The wrestling world was dealt another tragic blow this past week, with the untimely passing of Lance Cade (Lance McNaught). Cade passed away of heart failure this past Friday (August 13, 2010) aged just 29. Our thoughts and prayers are with his friends and family during this very difficult time.
Cade began his wrestling dream in 1999, training under the very best (Shawn Michaels, at his Wrestling Academy in San Antonio, Texas).
Success in Japan led to Cade being signed to a WWE developmental deal in 2001, with the HWA (Heartland Wrestling Association).
In 2003, WWE ceased their relationship with the group, but retained Cade and moved him to OVW (Ohio Valley Wrestling). A good run there led to Cade being called up to the main WWE roster soon after, with him making his debut appearance on the Raw brand in June.
He was known as “Garrison” Cade (apparently to avoid any confusion with Lance Storm, who was on the WWE roster at the time) and after a few appearances on weekend show Sunday Night Heat, he started to make regular appearances on Raw, forming a tag-team with former WCW star Mark Jindrak.
Unfortunately, the two were cursed with the old “generic baby face” label and came across as little more than two young guys who’d been thrown together to fill out the depleting tag division on Raw. (That said, they were featured quite prominently on WWE TV; battling the likes of The Dudley Boyz and La Resistance and appearing on their first WM at WrestleMania XX in 2004, however there was little room for long-term growth as fans had been given little reason to invest in them emotionally).
The team got separated when Jindrak got sent over to SmackDown in the WWE draft. Cade remained on Raw and turned heel, briefly aligning himself with heel announcer and part-time in-ring performer Jonathan Coachman (who actually made a damn impressive heel) during “The Coach’s” fun little feud with Tajiri.
In 2005, Cade was relegated back to OVW (it’s common practice for WWE to send acts that failed to get over or made little impact first time round back to the “minor leagues”, in order for them to hone their skills so that they can be “repackaged” when they get called up to the “big time” again [in the case of established stars like The Big Show and Mark Henry (who both spent considerable time there in 2000 and 2001), a “demotion” back to the developmental company can also be a form of punishment for established talent falling out of favour with management (in Big Show’s case, it was reportedly so he could lose some weight, in Henry’s case, the bookers had hit a proverbial brick wall in regards to what they could do with him following his embarrassing “Sexual Chocolate” run, but knew that he was just a few years into a multi-year deal)].
Later that year, Cade returned to WWE programming with a new tag partner and a serious of vignettes and video packages explaining his background. “Garrison” was not referenced here at all. This was “Lance” Cade, the well-spoken Texas cowboy, with his buddy Trevor Murdoch, the stereotypical “Southern Red-Neck”.
Despite the “odd-couple” pairing and the contrived nature of their gimmick, Cade & Murdoch were a successful duo and for the most part were fairly entertaining. Although they got separated, they later reformed, had an enjoyable series of matches with The Hardy Boyz and in total, enjoyed three reigns as WWE World Tag-Team Champions.
There was no denying that the partnership with Murdoch brought out a different side in Lance Cade. He showed more personality and seemed most comfortable in the role of the “straight man” to Murdoch’s tobacco-chewing ruffian.
Eventually, the team split for good, with Cade coming out on top during their brief singles feud.
Following a short association with Chris Jericho, Cade suddenly got released from his contract after suffering a seizure on a plane (WWE acted quickly but rehired Cade in 2009 once they were happy his personal problems had been sorted out).
Cade was released again in April 2010, this time he didn’t even get “the call” back up to the main roster. This past year, Cade went into rehab and completed the 30-day program in February.
Overall, Lance Cade had a pretty successful career, particularly during his partnership with Trevor Murdoch. Without disrespecting him, he did not possess that all-important “It” factor to be a great all-rounder and potential main event star, but he played his role of mid-card tandem wrestler and “star maker” well and certainly had the fundamentals there to perhaps one day make a good run as a U.S or IC Champion and be a star in his own right.
Previously posted on Smash Wrestling:
http://www.firetank.com/smashwrestling/
