Contrary to popular belief, Johnny Cage wasn't cut from MK3 because his motion capture actor, Daniel Pesina, had to be fired from Midway after advertising a game called BloodStorm (developed by a different company) while dressed as his character.

In a 2012 interview with Polygon, series co-creator John Tobias stated that Daniel Pesina wasn't fired because by the time the ad rolled out he was no longer working at Midway.

In a 2020 podcast interview, Pesina stated that he wasn't fired, but rather that he left Midway because they refused to pay their actors on time. He also stated that series' co-creators Ed Boon and John Tobias assisted him with negotiating for the BloodStorm promo and what he wore in that ad was approved by Ed Boon, directly debunking the rumor.

A year later, John Tobias confirmed in a Twitter thread that the reason why Johnny Cage didn't show up in MK3 was because he was one of the least popular/played characters in the previous game, so they decided to remove him entirely, with the in-universe reason being that he died. He was later brought back for Mortal Kombat Trilogy, this time being potrayed by Chris Alexander.