Right now in All Elite Wrestling (AEW), Brian Cage isn’t exactly being used to his maximum potential. He’s stuck in an endless feud with Darby Allin, and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) legend, Sting. As part of Team Taz, he has a mouthpiece in Taz, which makes up for his sole short-coming. The most we ever hear from Cage is him yelling “Who better!”, a catchphrase of sorts.
However, most will just look at this as a simple phrase, rather than a tribute to Cage’s original mentor in professional wrestling, WCW stand out, Chris Kanyon.
Who Better Than Chris Kanyon
While Kanyon was never the biggest star in WCW, he was one of the most beloved. A worker ahead of his time, he was known for finding many unique ways to perform moves such as the Kanyon Cutter, which he adopted during his feud with Diamond Dallas Page. His catchphrase was “Who better!”, which might seem familiar. He also had an alter-ego of Mortis, a popular character due to their inclusion in games like nWo vs. WCW: Revenge.
Sadly, the story of Kanyon is one of tragedy. He lived his life as a closeted gay man, and suffered from Bipolar disorder, having attempted suicide mulitple times before his death in 2010 at only 40 years old. Having retired twice from wrestling after leaving WWE in 2004, he knew he needed someone to help keep his memory alive in professional wrestling, and that’s where Brian Cage came into the mix.
Kanyon Meant A Ton To Brian Cage And Countless Others
Kanyon & Cage first crossed paths on the infamous milk truck incident with Kurt Angle, where a 16 year old Brian Cage was in attendance. Cage would become a quick fan of Kanyon, and would try to start a friendship with Kanyon. While speaking with Bleacher Report, he’d mention the following about how Kanyon helped him, but also so many others.
“He knew I always wanted to be a wrestler and helped me out with plenty of ins and outs in the wrestling world. And then in 2006, he got me into Deep South Wrestling and I actually stayed with him for a while. I give a lot of credit to him as far as how he influenced my wrestling style. How he helped me get some extra opportunities.”
“He was so underrated, so underutilized. He trained like every celebrity who’s ever worked in WCW. He had so many great ideas. He has a bunch of little unknown accolades. And he was such a nice dude. There’s not a lot of nice guys in the wrestling business. He helped out so many. And helped so many people break into the businesses, and get jobs or get opportunities.”
As Brian Cage is the only wrestler to ever get to use the Mortis persona besides Kanyon, and given how important he was to getting things started for Cage? It’s easy to see why Cage continues to pay tribute to the legendary figure.
Would you want to see Cage show up as Mortis on a Halloween special for AEW? Did you know about their history together? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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