Brian Cage Believes CM Punk Was Worried He Would Be Similar to Ryback

Brian Cage honed his skills in various promotions before joining AEW. The Machine is a highly skilled in-ring performer, particularly for someone of his size. However, it appears his size made CM Punk worry that he was going to be like Ryback.

During a live signing for Whatnot, Brian Cage reflected on his interactions with CM Punk in AEW and his role in Punk’s final televised match with the company.

Cage described his relationship with Punk as neither particularly positive nor negative, but rather neutral. He attributed this to Punk’s awareness of Cage’s connection to the Young Bucks, being a West Coast guy. Their relationship improved over time as they got to know each other better and eventually worked together in the ring.

“CM Punk wasn’t bad to me, wasn’t always good to me, wasn’t bad to me which is kind of whatever and I think too because he knows I was a west coast guy so I’m kind of team Young Buck. But, I remember it took a while too for us to actually talk and properly introduce and it was fine, we squashed it and I had his last match on TV. I took the last G.T.S. on AEW and I think, I’m just gonna go ahead and assume, the way we talked and structuring the match, I know he didn’t think he could give me the G.T.S.”

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Brian Cage mentioned that he sensed Punk was initially unsure about whether he could execute the move on him. However, after the match, Punk became a fan of Cage and expressed his support for him. However, he added that Punk went into business for himself and that ruined his chance of getting any political rub.

“I think he felt like I was gonna be — no heat or shade towards Ryback but I think he thought I was gonna be a jacked up — whatever. Obviously, he’s having flashbacks with his heat with Ryback. So I’m like, ‘Bro, no, don’t worry. I got you out there’ and after we had the match, he actually was a super fan of mine, was big on me, super high on me and I felt good. I was like, maybe I’ll get a little political rub backstage now, cool, and then he had to go into business for himself and get fired so, didn’t work out so well for me.“

Brian Cage also signed with AEW over WWE because he didn’t want to be treated like cattle. Nevertheless, CM Punk and AEW will forever be brought up no matter what and that’s unlikely to ever change.

Are you surprised by what Brian Cage had to say about CM Punk? Sound off in the comments section below!