Colt Cabana Says WWE Frowned On Indie Guys When He Was There

Long before he was in AEW, Colt Cabana had a taste of big-league wrestling, working for WWE from 2007 to 2009. Cabana talked about his journey to WWE in an interview with "Developmentally Speaking," highlighting how he was pessimistic about remaining in the company.

"And I'm such a pessimist that ... I kind of assumed like, 'I don't know how long I'll be in WWE. I don't look like Batista or any of these guys. I'm an indie guy.' They were frowning at indie guys at that time. But [I thought] I'll be gone a little bit. I'll be able to get fresh for the independents if I come back, and while I'm doing that, I'll make a paycheck and I'll also be able to learn and just get around all of these wrestlers in this wrestling situation while I'm in developmental."

Cabana's thoughts would eventually turn out to be true, as he would later return to the independent scene and Ring of Honor following his WWE release, before signing with AEW in 2020.

He also revealed that Ring of Honor — where Cabana worked before joining WWE — was happy for him and felt it was a good time to move away from ROH for the time being, despite a decrease in pay.

"I just remember at the time with Ring of Honor, I had been there many years, I had just finished my feud with Homicide," Cabana said. "It was kind of like ... not that there wasn't anything else for me to do, because the Briscoes wrestled there for 20 years. But it kind of ... it would be fine for me to take a break from Ring of Honor to make me fresh."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Developmentally Speaking" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription