Brian Cage
Brian Cage | |
---|---|
Birth name | Brian Christopher Button[1][2] |
Born | [1][3] Fresno, California, United States[3] | February 2, 1984
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Brian Cage[4] Brian Cage-Taylor[4] Bryan Cage Cage[5] John Cage[4] Kris Logan[4] Night Claw[4] |
Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[3] |
Billed weight | 268 lb (122 kg)[3] |
Billed from | The 559 Sacramento, California[6] |
Trained by | Norman Smiley[7] Tom Prichard[7] Chris Kanyon[8] Oliver John[9] |
Debut | July 15, 2005 |
Brian Christopher Button[1][2] (born February 2, 1984)[1] is an American professional wrestler and body builder,[10] best known as Brian Cage.[4] He is currently signed to Impact Wrestling where he is the current Impact X Division Champion in his first reign. He also works with the professional wrestling series Lucha Underground, and in Mexico's Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (2004–2008)
Cage's love of professional wrestling and desire to be a wrestler began with watching it on television as a kid. During those early year Cage became friends with the late Chris Kanyon following a show that was held in Sacramento at Arco Arena where he made a sign that Kanyon noticed. Kanyon then became Cage's biggest advocate in his decision to pursue professional wrestling as a career.[8] This eventually led to him and his friends starting their own Federation in 2004 called Main-Event Wrestling Federation (MWF) in Chico, CA.[2] Cage's wrestling debut happened at an MWF show, against Kanyon.[8] This eventually lead to a second show where Kanyon once again faced Cage. Cage ended up winning both matches against Kanyon. During this time, Cage had been training at Pro Championship Wrestling.[2] Also, Cage competed at All Pro Wrestling.[2] This continued until Cage, under Kanyon's advice, left to move to Atlanta to be in WWE's then developmental territory Deep South Wrestling.[2]
While not officially signed with Deep South Wrestling, Cage competed in matches with other WWE wrestlers.[2][4] When WWE ended its ties with DSW, Cage left to come back to California.[11] However, before Cage left, Kanyon asked Cage to become Mortis so that someday if Kanyon ever decided to make a comeback that he could still have his name out there.[8] Cage is the only person other than Kanyon that has portrayed the Mortis character.[8]
Cage again came back to California and worked with promotions such as All Pro Wrestling, Supreme Pro Wrestling, and Fog City Wrestling.[2]
World Wrestling Entertainment
Florida Championship Wrestling (2008–2009)
In June 2008, WWE signed Cage to a developmental contract, he reported to their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling.[2] When Cage first started with FCW he was using the name Brian Cage but was eventually asked to change it and came up with the name Kris Logan.[4] The name Kris Logan was made to give homage to Chris Kanyon, with the Logan part due to his similar appearance to the Marvel Comics character Wolverine, along with the outfit that he wore which sported yellow tights with claw marks.[8] On July 23, 2009, Logan and Justin Gabriel defeated The Dude Busters (Caylen Croft and Trent Barreta) to become FCW Florida Tag Team Champions. However, they lost the title that same night against The Rotundos (Bo Rotundo and Duke Rotundo). Later, Cage would then come up with a new character Night Claw. The Night Claw character was seen in a few matches and was supposed to be used during the time that Hurricane was still active in WWE. However, this did not occur as Cage was eventually released from his contract in mid September 2009.
Return to independent circuit (2009–present)
Upon his release from WWE, Cage returned to the independent wrestling circuit and even competed in Asia. Cage would return to the Main Event Wrestling wrestling promotion where he would win the Main Event Wrestling California Cup where he beat Ryan Taylor, Joey Ryan, and finally T.J. Perkins.[12] In October 2010, Cage wrestled and won a match against Kenny Dykstra at Main Event Wrestling in internet pay-per-view.[13]
Cage would then join the NWA Hollywood promotion where he would team up with Shaun Ricker to form the tag team Natural Selection managed by Percy Pringle III.[14] Towards the end of 2011, the team would split as Cage would feud with Ricker and would leave Cage as a single competitor.
