Arn Anderson recalls WWE Superstar leaving arena after Vince McMahon yelled at him

Speaking on the latest episode of his ARN podcast, former WWE producer Arn Anderson recalled an incident when Lance Cade left an arena after he was yelled at by Vince McMahon.

In September 2008, Cade produced the biggest upset victory of his career when he pinned Shawn Michaels in a 3-on-2 handicap match in the main event of Monday Night RAW.

However, when he returned backstage, McMahon made it known that he was upset about Cade not taking the match seriously enough. The up-and-comer, who passed away two years later at the age of 29, then decided to leave the building early.

“If he got bombed coming through that curtain, for a guy his age with his limited experience, and a nice kid on top of that, if he got met at Gorilla [Position] and got bombed by Vince, he would have been, I would think, close to hysterical. Suddenly, beating Shawn Michaels and D-X goes away when you’re confronted with something like that.”

It was reported at the time that Michaels felt disrespected when his former student left the arena without thanking him backstage, but Anderson said he could understand why Cade wanted to leave immediately after he was “crushed” by McMahon’s words.

The three-time WWE World Tag Team Champion competed in just two more televised matches for the company before receiving his release.