Despite his having done some guest commentary for AEW Dark in December 2019, it still came as a surprise when during the Buy In preshow of Revolution on Saturday, Colt Cabana came to the aid of SCU against the Dark Order. During the post show media scrum, Tony Khan confirmed that this was not a one-off appearance and that Cabana was officially All Elite, joining the company in a multi-faceted capacity.
“Colt’s working here, Colt does a variety of things, he’s already started as an announcer and now he’s gonna be working as a wrestler,” Khan said following Saturday’s PPV. “He’s debuted in a situation where you can kind of see—I could definitely see Colt wrestling for us on a regular basis. He can chip in as a commentator, and also as a coach. He’s a really valuable mind.”
.@ColtCabana came to the aid of #SCU!
Watch #AEWRevolution TONIGHT via @brlive or @FiteTV! pic.twitter.com/izopq0lykL— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) March 1, 2020
Khan was also asked about Cabana’s exclusivity, to which he replied, that much like many of AEW’s other performers, at Khan’s discretion, he would be able to “work other places.”
A 20+ year veteran of the industry, the 39-year-old Cabana has pretty much seen and done it all. Known primarily for his comedic side, Cabana has served the business in a variety of roles and has enjoyed a tremendous amount of success. Cabana has traveled the world and won 33 titles in his career, including in the NWA, DDT, RevPro, OVW, AAW, IWA Mid-South, Ring of Honor and more. He’s worked in Pro Wrestling NOAH, WWE, TNA and just about every indie you can think of in the U.S. and abroad over his extensive career.
Colt Cabana has been considered one of the pioneers of the indie comedic wrestling style which has been imitated but never duplicated by many of his peers, but one of Cabana’s other great contributions to the industry is through the Art of Wrestling, one of the first major wrestling podcasts.
Now in its 10th year, Cabana’s Art of Wrestling has pretty much hosted just about every major name in wrestling both from the past and in the present. Now with wrestling podcasts perhaps in their golden era, Cabana deserves a lot of credit for his role in pioneering their popularity, but more than that, he deserves credit for what Art of Wrestling has done for the wrestlers and industry of wrestling itself. Through interviews with wrestlers of all walks of life, Cabana’s podcast has opened fans up to a side of the business and the men and women involved in it, more than ever before. As Cabana has described the podcast, Art of Wrestling is “an entryway into the minds, the souls, the hearts and lives” of the wrestlers.
One of Cabana’s other contributions to the wrestling industry is his role in helping Pro Wrestling Tees get off the ground. Now the largest wrestling t-shirt website of its kind, Pro Wrestling Tees had a modest start as One Hour Tees, a company that began in 2008. Two years later, Cabana reached out to owner Ryan Barkan about creating a specific shirt order for CM Punk. Barkan delivered and following that, Cabana returned to him for more requests and eventually, an offer.
Cabana offered to promote One Hour Tees on his podcast, after which point the brand’s popularity skyrocketed and received the attention of other prominent wrestlers including the Young Bucks, Kevin Steen, Christopher Daniels and others. In 2013, One Hour Tees became Pro Wrestling Tees, a t-shirt marketplace that now has over 1,000 individual shops for pro wrestlers to sell their merchandise. The first of these wrestlers to have their own shop, was Cabana himself.
As @TonyKhan said last night,
I've signed with @AEWrestling & @AEWonTNT.
I've had different goals & ideas throughout my career in Wrestling.
Right now, to be involved on a national TV show & product with my Friends and Equals…it's all I can ask for!
This will be fun!
Thankssss— Colt Cabana🦦 (@ColtCabana) March 1, 2020
As a wrestler, Colt Cabana has always been able to show adaptability. While he is known for his comedic persona, Cabana’s wrestling career is more aptly described as him being a chameleon. He has incredible charisma and a personality that is just such a fit on the independent scene but there is also another side to him. Cabana can be a technician when he wants to be. He has an old school mentality but with a twist and many believe he’s incredibly entertaining as a performer.
Colt Cabana has always been someone who’s portrayed that wrestling is fun so coming to AEW feels like such a natural fit at this stage in his career. As a wrestler, as a commentator and as a great supporter of the industry and the men and women in it, Cabana is just what AEW needs to add a fresh element to its roster. Plus, he’s someone who as Khan mentioned, can and will be able to fill in at a lot of different spots within the company including as a mentor to the next generation.
Welcome to Team #AEW @ColtCabana is #AllElite pic.twitter.com/a4UuJNzQiu
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) March 2, 2020
Colt Cabana has meant a lot to independent wrestling and now, he’ll have a chance to do the same with AEW.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can catch AEW Wednesday nights on TNT at 8 PM ET.
