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AEW Star Retires At 42 After Winning Championship

By Sridhar Krishnan • Published Jun 20, 2026 13:11 EDT
AEW logo over blurred Brian Cage
AEW logo over blurred Brian Cage - Source: allelitewrestling.com

An AEW star has seemingly called it quits on their bodybuilding career after recently winning a championship.

Brian Cage of the Don Callis Family recently competed in the MUSCLECONTEST International Nevada Championship and walked away with top honors.

After being on the shelf for more than a year, the 42-year-old returned to AEW on the May 13 edition of Dynamite, where he unsuccessfully challenged Kevin Knight for the TNT Championship.

On the May 30 episode of Collision, he teamed up with stablemate Jack Doyle to win against Jimmy Wild and Tommy Mars in a squash match.

Since his return, Cage has also been active in the independent circuit, having wrestled in Warrior Wrestling, Awesome Championship Wrestling (ACW), and Coastal Championship Wrestling (CCW).

After winning the bodybuilding championship, the AEW star revealed that he had not competed in a bodybuilding competition in 12 years, while also revealing his future in the pageant.

AEW’s Brian Cage Seemingly Announces Retirement From Bodybuilding

Despite not having entered a bodybuilding competition in 12 years, AEW’s Brian Cage revealed what motivated him to compete this time around.

In doing so, he spoke about why bodybuilding was no longer his priority.

I haven’t competed in bodybuilding for over 12 years. What I do is I’m a pro wrestler. I fly around the country in a different time zone every day, day. I get my stuff and I own the spotlight. I have the match of the night. I do it time and time and time again.

Cage claimed that he got motivation from everything he went through last year after suffering a torn quad tendon, knee replacement, and revision knee replacement.

This was a side quest. I wasn’t trying to do a bodybuilding show to everybody was looks at me. I stay in top tier condition for tv, for wrestling, just for me. I live the lifestyle.

The former ROH World Television Champion then spoke about how people asked him if he would ever do a bodybuilding show. So, the AEW wrestler made himself a promise that if a show would take place in Las Vegas and he had the day off, he would compete.

I said, listen, if there’s a show in town, I live here in Las Vegas. If there’s a show in town on a day that I’m not booked, I’ll do it. That was me setting up a way for me not to have to do it. And then I saw this show five weeks ago and I said, why not?

The Machine then said that his latest participation could be his last in bodybuilding due to the busy life he leads, especially with his family involved as well.

This is probably it for me. I don’t think I’m gonna do another show.

The interviewer, however, said that she wished to see him compete at the national stage. In response, Cage listed everything he had been doing of late, including wrestling, traveling, signings, etc., which already keeps him busy and takes a toll on him.

But it definitely took a toll. My family back here and it’s just, it’s not fair to them. And I love lifestyle. I have no ambitions of being a pro. I would love to be a pro, but I’m a pro wrestler. It’s my dream since I was 10 years old. I’ve been living the dream for 20 years now.

The AEW star, though, did not close the door on bodybuilding completely with a ‘never say never’ statement.

We were on the bodybuilding stage tonight, right? I’m on TNT on Collision on TV and my movie just dropped on my disclosure day, Steven Spielberg’s movie that’s in theaters this weekend. So, I mean, shout outs. We’re doing the damn thing.

H/T: Ringside News