As All Elite Wrestling has continued to grow and evolve over the past few years, new and exciting talents have been arriving in the company at a rapid pace. For every Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson, there is also a Jay Lethal and Brian Cage, who has found precious little to do as a bit-part player.
Despite Cage being a polarizing figure to AEW fans, with some either finding him to be a bland big man that can do some special things, and others seeing him as proper world champion material, he should be doing better in the company he currently calls home.
6 Bring In Melissa Santos
While she may be a controversial figure due to her comments and behavior on social media, Melissa Santos was once a fan favorite during her time in Lucha Underground. Serving as the ring announcer for that promotion, she brought high-energy into the announcing duties as well as being featured in a number of storylines.
While Santos has not wrestled since 2018, AEW has done a number of Mixed Tag Matches, that if needed, she could partake in. More importantly however, she is not only good-looking, but extremely charismatic on the microphone and often well-spoken, which is something Cage could use. Adding Melissa to The Machine's act would certainly at least make him a bit more interesting.
5 Have Him Wrestle Smaller, Fast-Paced Wrestlers
While someone like Wardlow is continually being built up by AEW booking as a future star, Brian Cage is 38 years old and call still go very, very well. Putting Cage back on AEW weekly TV as a featured player, but giving him some play things could warrant some fun results.
Reintroducing the audience to Brian Cage by having him work a series of squash matches similar to the current Wardlow push, would immediately make him be seen as someone to keep an eye on. From there, opting to take a page out of Impact's former booking, having the impressive Cage face off against smaller, agile, fast-paced, and exciting wrestlers like Rey Fenix, Dante Martin, Matt Sydal, Alan Angels, and Sammy Guevara, would allow Cage to shine like he once did in Impact's X Division. Not only can Cage show off as a big man that can toss around his smaller, cruiserweight-style opponents, but it would allow for some fun moments where Cage could show off similar moves against his much smaller rivals.
4 Turn Arn Anderson Into His Mentor
With Cody Rhodes' exit from AEW in February 2022, Arn Anderson and the rest of the Nightmare Family are now left high and dry with no real direction or purpose, at least in name. Giving Arn a new protégé, aside from Lee and Brock, someone a bit more seasoned, could not only give one of AEW's best managers something to do, but also would give Brian Cage the rub of being led by an all-time great.
While there are many, many directions that a pairing between Arn and Cage could go, one that would feel like a nice touch that we never got with Cody & Arn, would be the former Horseman bestowing the Spinebuster into Cage's arsenal, with the latter somehow finding his own spin on the old-school move in order to make it fit into his flashier offensive maneuvers.
3 Give Cage A New Character
When Brian Cage first made his debut in AEW during the 2020 Double or Nothing PPV, he was booked to look like a monster and immediately was given a big push, even earning a highly-talked about AEW World Championship Match against then-champion, Jon Moxley. Since then however, his career in AEW has taken a downward spiral with him never really feeling at home in Team Taz as that stable continued to grow.
Easily the best way to try and give the self-proclaimed Swolverine some new life in the land of the elite, would be to give him a character change. The last time fans saw Cage was in the fall of 2021, still feuding with Team Taz after they turned on him, and yet, throughout the entire feud, Brian just felt like a guy. He had no special traits, no character motivation aside from revenge, and just felt very one dimensional. A shift into a character with more depth would make Cage more appealing were he to stay with a babyface alignment.
2 Give Him A Match Against Kenny Omega
A surefire way to make anyone in AEW feel like a big deal, is to have them square off against the Best Bout Machine. Kenny has given many a wrestler the best matches of their career, and has helped elevate a number of talents over the past few years of his career, including Jay White and Hangman Page, with both men being top stars in New Japan and All Elite Wrestling respectively.
While Omega is still currently out of action rehabbing his injuries, upon return, he is going to need some fresh match-ups to get his ball rolling again. Giving Cage a spotlight in a marquee match against The Cleaner would be a spectacle to behold, and would allow two men that have yet to share the ring on this big of a scale, to show the world what they are both capable of.
1 Turn Him Heel
In pro-wrestling, there is always one last ditch effort to try and save a babyface failing to make an impact with the crowd, and with the majority of the AEW audience never giving Cage a true hero's response, now might be the time to try something. Turning Brian Cage heel could not only be a great move on the company's behalf, but it could save his career.
While heel turns do not always save stale or stalled babyface wrestlers, it has been the case for many in the past. Giving Brian Cage this opportunity would allow him to try and prove himself as a valued asset to AEW, and would also give Tony Khan a new big heel to play with when booking. Coupled with a fully-heel Melissa Santos as his mouthpiece and wrecking shop across any division, Cage could seek to become one of the top heels in All Elite Wrestling.