As wrestling fans, we’re used to turning on the television every week and watching talented men and women perform for us. These athletes literally give their all on a daily basis to entertain not just the live crowds, but also millions of worldwide watchers. They enjoy hearing us boo when one performs a dastardly deed or, on the flipside, our loving cheers for our heroes who battle the evil doers.
What we don’t see though is the suffering, pain and anguish that these performers go through in the backstage area. The injuries, the continued travel schedule, the high levels of potential depression due to being away from their families, children and loved ones… all of this mounts up and our heroes revert to the only thing that they know in order to get through: that being prescription medication, alcohol and steroids.
But if that’s the case, you may be asking why they continue to be involved in this industry. Is it because of the pay cheque? Is it a god syndrome? Well, the answer is no to both. They do this job for each and every one of us, whether we’re a member of the WWE Universe, the TNA Nation or even the MOS Republic. These men and women come out to entertain and, as mentioned previously, to hear the roar of our opinion.
One thing that’s becoming increasingly obvious is that the younger generation of wrestling superstars aren’t being trained well enough in the psychology of the business to handle the stress, pressure and emotional intensity that comes with being a wrestling superstar. This is something that needs to be addressed by all major wrestling promotions before we lose any more up-and-coming superstars.
Sadly, for one former superstar, any change will come to late. Just two weeks ago, the wrestling world lost one of its most promising future performers in Lance McNaught (Lance Cade). Cade, who was a graduate of the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy, had an up and down career with WWE. He gained success in tag team action after becoming a multiple WWE Tag Team Champion with Trevor Murdoch, but for some reason could never gain success in the singles ranks.
Cade made his pro debut in 1999, spending time in Japan where he honed his craft before being signed to a WWE developmental contract. Upon his signing with WWE, he was sent to two of the regional developmental companies - those being Memphis Championship Wrestling and Heartland Wrestling Association.
It was in the HWA where Cade really began to shine and make a solid name for himself in the business. He teamed up with Mike Sanders to capture the HWA Tag Team Championships by defeating former WWE Superstar Val Venis (Sean Morley) and Steven Bradley in February 2002. It was an interesting pairing, as Sanders – who was a former WCW Superstar – and Cade broke up on the same day as their tag title win. The following week on HWA Television, Cade went over Sanders in a one-on-one contest and was given possession of the tag team titles, which had been vacated just one week prior following the teams’ split. He chose Steven Bradley as his new tag team partner and together they defended the titles against all challengers. Things weren’t rosy for the new tag team, as they had trouble in defeating the challenge of former WWE Superstars Hugh Morrus (also an HWA trainer) and Raven. In March 2002, the team were defeated by the WWE pairing for the tag titles, although they regained them just one week later. In April 2002, Cades first (and former) tag team partner Cody Hawk returned to the company and teamed up with the Ice Cream Man to face off for the Tag Team Titles, which they successfully won. Cade and Bradley continued for over a month to try and regain those titles, but to no avail.
In May 2002, Cade moved into the singles division of HWA and faced off against Johnny ‘The Bull’ Stamboli and became the new HWA Heavyweight Champion. He held the title for two months before losing it to Stamboli on 20 July – however, Cade would regain the title on the same night and hold it for two days before losing to Cody Hawk.
Cade then moved to Ohio Valley Wrestling, after HWA was dropped as a developmental territory by WWE. Cade, who still looking to forge a career in the tag team ranks, aligned with Rene Dupree and manager Kenny Bolin and together, the three remained as a unit for most of their runs with OVW. During this time, they were a part of the OVW Tag Team Title tournament, successfully beating Matt Morgan and BJ Payne, but losing out to the Disciples of Sin in the tournament finals. Cade and Dupree did have another shot at the titles at OVW Spring Break-Out in 2003, facing off against champions the APA (Faarooq and Bradshaw) but, not surprisingly, they came out the losing end.
