Brian Cage

Brian Christopher Button (February 2, 1984) is an American bodybuilder and professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Brian Cage. He was previously signed to World Wrestling Entertainment from 2008-2009 and Impact Wrestling, making appearances between 2012-2014 and 2018-2020. While in Impact Wrestling, Cage became a one-time Impact X Division Champion and a one-time Impact World Champion. Cage has also wrestled in promotions including Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Lucha Underground and Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) from 2015–2016.
==Professional wrestling career==
===Early career (2004-2006)===
Cage began his love of want to be a professional wrestler like any normal kid by watching it on television. During those early year Cage became friends with Chris Kanyon following a show that was held in Sacramento at Arco Arena where he made a sign that Kanyon noticed. Following the end of that show Cage met Kanyon and the two eventually became friends and Cage's biggest influence in his decision to pursue professional wrestling as a career. This eventually led to him and his friends starting their own Federation in 2004 called Main-Event Wrestling Federation or MWF for short. Cage's wrestling debut happened when he officially wrestled Kanyon for the first time at an MWF show. 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. Cage then made a name for himself and competed at All Pro Wrestling. This continued until Cage, under Kanyon's advise, left to move to Atlanta to be in WWE's then developmental territory Deep South Wrestling.
===Deep South Wrestling (2006-2007)===
While not officially signed with Deep South Wrestling, Cage competed in matches with then WWE Superstars Kofi Kingston, Heath Slater, Brodus Clay and Zack Ryder. When WWE ended its ties with DSW, Cage left to come back to California. However, before Cage left Kanyon asked Cage to become Mortis so that someday if Kanyon ever decided to make a come back that he could still have his name out there. This was seen as a great honor to Cage and he gladly accepted to become Mortis whenever he was asked to appear as Mortis and not Brian Cage. Cage is the only person other than Kanyon that has portrayed the Mortis character.
===Independent Circuit (2007-2008)===
Cage again came back to home State of California and made a name by wrestling in promotions such as All Pro Wrestling, Supreme Pro Wrestling, and Fog City Wrestling. Cage had one his final Indy matches at Supreme Pro Wrestling in Sacramento against Adam Thornstowe. Near the end of 2008 when Cage was resigned with WWE he gave the Mortis outfit back to Kanyon who had decided to make a return to the ring as himself and as Mortis. However, when Kanyon passed away, Cage was unable to get the Mortis outfit back from Kanyon's Family. Cage had wanted to be able to carry on Kanyon's memory by continuing to portray Mortis.
===World Wrestling Entertainment (2008-2009)===
In June 2008, WWE signed Cage to a developmental contract for their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). 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. The name Kris Logan was made to give homage to Chris Kanyon, with the Logan part due to his similar appearance the Marvel Comics Wolverine, along with the outfit that he wore which sported yellow tights with claw marks. During his time in FCW, 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 The Hurricane was still active in WWE. However, this did not occur as Cage was eventually released from his contract in mid September 2009 for unknown reasons.
===Return to independent circuit===
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 promotion where he would win the Main Event Wrestling California Cup where he beat Ryan Taylor, Joey Ryan, and finally T.J. Perkins. In May 2010, Cage would compete in the finals of the Vendetta Pro Wrestling Tri-Force Championship Tournament, facing both Jason Watts and the eventual winner, Chimaera. In October 2010, Cage wrestled and won a match against Kenny Dykstra at Main Event Wrestling in internet pay-per-view.
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. Towards the end of 2011, the team would split as Cage would feud with Ricker and would leave Cage as a single competitor. Cage also competed in Pro Wrestling Bushido wrestling for them since his return to California. In 2011, Cage joined Joey Ryan, Steve Stamp, and Dan Danielson to form the stable 4H. On April 29, 2012 Cage competed in the Warriors Way Tournament that determined the number one contender for the PWB Title. In the first round, Cage faced Joey Ryan who expected him to just lay down and allow Ryan to move on to the semi-final rounds. However, Cage refused to do so. Cage would defeat Ryan moving onto the semi-finals who would then face Willie Mack. Due to outside interference by Ryan and Dan Danielson, Cage lost the match against Mack.
Cage has also competed in other various promotions such as Future Stars of Wrestling. 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. 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. Cage and Kirsch wrestled for 10 minutes which lead to a time limit draw. The rivalry between the two took a turn for the worse when Kirsch was taken on to be part of the Tough Enough show. Cage who spent time in WWE through developmental territories viewed Kirsch's rise to fame as a near insult due to the fact that Kirsch was a game show contestant while Cage was a former FCW Tag Team Champion which he held with Justin Gabriel. On August 30, 2012 Cage competed in a dark match against Robbie E in a losing effort. Cage appeared on the January 10, 2013 edition of Impact Wrestling in a TNA Gut Check match in a losing effort against Jay Bradley.
===Pro Wrestling Guerrilla===
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. 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. 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. The following day, Cage was eliminated from the tournament by Michael Elgin, following interference from Steen. At Failure to Communicate on October 27, Cage defeated Willie Mack, with whom he had been feuding since July.
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). 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.
===Lucha Underground===
On October 5, 2014, it was reported that Cage had signed with Lucha Underground. 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. 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. 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. 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.
===Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (2015–2016)===
On February 27, 2015, Cage made his debut for the Mexican promotion Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA), pinning AAA Mega Champion Alberto El Patrón in a six-man tag team main event. 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. 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. 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.
===Impact Wrestling (2012-2014, 2018-2020)===
Cage made his debut in 2012 during the August 30th edition of IMPACT Wrestling in a dark match won by Robbie E. Returning on January 10, 2013, Cage competed in a Gut Check Qualifying match won by Jay Bradley. In 2014 during the June 26th Destination X edition of Impact Wrestling, Cage competed in against Sanada and Crazzy Steve in a three-way match qualifier for the X Division Championship but was defeated by Sanada. After four years, Cage returned to Impact Wrestling on January 11, 2018 defeating Hunter Law in a squash match. This marked the beginning of Cage's undefeated streak during early months of 2018 in singles matches, defeating wrestlers including Jon Cruz, KM, Eli Drake, Trevor Lee, Rohit Raju and Bobby Lashley (who was ending his tenure with Impact Wrestling and returning to WWE in April 2018). Cage made his Impact pay-per-view debut on April 22 at Redemption where he won a six-way match, defeating Dezmond Xavier, DJ Z, El Hijo del Fantasma, Taiji Ishimori and Trevor Lee. Cage wrestled his final Impact Wrestling match on January 10, 2020 at Bash At The Brewery 2, where he teamed with Rich Swann, Tessa Blanchard and Willie Mack in an four-versus-four elimination tag match lost against team oVe.
===All Elite Wrestling (2020-present)===
On May 23, Cage made his pay-per-view debut in All Elite Wrestling at the second annual AEW Double or Nothing event, where he won the Casino Ladder match to earn a title shot for the AEW World Championship. After Double Or Nothing, Cage made his television debut on the May 27 episode of AEW Dynamite, winning a squash match against Lee Johnson. Afterwards, his coach Taz announced Cage as the first contender to challenge the new reigning champion Jon Moxley for the World title at the second annual Fyter Fest.
==Acting career==
Cage starred in the 2015 independent film Fall of Castle Grayskull. He played both as He-Man and the Guardian Creature of Grayskull.
==Personal life==
Button is currently in a relationship with ring announcer and occasional professional wrestler Melissa Santos. On January 3, 2018 Button and Santos welcomed a baby daughter.
==In wrestling==
*Finishing moves
**Drill Claw
**Weapon X (Gory special transitioned into a reverse STO)
**Tornado Claw (Discus lariat)
*Signature moves
**818 (Tiger feint kick)
**Black Magic (Double jump moonsault)
**Chainlink (Swinging side slam backbreaker)
**Curb Stomp (Standing inverted Indian deathlock surfboard followed into a head stomp)
**F'n5
**Five Star Elbow Drop (Diving elbow drop)
**GMSI (Pumphandle sitout facebuster)
**Inverted cloverleaf
**Lights Out (Sliding reverse STO)
**Northern Lights suplex
**One-armed swinging neckbreaker
**Powerbomb dropped into a backbreaker
**Powerbomb into turnbuckles
*Managers
**Percy Pringle III
**Taz
*Nicknames
**"The (F'n) Machine"
**"Mr. GMSI"
**"The Swolverine"
*Tag teams and stables
**Border Patrol (w/ Derek Sanders, Nathan Rulez and Oliver John)
**The Fightin' Taylor Boys (w/ Ryan Taylor)
**John-turage (w/ Shaun Ricker)
**Natural Selection (w/ Shaun Ricker)
**Team Trump (w/ Hernandez and El Mesías)
**Twins (w/ Sami Callihan)
**Unbreakable F'N Machines (w/ Michael Elgin)
*Entrance music
**"Hell & High Slaughter" by Zack Tempest (FCW; as Kris Logan)
**"Get Out of My Room" by Flavio Lemelle (FCW; as Kris Logan)
**"As I Am" by Dream Theater (AAA / Independent circuit)
**"I'm a Machine" by Billie Fingers
**"Path of Cage" by Mikey Rukus (AEW)
==Championships and accomplishments==
*All Elite Wrestling
**FTW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*All Pro Wrestling
**APW World Wide Internet Championship (1 time)
*Championship Wrestling From Hollywood
**CWFH Heritage Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Shaun Ricker
*Future Stars Of Wrestling
**FSW Heavyweight Championship
*Florida Championship Wrestling
**FCW Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Justin Gabriel
*Impact Wrestling
**Impact X Division Championship (1 time)
**Impact World Championship (1 time)
*Lucha Underground
**Lucha Underground Gift of the Gods Championship (1 time)
*Mach 1 Pro Wrestling
**Mach 1 Pro Wrestling Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Shaun Ricker
*Main Event Wrestling
**California Cup (2011)
*Mayhem Wrestling Entertainment
**MWE Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*North American Wrestling
**NAW North America Championship (1 time)
*Piledriver Pro Wrestling
**Piledriver Pro Wrestling Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
*Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
**PWG World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Michael Elgin
*Pro Wrestling Revolution
**PWR Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
**PWR Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Derek Sanders
*Ring of Honor
**ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (2 times) with Kaun & Toa Liona
*World Series Wrestling
**WSW Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Flip Gordon
*WrestleCircus
**WC Ringmaster Championship (2 times)
**WC Sideshow Championship (1 time)
==External links==
* Profile
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