“The Monster” Diego Piacentini and “The Master” Marco Piva-Dittrich are the right men for any mission, however impossible. Today they are with a man… well, not really a man… HE’S A MACHINE… THEY CALL HIM CAGE!
WtW: Welcome on WtW. Looking at your physique, one might think you started as a bodybuilder before embarking on a pro wrestling career: is it so?
Cage: That’s false and I think a lot of people assume that because of my body, but I’ve wanted to be a wrestler since I was 10 years old and I just happened to get into bodybuilding because of wrestling. I graduated at 155 pounds, and knew that wasn’t going to work if I wanted to be a wrestler, so I started training and trying to build size for wrestling as I began to learn how to wrestle. I didn’t compete in my first competition until the Summer – excuse me, the Spring of 2012: I had already been a pro wrestler for at least 7 years.
WtW: Why did you pick the name “(Brian) Cage”?
Cage: I backyard wrestled in high school and went under the name Rage. I realized that name was terrible and I went through a stack of Marvel cards putting together their character names and real names along with some of my own and mixed and matched the top 25, then I narrowed it down to the top 3 which I can’t remember, but I know one was Brian Cage; the more I said it the more I liked it, and it sounded cool yet like a real name, so I went with that.
WtW: You started your career with Chris Kanyon. What role did he have in your development as a wrestler?
Cage: Kanyon was a great friend and someone I idolized and wanted to emulate in the ring. I give him all kind of credit and claim him as my original trainer.
WtW: At the beginning of your career, were you more attracted by Puroresu, Lucha Libre or American-style pro wrestling?
Cage: I like all wrestling, but definitely probably American style since that was what I was most used to.
WtW: Can you tell us more about The Night Claw?
Cage: It was a character I came up with when that Dusty Rhodes told me that I needed something in order to stand out in FCW. He said I was a hell of a worker, one of the best, but I needed something to set me apart from everybody else; he also said that I look like Wolverine so I should come up with some sort of vigilante superhero character and I got it from the Amalgam comic series Dark Claw which was a combination of Batman and Wolverine.
WtW: Last year you took part in a tournament to become the new TNA X-Division champion: how would you enjoy wrestling an Ultimate-X match?
Cage: Ultimate X is a hell of a match, unique and creative: I think that would be right up my alley, I would love to do it.
WtW: You are a typical “big man”; how does it feel wrestling against luchadores and high flyers? How do you need to adapt your style?
Cage: Wrong again: if you’ve watched any of my stuff you’ll realize I’m not a typical big man, I’m anything but. I’m unique, one of my own, and I have a versatile hybrid style.
WtW: Now that Lucha Underground was renewed for a second season, where do you think it can get in a medium/long term perspective?
Cage: The sky’s the limit for Lucha Underground.
WtW: Recently you also worked in AAA; what is the difference between Lucha Underground and AAA from a worker’s point of view?
Cage: Lucha has a much different style and approach, the technology… everything about it is different, outside of the pack; then there’s some of the same luchadores in Triple AAA and in Underground.
WtW: Who is your favourite person (not necessarily your favourite worker) in the business? And who is the worst individual you’ve ever crossed paths with?
Cage: Best person I’ve came across… man, I don’t know, there’s quite a few good friends I have. Rod Zapata, who is a WWE referee; my good friend Brandon Bonham from PWG who also does the music for the highlight reel, Chris Dickinson, Marko Estrada, of course Chris Kanyon, Timothy Thatcher, old school Oliver John, Norman Smiley, Dr. Tom Pritchard… definitely Drake Younger, and some good promoters: Dan from MCW, Drew Cordova from Beyond Wrestling, Fern from DCW, Heat from MWE… then… I don’t know, there’s tons of others but those are all trainers, wrestlers, referees, promoters.
I don’t really dislike anyone, I’m pretty easy to get along with and enjoy other people’s company, but the two that ruffled my feathers and I never buried the hatchet with are Roland Alexander and Manny Fernandez.
WtW: Who was your favourite wrestler before you started training to become a pro wrestler yourself? What did you admire in him?
Cage: As noted before, Chris Kanyon. He was phenomenal I think, and highly underrated. His bumping into selling your punches… and most important his offense, super-creative, super-original… I mean, who’s better than Kanyon? Other favorites growing up were Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon, but when I started wrestling I definitely wanted to be a combination of Chris Kanyon, Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho.
WtW: What are your short, medium and long-term targets?
Cage: Short term, medium term, long term, all the same to me: I want Underground to blow up, I want to become the Triple A mega champion, the PWG world champion and make my debut in New Japan Pro Wrestling.
WtW: What do you answer to people claiming that “wrestling is fake”?
Cage: People who say it’s fake are retarded and don’t know anything. Predetermined… yes, we know the outcome, but it’s not fake, it’s so far from fake. It hurts. I’ve plenty of injuries to prove it. The motion is real, the physicality is real, the athleticism is real, the moves are real, the fans are real. Wrestling is more real than just about anything on television.
WtW: Thank you very much Cage; is there anything you want to add?
Cage: Thanks a lot for this interview man, and to all my fans in Italy… it’s a pleasure to have your support and it’s crazy to think that this kid from Chico, California who loves wrestling could have fans across the world like that.
See you soon!
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