For the next five years, Cade worked on the main WWE roster facing off against some of the company’s biggest tag team competitors including La Resistance (Sylvan Grenier and Rene Dupree), The Dudley Boys, Evolution and Booker T & Goldust. It was during the latter part of his WWE run that he found most success when he teamed up with Trevor Murdoch, as he became a multi time WWE Tag Team champion, gaining success on both the Raw and Smackdown brands.
The team’s formation officially happened in September 2005 when they faced off against former Tag Champions The Hurricane and Rosey. By securing a win here, they were officially on their way and at WWE’s Unforgiven pay-per-view, they won their first WWE Tag Team Championships. They became fighting champions, defending the titles against all comers for over a month, until they faced the combination of the Big Show and Kane who promptly beat them for the titles at WWE Taboo Tuesday. Following the loss, they began to be squashed by other teams on the roster until eventually splitting in November of that year.
During the remainder of Cade’s WWE run, he was left in the midcard mix, unable to make a definite name for himself. His WWE release came in October 2008 following an incident that occurred on an international fight as the WWE Raw roster were returning from a live tour event here in the United Kingdom. Former VP of Talent relations and the voice of Raw, Jim Ross, stated that Cade “made a major league mistake while utilizing bad judgment" and that it was this mistake that was instrumental in his release. Ross referenced that Cade had suffered a seizure on the flight and needing emergency medical care as a result.
Just one week following his release, he began to accept independent bookings and reunited with his former tag team partner Trevor Murdoch. Cade performed in such promotions as IWA Mid South and NWA Showcase, as well as returning to Japan in December 2008 to team with René Duprée for the Hustle promotion. They appeared as masked wrestlers, Dyna and Might Sharpe, which was designed to be a parody of the Sharpe Brothers. The team defeated Tenyru and Koshinaka both nights. Five nights later, they had their third and final match with Tenyru and Koshinaka in a losing effort. Following this tour Cade later returned as "Cowboy" Cade, his former WWE character, on February 19 at Korukuen Hall to defeat the tag team of Tajiri and Akebono when Cade pinned Tajiri. On February 22, Cade defeated Akebono in a singles match in the main event of Hustle's debut show in Chiba, Japan.
In September 2009, Cade was re-signed by WWE and sent down to Florida Championship Wrestling. Although the plan was to call him back up to the main roster shortly after, this unfortunately never occurred and Cade was released for the second time in April 2010. Afterwards, he returned to Japan to work for All Japan Pro Wrestling.
On 13 August 2010, Lance Cade died of what’s being reported as apparent heart failure. He was rushed into hospital on 10 August, but discharged himself just one day later. Cade went to his father’s workplace on 12 August, where he looked extremely unwell; his father insisted that he stay at his parents’ home, which is where he passed away during the night. Lance is survived by his wife Tanya Gonzalez and two children, Natallye and Brian Curry II.
Lance Cade was a phenomenal worker who was underutilised by WWE. Given the right circumstances, who knows what this talented young worker could have achieved in his career? Being known as a tag team specialist may have hurt him in WWE (as there are no decent tag teams any more) but if a move to TNA had occurred and with the right tag team partner, there’s no doubting he could have stellar matches and feuds with the likes of the Motor City Machine Guns, Beer Money and Ink Inc amongst others. Once again, a worker has been taken before his time, thanks to the rigours of the pro wrestling industry. It’s true that every athlete has a choice whether or not they take steroids or prescription medication, but who knows what these talented athletes feel when the cameras are off and the crowds have dispersed…
Lance Cade may not have reached the level as Eddie Guerrero, but his memory and contributions to the industry will continue to live on for many years thanks to DVDs, television repeats and, of course, memories of the millions of fans who saw him perform at live events worldwide.
Lance was laid to rest in San Antonio on August 18 2010, where his wife, family and trainer the legendary Shawn Michaels were all in attendance.
Rest in Peace
Lance Kurtis McNaught (Lance Cade)
March 2 1981 – August 13 2010
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