AEW: Splitting Brian Cage from Team Taz is the right move

It was on night one of Fyter Fest that Brian Cage lost to Ricky Starks after a pretty climactic back and forth between the two over the preceding weeks leading into the event. It looked like on the way in, Cage had the support of Taz and the rest of Team Taz, but of course how they stabbed Cage in the back on the night of, is by now old news.

The only thing left to do in the wake of the betrayal is to see if the way things ended up, was the right move overall.

There are always two sides to a coin, so join us as we take a look at both of them in this piece.

Brian Cage—a modern-day ‘physique guy’

The 37-year-old wrestler has had quite the run this far in AEW, as can be said about so many on the roster that decided to sign with the company that only had its start in 2019. Cage had his very own start in the pro wrestling business in 2004 when he met one of his idols, the late Chris Kanyon (of WCW and WWE fame).

Kanyon is said to have truly helped the young Cage out and was apparently his biggest supporter as he moved up in the biz. His first-ever match was also against Kanyon.

And like so many other wrestlers who have made the squared circle their home and major source of a paycheck, he worked the independent circuit and eventually made his way to companies such as: Florida Championship Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Guerilla, TNA Lucha Underground, Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, Impact once again, and finally AEW.

And it has been at AEW, on perhaps what can be considered the largest stage he has yet to land on, that he has subsequently made the most noise.

He is a huge influence in the world of bodybuilding as well. I mean, that’s pretty obvious when you see the man walk out to the ring. Pound for pound it is arguable that he is one of, if not the strongest wrestler at AEW.

And although ‘physique guys’ in the business aren’t as prevalent as they once were, Cage has shades of that classic form a la British Bulldog and of course Lex Luger in his day, among others.

Cracks in the foundation

It was in 2020 that the team joined up, the first two members were Starks and Cage, which now is probably a tad ironic, as Brian Cage is now the one to have been kicked out as of a week ago, and after a loss to Starks of all people.

There was dissension evident in Team Taz for quite a while, though…Cage not really seeing eye-to-eye with the team’s legendary leader over the last few months, and maybe we should have seen this coming; maybe Brian Cage should have seen this coming, but when Ricky Starks seemed to go off-kilter in the weeks leading up to Fyter Fest, it seemed as though Taz and the members of his illustrious team were on Cage’s side.

Even until the last few moments in their match at Fyter Fest Night 1 for the FTW title, it wasn’t until the last possible moment that the rest of Team Taz turned on their big buddy, costing him the match and the FTW title. Powerhouse Hobbs took care of that for Team Taz in a quick moment.

They have since made statements regarding their dismissal of Cage. Cage was shown a video that Team Taz had made at some point during the night this past week on Night 2 of Fyter Fest. In it, they essentially rub Cage’s face in the win, Taz congratulating Starks and Starks announcing that next week, they’re going to celebrate the win in big fashion.

Cage, after watching the message stated the ominous words: “That works out, you know why? I love celebrations.”

Why it’s best for business and for Cage

This finally brings us to why the dismissal of Cage from team Taz is a good thing right now…

Essentially there’s nowhere to go but up for Cage. We’ve seen it before…the best of the group gets separated from the faction that brought him to the top of the game by way of betrayal, thus making him an underdog; said underdog goes for his revenge and then gets launched out on his own and gets involved in different feuds. It’s professional wrestling lore, and that’s why we love it.

What’s left to see, is if Cage can make it on his own without a faction.

The possibility, though of him not making it on his own, doesn’t at all seem to be a factor, as I hope I’ve proven in this piece. Cage never really needed team Taz, to begin with, and maybe that was the whole point of the storyline. Overall, Cage should accomplish great things…once he gets even with Starks, Powerhouse Hobbs, Hook (who is Taz’s real-life son), and Taz, that is.

It’ll be interesting to see where this goes.