Cage has also competed in other various promotions such as Future Stars of Wrestling.[15] Cage had a feud with Brandon Gatson who would then compete against in a match on January 21, 2012 that was called the Match of the Year.[16] Cage also competed in Pro Championship Wrestling which during his first few months there Cage began a feud with A.J. Kirsch of WWE Tough Enough TV fame. The feud between the two occurred due to a match from a PCW and a rivalry that started when the two of them trained together at the PCW training facility called the Workfarm.[17][18][19] Cage and Kirsch wrestled for 10 minutes which led to a time limit draw. On February 19, 2015, Cage defeated Matt Hardy in a T.L.C match to capture the Future Stars of Wrestling Heavyweight Championship.
Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (2010–present)
Cage made his Pro Wrestling Guerrilla debut on July 30, 2010, against Brandon Bonham at Seven in a losing effort. In his next match, he lost once more to Bonham in the 2010 Battle of Los Angeles opening round.[20] Soon after, Cage would form a stable with Chuck Taylor and Ryan Taylor known as the Fightin' Taylor Boys, adding the last name to his own and becoming Brian Cage-Taylor. The group found occasional success (with Brian and Ryan doing most of the teaming), but were never challengers to the PWG World Tag Team Championship.
At Death to All But Metal on May 25, 2012, Cage (no longer using the "Taylor" moniker) received his first PWG World Championship title shot against champion Kevin Steen.[21][22] At Threemendous III on July 21, Cage defeated Eddie Edwards before interfering in Kevin Steen's title defense against Willie Mack, attacking both men. On September 1, on the first night of the 2012 Battle of Los Angeles, Cage defeated B-Boy to advance to the quarterfinal round before interfering in yet another Steen match, causing a non-title loss against Ricochet.[23] The following day, Cage was eliminated from the tournament by Michael Elgin, following interference from Steen.[24] At Failure to Communicate on October 27, Cage defeated Willie Mack, with whom he had been feuding since July.[25]
On January 12, 2013, Cage and Michael Elgin formed a team called the Unbreakable F'n Machines (a name derived from both wrestlers' nicknames) and participated in the 2013 Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament. In the opening round, they captured the PWG World Tag Team Championship by beating the previous year's winners, the Super Smash Bros. (Player Uno and Stupefied).[26] The Unbreakable F'n Machines then lost the championship to The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) in the semifinal round of the tournament later that same day.[26]
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2012–2014)
Cage initially made an appearance for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) on August 30, 2012 competing in a tryout dark match against Robbie E in a losing effort. The following year, Cage made another appearance on the January 10, 2013 edition of Impact Wrestling in another tryout match but through the company's short lived TNA Gut Check program in a losing effort against Jay Bradley.
Cage would make another appearance in the year of 2014 during the summer at the June 26 Destination X taping special (aired the following month on July 31 in tape delay) in a triple threat match competing against Sanada and Crazzy Steve to qualify in the next round for the vacant TNA X Division Championship, but in a losing effort.
Lucha Underground (2014–present)
On October 5, 2014, it was reported that Cage had signed with Lucha Underground.[27] He debuted under the ring name Cage at the October 18 tapings winning a 4-way Elimination Match against Aero Star, Argenis and Angélico which was broadcast on January 14, 2015.[5] Though he started the night seemingly as a dominant face, by the end of the night he attacked Prince Puma, cementing his status as a dominant heel.[28] On the January 28 broadcast Cage received a shot at Puma's Lucha Underground Championship, but lost by disqualification, laying out both Puma and his manager Konnan afterwards. Weeks later, Cage defeated Puma in a non-title match to earn himself another title opportunity. The title match took place on the March 25 episode in a street fight, which saw Puma retain his title against Cage.[29] He then started a feud against The Mack and defeated him in a "Falls Count Anywhere Match" at Ultima Lucha. In Season 2 of Lucha underground, Cage turned face and set his sights on Johnny Mundo. Mundo tried to attack Cage after his victory over the debuting Joey Ryan only for Cage to turn the tables and hit him with his Weapon X finisher on the 2/17 edition of Lucha Underground. The two subsequently faced each other a week later, with Mundo winning after a distraction from the debuting Taya. Cage was defeated by Matanza Cueto for the Lucha Underground Championship. Cage defeated Texano in the best of seven series which he won a gauntlet.
Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (2015–present)
On February 27, 2015, Cage made his debut for the Mexican promotion Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), pinning AAA Mega Champion El Patrón Alberto in a six-man tag team main event.[30] On April 1, Cage defeated Alberto again with help from La Sociedad in a match that was originally scheduled to take place at Rey de Reyes. After the match, Cage demanded a shot at Alberto's title.[31] The title match took place on June 14 at Verano de Escándalo, where Alberto was victorious via disqualification, afterwards demanding a steel cage Lucha de Apuestas with Cage.[32] On August 9 at Triplemanía XXIII, Cage was defeated by Alberto in a Lucha de Apuestas and was afterwards, as per stipulation, forced to have his head shaved.[33]
Pro Wrestling Noah (2017–present)
In May 2017, Cage started working for Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling Noah.[3] On July 27, Cage unsuccessfully challenged Katsuhiko Nakajima for the GHC Heavyweight Championship.[34]
Return to Impact Wrestling (2018–present)
On January 11, 2018, Cage signed with Impact Wrestling.[35] On the February 15 episode of Impact!, Cage made his in-ring debut against John Cruz in a decisive victory.[36][37] At Slammiversary XVI, Cage defeated Matt Sydal to become the new Impact X Division Champion.[38] On the July 26 episode of Impact!, Cage made his first successful title defense in a rematch against Sydal.[39] Cage also successfully defended his title against Fénix On the August 30 episode of Impact![40], and against Rich Swann on the October 18 episode of Impact![41].
Championships and accomplishments
- All Pro Wrestling
- Championship Wrestling from Hollywood
- DDT Pro-Wrestling
- Dungeon Championship Wrestling
- DCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[44]
- FEST Wrestling
- Love Cup (2017) – with Sami Callihan[45]
- Fighting Spirit Pro
- FSP World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[46]
- Florida Championship Wrestling
- Future Stars of Wrestling
- FSW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[48]
- Impact Wrestling
- International Wrestling Federation
- IWF World Championship (1 time)[49]
- Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
- Lucha Underground
- Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Championship (1 time)
- Ultimate Opportunity
- Main Event Wrestling
- California Cup (2011)[51]
- Mayhem Wrestling Entertainment
- MWE Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[52]
- Mach One Wrestling
- M1W Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Shaun Ricker
- M1W Tag Team Championship Tournament (2010) – with Shaun Ricker
- North America Wrestling
- NAW North America Championship (1 time) [53]
- Piledriver Pro Wrestling
- PPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[54]
- Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Pro Wrestling Revolution
- PWR Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[56]
- PWR Tag Team Championship (2 times) – as the Border Patrol (with Derek Sanders)
- WrestleCircus
- World Series Wrestling
- WSW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[59]
Luchas de Apuestas record
Winner (wager) | Loser (wager) | Location | Event | Date | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
El Patrón Alberto (hair) | Brian Cage (hair) | Mexico City, Mexico | Triplemanía XXIII | August 9, 2015 | [33] |
References
- ^ a b c d Birth Dates California 1905-1995 Retrieved 2-28-2012
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Brian Cage Profile, Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 6-19-2010.
- ^ a b c d e "5.26刈谷大会より参戦!ブライアン・ケイジ選手プロフィールご紹介". Pro Wrestling Noah (in Japanese). 2017-05-12. Retrieved 2017-07-28.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Brian Cage Profile". profightdb.com. Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
- ^ a b Gee Schoon Tong, Chris (2014-10-20). "TV spoilers - 10/18 & 10/19 Lucha Underground taping: Next set of episodes featuring Prince Puma, Ezekiel Jackson, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2014-10-20.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-04-25. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
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- ^ a b c Massingham, Matt (2013-01-13). "Show Results - 1/12 PWG DDT4 tournament in Reseda, Calif.: Complete coverage of new PWG tag champs, Generico's farewell, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2013-01-13.
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- ^ Boutwell, Josh (2015-03-07). "Viva la Raza! Lucha Weekly for 3/7/15". Wrestleview. Retrieved 2015-03-08.
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- ^ a b Cano Vela, Eduardo (August 9, 2015). "El Patrón Alberto rapa a Brian Cage en Triplemania XXIII". SuperLuchas (in Spanish). Retrieved August 9, 2015.
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