Brian Cage Details Lance Archer Back Injury During ‘Disclosure Day’ Filming, Reveals His Own Knee Injury Followed

A Hollywood opportunity for AEW’s Murder Machines came at a steep physical price, as Brian Cage has opened up about a chain of injuries that began on the set of Steven Spielberg’s upcoming film Disclosure Day.

Appearing on the Insight podcast, Cage explained that his tag team partner Lance Archer hurt his back while the two were filming scenes for the movie. The injury immediately set off alarm bells behind the scenes, with Chavo Guerrero — who was involved in the production — urging Archer to avoid taking any bumps that could aggravate the problem.

“I remember on Disclosure Day, we were doing the match there with Lance. He had actually hurt his back, and so Chavo was freaking out, didn’t want Lance to take like any bumps when we’re filming everything, because if something happens to Lance and he can’t do anything, now we’re S.O.L. So now everything that we had like rehearsed and gone over and we’re going to do, now we’re like switching everything on the fly. Now I’m thinking of all kinds of like high-fly stuff I can do where he doesn’t have to bump,” Cage said.

With so much having to be reworked on the spot, Cage took on a heavier physical load to shield Archer from further harm — and it cost him. During the adjusted filming, Cage injured his own knee. He pushed through it and returned to his AEW schedule, but the knee never properly healed. The situation eventually came to a head during an independent match against Chris Masters, where Cage suffered a complete tear of that same knee.

The damage sidelined him for more than 14 months. While recovering, Cage also underwent surgery on his other knee, which had been a nagging issue throughout. What was supposed to be an exciting crossover moment for the Murder Machines ended up being one of the more physically punishing stretches of Cage’s career, with both he and Archer carrying real consequences long after the cameras stopped rolling.