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AEW signed Orange Cassidy when the company was launching. While he came in as a product of the indies, Cassidy had already started to make a name for himself.
Cassidy began working the indies in 2004, mainly for CHIKARA and other Northeast promotions. He debuted with AEW at the inaugural Double Or Nothing event in 2019 and has been a somewhat controversial talent ever since, as many do not understand or appreciate his gimmick, while others think he's one of the best things to happen to the company.
Indie star B-Cool faced Cassidy in a losing effort at OTT's 5th Anniversary show from Dublin, Ireland, in 2019. Speaking with Fightful Overbooked, B-Cool praised Cassidy and talked about working with him in the independent scene.
"Well, working with him was a treat. He was brilliant. He was the most over guy on the indies for a reason. He wasn't over just because he put his hands in his pockets. He was a character. People like characters and working with him was easy you know? Whenever I work with someone who's easy I'm happy, so I really I love that match. That's one of my favorite matches," he said.
B-Cool continued and mentioned his loss to Jon Moxley at OTT's 9th Anniversary show on October 28, 2023.
"That was another big match to be given as well because I wasn't around a lot same as Moxley. I wasn't on a lot of people's list to be the guy to to wrestle to kind of be a little bit, you know, not arrogant, but I think I was the right guy to wrestle both Orange Cassidy and Jon Moxley for OTT. Obviously seeing him go on and what he's done in AEW was brilliant. I know he has lads that criticize him for whatever mad reason, but whatever reason is their own, you know, wrestling is subjective. Yeah, I'm not surprised how well he's doing," he said. [h/t Fightful]
Cassidy is the current AEW International Champion in his second reign. His first reign as the second-ever champion went for a record 326 days. His current run began on October 10, 2023, as he defeated Rey Fenix on Dynamite.
Freshly Squeezed will have his next title defense at AEW Revolution on Sunday, March 3, in Greensboro, NC. His opponent will be Roderick Strong.
WWE Legend not a fan of AEW's Orange Cassidy
Orange Cassidy has a significant fanbase, but it's also no secret that he has more than his fair share of naysayers, mainly due to how his gimmick comes across.
One of Cassidy's critics from within pro wrestling is "Road Dogg" Brian James. Speaking on his "Oh, You Didn't Know?" podcast, the WWE Senior Vice President of Live Events previously discussed the AEW International Champion.
"If you do like him, then all that stupid c**p he does makes sense and you love it. But if you don't, you can't get past it. I know I'm in the minority and I've got no problem doing that, but I'm allowed to have my own godd****d sense about things and opinions," he said.
Cassidy's last AEW outing saw him win a Texas Deathmatch over Matt Taven on the February 14 Dynamite, which was four days after his last title defense in an AEW ring over Tomohiro Ishii. His most recent match actually took place at RevPro's High Stakes event this past Saturday, as he retained his title in a seven-man Scramble match.
How do you feel about Orange Cassidy's gimmick? Who would you book to dethrone Cassidy? Sound off in the comments below!
