman and everybody else."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit the Going Broadway Podcast with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.