The thing is, to really make Lao work at the level where you can drastically flip the tables on the Kenshi and Kabal matchup, you realize having him as a secondary just isn't good enough.
It's also kinda ironic how Kenshi still, literally, gets FORCED into the #2 slot when every other -secondary- Kenshi has yet to win anything significant. I believe Pimpimjim put Pig in losers at Final Round 16, the match wasn't streamed but I think it was Sektor vs Kenshi which is supposedly preached as some insta-2-8 matchup.. with no other explanation other than "dude, it's Kenshi". I digress, it could've just as easily been Mileena, which most Sektor players will tell you is infact Sektor's most difficult matchup. Who's to say PPJ didn't just have a rational outlook on how Pig was playing the matchup as an individual?
Not that I'm putting anyone on blast when I say this but, essentially, I don't think there's ever really been good morale behind counterpicking in MK9 in the first place. I used to think there was no reason not to use Sektor for the Cage matchup, but I realized for whatever reason, my composure is just flat out more on point using Scorpion for it.
It's your call dude, I'm just saying, the best Kabal's and Kenshi's are fully accustomed to Lao as a makeshift counterpick by now. Nobody will ever be able to eliminate every bad matchup across the board, whether it's because they can't handle it mentally or because of the character they use, sometimes it's just better to grind a matchup where you usually go 4-6. I'm not saying Cage does in the matchups you mentioned, but there's certainly more characters that can viably compete against them other than KL. Consider your options.