Garrison Cade feels like the luckiest man in the world

[Joe Kerr]

Garrison Cade:
by Michael Dworkis


Garrison Cade calls himself a lucky guy. In one year he has gone from participating in non-televised preliminary matches to wrestling in a title match at WrestleMania XX, and being in the ring with The Rock, Triple H and Ric Flair.

Cade calls his recent experiences an honor, and although he feels luck has played a role in his progress, those who know him well understand that his success is a result of hard work and a desire to be the best.

For Cade, the desire to be a successful WWE Superstar started way back in the mid-eighties.

“It all began after watching WrestleMania IV,” he says. “It’s something I’ve wanted to do my whole life, and something I felt needed to do with my life.”

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In order to fulfill his dream, and live his passion, he sought training from the man who personifies passion for the business: Shawn Michaels.

“Shawn Michaels was the first person who I wanted to be like. He was the guy who had the whole package. He always had the people behind him whether they liked him or hated him. No one else had the persona or character that he has.”

After graduating high school, he packed his bags and went to train at Michaels’ wrestling academy. This wasn’t an easy task and it would change his life forever.

“I went through a whole planning process of making that decision to go. It was a big move for me. I stopped everything, I left my family, and left my life behind to go to San Antonio and train.”

Although the training was hard and tested his physical and mental toughness, Cade looks back at the experience as on of the best of his life.

“Just learning from Shawn on a daily basis, was something. He let us wrestle for his promotion and others, and I even went with him to Japan. I worked for some people who’ve been in the business twice as long as Shawn, but they haven’t done a fraction of things that he did in one year. He accomplished more in one month than some people did their whole lives. There’s no way that no matter where I went, anywhere in the world that I would have gotten the hands on, one-on-one training, overall knowledge that he gave me.”

One of his biggest highlights so far was his first WrestleMania appearance at WrestleMania XX, when he challenged for the World Tag Team Championship with Mark Jindrak.

“That right there is something huge. It was a big honor to be at WrestleMania period. But this was not just any WrestleMania. It was WrestleMania XX. That made it that much more special.



During his tenure on RAW, Cade has racked up an impressive number of wins against some big names. He has wins over La Resistance, the Dudley Boyz, the team of Randy Orton and Ric Flair, Lance Storm, and Tajiri.

“It’s an honor, truly an honor to be in the ring with those guys, and not many people can say that they were able to train with the guys they idolized growing up. I’m the luckiest guy in the world, for being able to do what I can, and do what I have already done.”

A recent highlight was being able to step into the ring with The Rock. Although it was not in a match, the experience gave Cade something to look forward to.

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“Being in the same ring with the Rock was just unreal. Standing in the back waiting to come out, I couldn’t even describe the feeling I had. I’d love to go one on one with Rock, he’s so talented that we would have a great match.”

Cade has had more opportunities than many at this stage in his career, but he doesn’t consider himself well seasoned just yet. He admits he still has a long way to go.

“Right now in my career, I’m so much in the learning mode. The thought of teaching anyone, is so out of my mind right now, whenever someone asks me for advice, the advice I give them is ‘go ask Triple H, Shawn, Flair or Benoit. That’s what I would tell them, because that’s what I would do. If I am ever in the position to give back the same way he (HBK) has, I’d do it in a heartbeat. A lot of people don’t realize that I first signed with WWE when I was 18, and I'm 23 now. I’ve been through a lot of training, met a lot of great people along the way, learned from a lot of different guys, and learned a lot of different styles. The overall experience of being part of the WWE family for this long is that there is no better feeling than being here, because this is the best company ever.”

Garrison Cade has moved faster than the average WWE Superstar. Chances are, with his continued hard work he’s not only going to be in many WrestleMania’s but may very well be headlining them. “It is just a matter of time before I find my niche. When I do, that’s it. Two or three years from now, I’m going to be one of the top guys on RAW. There’s no doubt in my mind about that. I want it too bad.”