Daniel McDonald (born December 19, 1973) is an American former

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

and trainer better known under his ring name, Danny Cage.

Professional wrestling career

Cage was a high school wrestler in New Jersey who became interested in training at the

Monster Factory The Monster Factory is a professional wrestling school located in Paulsboro, New Jersey owned and operated by Danny Cage. It is considered to be the first publicly available professional wrestling school. Larry Sharpe opened the Monster Fac ...

at age 12 at a time when his parents were going through a divorce. Cage's father wanted him to go to college but Cage wanted to pursue his dream of becoming a professional wrestler. Cage convinced his father to put money offered to pay for college toward training at the Monster Factory on the condition Cage got into good shape. Cage had a tryout in 1994 conducted by Larry Sharpe and Glenn Ruth, which Cage passed and was offered the opportunity to train. Cage's father rescinded his offer and Cage would put his dreams on hold until he attended a wrestling card in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

where

Joey Matthews Adam Birch (born July 18, 1979), better known by the ring names Joey Mercury and Joey Matthews, is an American professional wrestler who is best known for his two tenures in WWE. Birch was most recently signed to Ring of Honor, where he worked ...

and

Steve Corino Steven Eugene "Steve" Corino (born May 29, 1973) is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler currently signed with WWE as a trainer and producer for their developmental territory NXT. He is best known for his tenure with Extreme Championshi ...

were competing. A friend named Toad advised Cage to return to New Jersey to pursue his dream. In September 1998, Cage began training at the Monster Factory. Cage competed as a pro wrestler until 2002 before hurting his back, crossing paths with notable Monster Factory alumni

Cliff Compton Clifford Treiber (born November 2, 1979) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring names Domino and Cliff Compton. He is known for his work in World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE). Before being promoted to the main WWE roste ...

and

Sheamus Stephen Farrelly (born 28 January 1978) is an Irish professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Sheamus. Prior to joining WWE, he wrestled on the European i ...

during his stay. Cage would return before retiring from the ring for good in 2005, having his last match with Q.T. Marshall.

Monster Factory

In 2011, Cage took a co-ownership role of the Monster Factory. Cage and Sharpe moved the Monster Factory to its original home town, Paulsboro, before assuming full ownership from Sharpe. In 2013, Cage added former

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vari ...

and ECW wrestler

The Blue Meanie Brian Heffron (born May 18, 1973), better known by his ring name The Blue Meanie, is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation between 1995 and 2 ...

and former ECW wrestler

Billy Wiles William Wiles (born 1971) is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring names Billy Wiles and Bilvis Wesley. He is best known for his appearances in Extreme Championship Wrestling in the late 1990s and early 2000s, where he was pa ...

as trainers at the Monster Factory and began to supplement training with seminars with WWE scout

Gerald Brisco Floyd Gerald "Jerry" Brisco (born September 19, 1946) is an American retired professional wrestler. Brisco is best known for his time in the wrestling promotion WWE, where he was a backstage producer, and, during the 1990s, an on-screen character ...

, former Ring of Honor lead announcer Kevin Kelly,

Ohio Valley Wrestling Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) is an American professional wrestling promotion and former developmental promotion based in Louisville, Kentucky. The company is currently run by Al Snow and Matt Jones and Louisville mayor elect, Craig Greenberg. ...

Rip Rogers Mark Sciarra (born February 7, 1954) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Rip Rogers. Early life Sciarra was born in Seymour, Indiana on February 7, 1954. He graduated from Seymour High School in 1972 an ...

Les Thatcher Leslie Malady (born October 28, 1940), better known by the name Les Thatcher, is an American former professional wrestler. He helps run Elite Pro Wrestling Training, a professional wrestling school in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio, with Ricky ...

, as well as wrestlers

Montel Vontavious Porter Hassan Hamin Assad (born Alvin Antonio Burke Jr.; October 28, 1973) is an American professional wrestler and manager currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name MVP (standing for Montel Vontavious Porter) a ...

, Colt Cabana, Stevie Richards, "Brutal" Bob Evans,

Robbie E Robert Strauss (born October 1, 1983) is an American professional wrestler and manager. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand as a manager under the ring name Mr. Stone. He is best known for his time in Total Nonstop A ...

, The Powers of Pain, and

Sean Waltman Sean Michael Waltman (born July 13, 1972) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE under a legends contract. He is best known for his appearances for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) under the ring names 1–2– ...

. The Monster Factory also conducts birthday parties and ring rentals. In 2014, Marshall was added as an additional trainer while other wrestlers, like

Jay Lethal Jamar Shipman (born April 29, 1985), better known by the ring name Jay Lethal, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Dubbed "The Franchise" of Ring of Honor, Lethal is a two-time ROH World Champio ...

and Waltman began to drop by for informal training sessions. Cage's method of training has earned him praise from former WWE commentator Kevin Kelly, who has said: "Monster Factory takes seeds and grows crops in a setting that rivals the (WWE) Performance Center" and has seen students signed to WWE developmental deals and appear on

and Ring of Honor television. In March 2023,

Apple TV+ Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is a small network appliance hardware that plays received media data such as video and audio to a television set or external display. Since its secon ...

released a six episode documentary series entitled ''Monster Factory'' in partnership with

Vox Media Vox Media, Inc. is an American mass media company based in Washington, D.C., and New York City. The company was established in November 2011 by Jim Bankoff and Trei Brundrett to encompass ''SB Nation'' (a sports blog network founded in 2005 b ...

. The documentary starred Cage and five Monster Factory students: Notorious Mimi, Gabby Ortiz, Goldy, Bobby Buffet, and Lucas "Twitch" DiSangro. It tells the story of their training and personal lives, as well as the origins of the Monster Factory school.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cage, Danny Living people American male professional wrestlers Professional wrestling trainers 1973 births Place of birth missing (living people) People from Cinnaminson Township, New Jersey People from Palmyra, New Jersey Professional wrestlers from New Jersey Sportspeople from Burlington County, New Jersey