Vinnie Massaro says Cain Velasquez is interested in wrestling on the independent circuit.
Cain Velasquez had a unique journey in professional wrestling. Making his debut at AAA TripleMania in 2019, Cain Velasquez was quickly picked up by WWE, and competed against Brock Lesnar at WWE Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia.
That match lasted less than 5 minutes and what was going to be a long journey for Cain with a heavy emphasis on training in the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, turned into Cain quietly being released during the start of the global pandemic in 2020.
Speaking on the Last Minute Wrestling Podcast, Vinnie Massaro, who helped train Cain Velasquez for his first match, opened up about how quickly the MMA Superstar took to professional wrestling and the respect that he has for Lucha Libre.
“He's got a couple more matches, and hopefully we can persuade them into doing some indie bookings. He said he's up for it and he really wants to do it.”
He continued, “I would love to say that it was all me but it was a lot of other wrestlers that were there. Once he got to Mexico, I think he got in the ring with some of those Lucha guys. I know how to wrestle Lucha Libre, but by all means, I'm not a maestro of Lucha Libre which of course, when he got to Mexico, that's when he started -- he trained with some of the other wrestlers, Psycho Clown, and they taught him some stuff like that, but you know, my deal was I taught more of the basic stuff, it was starting from scratch. Last week, I taught him a-- I had him doing some Tijeras (headscissors). I'm not a maestro but I know some stuff for Lucha, so I could teach him a little bit of that stuff. But, you know, I think he wants to be like a hybrid of Lucha and shoot style, UWFi, suplexes, you know, and I can definitely teach him stuff like that. Plus, he is a natural. He knows how to do all that stuff himself. So, you know, he's a natural because he's a great athlete, too.”
Vinnie Massaro also said that it was Velasquez’s idea to wear a mask in AAA as an honor to Lucha culture.
“The first thing he said was, ‘I'm here in Mexico, I want to do Lucha Libre.’ I respect him for, you know, he's not like, 'I’ll just do my MMA stuff and everyone can work around me.’ So I respect him for that. But I think now that he doesn't do MMA anymore. I think he really wants to do pro wrestling. I can't tell you what, but I've taught him some new moves and something very cool that he's going to be able to start doing soon. Hopefully, I can persuade him to do some indies. Hopefully, me and him want to tag up. Maybe somebody will allow me and Cain to tag up and you know we can go crazy.”
Cain Velasquez will return to AAA in December as part of TripleMania Regia. Learn more here.
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