BUT I DIGRESS - BRIAN CAGE

Early into this interview, there is a lot of talk about Chris Kanyon, To someone who may have listened to or watched other interviews with Cage, these Kanyon stories may have been redundant, but to someone like me who hasn't heard them before, they are new and very engaging. I found it heartwarming to hear how Kanyon went from being an idol of Cage to a friend and even an in-ring opponent. The Kanyon discussion was definitely the highlight of this interview for me.

Regrettably, Cage somewhat skimmed over his pre-WWE developmental career, so I would have liked to have heard more about his years before he was picked up by WWE. Granted, part of the reason for him glossing over it is that he only wrestled for a brief period before being going into the WWE developmental systems. I also would have liked to have heard more about his time in between the two WWE developmental leagues, DSW and FCW, because he surfed the indies for over a year between the developmental tenures and wrestled people like Teddy Hart and Gangrel during that time. Even if it wasn't meant to be an interview about his entire career from start to current, I thought they could have covered a lot of territory with an additional 15 minutes or half hour.

As far as content, Cage has some insightful comments about how training with Bill DeMott compared to learning from Tom Prichard. Cage is also very impressed by the success of Joey Ryan, as he talks about the viral nature of the Dick Flip. Additionally, it obviously meant a lot to Cage to debut in Japan for NOAH, and he talks about the culture of Japan, including smoking over there, the sponsor dinners, and fan interactions.

Cage talks fast while telling the story of his WWE release, and it is kind of hard to follow at times. Cage is always very candid; it's just that the speed at which he talks can be a little excessive at times. Having been a referee and backstage at over a hundred pro wrestling shows, I can say that it is almost like he is calling a match to an opponent during the interview. What he is saying is totally logical, but the words just get spit out by Cage unusually fast at times.

The host, Kevin Gill does a good job, and the times that he does chime in, he usually has worthwhile comments. If you're wondering why there are less topics than usual in the index of discussion section of this review, it's because some parts were a little hard to keep up with due to the fast rate at which words were coming out of Cage's mouth.

GRADE: B

PURCHASE:

DVD: http://www.highspots.com/p/digress-cage.html

DIGITAL: https://www.highspotswrestlingnetwork.com/media/but-i-digressbrian-cage/75776/feature, http://www.highspots.com/p/VD-digress-cage.html

Index of topics discussed:

- his early experience in backyard wrestling and weight training

- why he became a pro wrestler

- his favorite wrestlers when he was younger

- his fandom of Chris Kanyon and how it developed into a friendship

- his time in the WWE developmental league DSW

- Bill DeMott

- switching to FCW

- getting released from WWE

- how he was almost on WWE Tough Enough

- surfing the indies before becoming successful in Lucha Underground

- what people can expect from the upcoming season(s) of Lucha Underground

- Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG)

- opportunities to make a living from the indie circuit nowadays

- wrestling in Australia for World Series Wrestling (WSW)

- Joey Ryan

- WrestleCon 2018

- his time in Japan

- the birth of his daughter

- Melissa Santos

- his favorite and ideal opponents

- how people can follow him on social media

RUN TIME: 1 hr. 15 min. (not including a bonus match)

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