Brian Cage has offered a candid and wide-ranging perspective on performance-enhancing drugs, confirming that he has used PEDs and steroids while pushing back on what he views as overly simplistic assumptions about their effects, their role in athletic success, and their association with some of professional wrestling’s darkest health stories.
During an appearance on The @smoothvega Podcast, Cage discussed the subject at length, including the first time he used steroids, his present use of testosterone replacement therapy, and the public perception surrounding physique-based athletes. The 42-year-old AEW wrestler did not attempt to deny his history, instead arguing that the conversation around PEDs often overlooks training, diet, personal behavior, other substances, and the individual health risks involved.
Cage’s remarks come from a performer whose presentation has long centered on exceptional size, strength and conditioning. He said that fans and critics sometimes reduce his career and appearance to a single explanation, despite the work required to maintain an elite-level body and perform in a demanding profession.
Cage Says PEDs Are Not A Shortcut To Success
The Don Callis Family member said he has never hidden the fact that he has taken PEDs. However, he rejected the suggestion that steroids alone account for his accomplishments in wrestling or make dramatic physical transformations happen without significant effort.
For more background on this topic, read Kevin Knight Says Don Callis Family Needs Female Power in AEW.
“Do steroids work? Absolutely. Have I taken PEDs? Absolutely,” Cage said. “I’ve never said I haven’t.”
His central argument was that drug use should not be portrayed as a magical solution that eliminates the need for discipline. Cage said that if a brief steroid cycle could immediately deliver the physique and abilities people imagine, gyms would not be necessary and far more people would use them. In his view, that belief fails to account for years of work in the gym, nutritional planning, conditioning and the other elements that go into a wrestler’s physical preparation.
Cage acknowledged that PEDs carry health risks. At the same time, he argued that public discussion can be inconsistent when comparing steroids with alcohol, illegal drugs, poor diet, and other habits that can also cause serious long-term harm. He said the taboo around steroids can lead people to assume that every negative health outcome involving a muscular athlete must be connected to PED use, while other possible factors are minimized or ignored.
That is Cage’s personal assessment rather than a medical conclusion. The health impact of PEDs, anabolic steroids, TRT and other substances can vary considerably based on dosage, duration, medical supervision, pre-existing conditions and whether they are combined with other drugs. Cage himself did not dispute that risks exist; his comments focused on his belief that the issue is more complicated than many public conversations allow.
TRT And His Current Approach
Cage also said that he has been on TRT, or testosterone replacement therapy, for an extended period. He described TRT as a major positive in his own experience, particularly in everyday life rather than strictly in an athletic setting. He suggested that it can help people feel and move better, though he did not offer medical guidance or specific details about his treatment.
TRT is distinct from recreational or competitive use of anabolic steroids in that it is generally associated with treating medically identified low testosterone under clinical care. The subject remains part of broader sports and health debates because testosterone can also be misused for performance purposes. Cage framed his present situation in personal terms and did not present himself as speaking for every athlete or patient.
His larger point was that people can be quick to judge a wrestler’s physique while knowing little about that person’s health, regimen, training history or medical circumstances. Cage believes the conversation becomes especially distorted when observers use PED allegations as a catch-all dismissal of an athlete’s work.
First Use Came After A Bodybuilding Show
Cage said his first steroid use came after his first bodybuilding competition. He recalled that his coach encouraged him to use steroids as part of a post-show rebound period. Before then, he said he had deliberately avoided taking them, even while people on the Northern California independent scene assumed he was already using them because of his appearance.
According to Cage, he had been straight-edge and was reluctant to take anything. One reason for his hesitation was concern about the concept of “roid rage.” He said he had a bad temper when he was younger and worried that steroids could worsen that behavior.
After his own experience, however, Cage said he does not believe the popular portrayal of roid rage is accurate. He said he has not experienced a sudden uncontrollable impulse toward violence as a result of steroid use. Instead, he compared it to alcohol lowering inhibitions, arguing that a person who acts cruelly or aggressively while intoxicated may already possess those tendencies and use substances as an excuse to express them more openly.
“I’ve never taken anything where I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna kill somebody,’” Cage said. “I don’t believe in it.”
Cage added that the strain of bodybuilding preparation, including the hunger and restrictions that can accompany a contest diet, could be more frustrating for him than anything he associated with PED use. His comments describe his own experiences and beliefs, not a universal rule about the behavioral or psychological effects substances may have on others.
Cage Addresses The Chris Benoit Tragedy
The conversation also turned to the 2007 double murder-suicide involving Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy Benoit and their son Daniel. Cage stated his belief that steroids did not meaningfully explain Benoit’s actions. He argued that the timeline and nature of the tragedy did not fit what he considers a momentary rage-based scenario.
Cage said there were clearly many issues involved and pointed to the broader questions that emerged following Benoit’s death, including information connected to the autopsy. He objected to reducing the tragedy to a single substance-based explanation.
The subject remains deeply painful within wrestling, and it is also one where definitive public answers have long been difficult to establish. Discussions surrounding the Benoit tragedy have involved numerous potential factors over the years, including brain trauma, mental health, substance use, personal circumstances and the demands of the wrestling industry. Cage did not claim to have definitive knowledge of the causes; he was expressing his view that blaming steroids alone overlooks the complexity of the situation.
He extended that argument to the deaths and health struggles associated with many wrestlers from the 1980s and 1990s. Cage acknowledged that steroids may have played a role in certain cases, but argued that the era’s culture of heavy drinking, painkillers, recreational drugs, uppers, downers and other substances must be considered as well. In Cage’s view, the cumulative consequences of that lifestyle cannot fairly be separated from discussions about steroid use.
A Wider Debate That Will Continue
PED use has been a recurring and often contentious topic in professional wrestling for decades. Unlike conventional sports, pro wrestling combines athletic performance with entertainment, aesthetics, travel, injury management and a historic pressure to look larger than life. Those realities have created complicated debates around body image, wellness policies, medical oversight and the line between treatment and enhancement.
Cage’s comments will likely draw strong reactions because he chose openness on a subject many performers either avoid or address cautiously. His position is not that PEDs are harmless. Rather, he believes the public should stop treating them as an all-purpose explanation for success, poor behavior or tragedy.
For Cage, the key distinction is between acknowledging risks and embracing a stereotype. He said PEDs have been misrepresented as a shortcut that instantly creates extraordinary athletes or as an automatic cause of explosive violence and fatal health consequences. His argument is that individual conduct and health outcomes are more complicated, particularly in an industry with a long history of physical punishment and substance abuse.
Cage was last in action for AEW on the September 5 episode of Collision. Teaming with fellow Don Callis Family member Jake Doyle, Cage was defeated by The Young Bucks, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson. While his latest comments moved away from in-ring competition, they placed one of wrestling’s most enduring debates back into focus: how the industry and its audience discuss performance enhancement, health and accountability without reducing difficult realities to easy answers.
Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.