Brian Cage believes AEW has been building momentum in recent months and argued that the company’s pay-per-view output is currently superior to WWE’s.
Speaking on The Smooth Vega podcast, Cage was asked about AEW’s position in the wrestling landscape. While stressing that he wasn’t attempting to take shots at WWE, Cage offered a strong assessment when comparing the two companies’ major events.
“Take any WWE pay-per-view, not even trying to throw shade at WWE, any pay-per-view of theirs and throw any pay-per-view ours against theirs, and ours smashes theirs.”
Cage acknowledged that wrestling audiences have different preferences, comparing the variety within the industry to different flavors of ice cream. For him personally, the in-ring and sports-based side of professional wrestling carries greater appeal than its entertainment-driven elements.
“There’s different flavors of ice cream in wrestling. I also pride myself in being more of a fan of the sports-based wrestling, if you will. Having that awesome match to me stands out more to me and is what I’m into as a wrestling fan more than the entertainment aspect, if you will.”
Cage also believes the two companies have been moving in opposite directions recently, describing AEW as being on an upswing while suggesting WWE has experienced a downturn.
“I do feel like AEW is on more of an up, and WWE feels like it was more on a down, so to speak. And again, I’m not even trying to crap or whatever but like I think AEW’s in a good spot. And there’s so many people after All In that watched All In, just like you said, too. There’s so many WWE lifers that don’t like AEW, don’t watch AEW, that wanted to crap on AEW, and they watch All In like, ‘Damn. Yeah, that was a hell of a show.’”
Cage pointed specifically to the reaction to AEW All In as evidence of the company’s current momentum, arguing that the event managed to impress even some viewers who traditionally favor WWE or have been critical of AEW.
His comments ultimately reflect his own preference for AEW’s in-ring-focused presentation, while acknowledging that different styles of professional wrestling appeal to different sections of the audience.
