AEW Dynamite return spoiler triggers reaction from popular star
AEW recently announced the return of a fan-favorite and former champion for this week's episode of Dynamite. The talent in question, Orange Cassidy, has now reacted to the announcement, pertaining to the title the star wants to regain.
Cassidy proved his status as a reliable workhorse champion with his incredible series of defenses during his reigns with the AEW International Title. From around October last year, however, The Freshly Squeezed star had been focused on capturing the AEW World Championship from Jon Moxley, which he failed to do one-on-one at Full Gear and then in a four-way at Worlds End.
OC had tried to broker an alliance with the other two competitors from the aforementioned four-way - Jay White and Adam Page - in order to take down Mox and The Death Riders. Moxley retained nonetheless, leading to Cassidy deciding to take on The Cowboy on Dynamite: Fight for the Fallen 2025 to resolve their issues. Page defeated Cassidy, and laid him out with multiple Dead Eyes after the bout. The latter has been absent from the Jacksonville-based promotion since.
Recently, AEW announced an International Championship series, the first round of which pits former title holders Orange Cassidy and Roderick Strong against each other this week on Dynamite. Strong had beaten Cassidy for the belt in their last singles meeting, incidentally at the Revolution pay-per-view last year.
The 40-year-old star recently reacted to a post shared by the Tony Khan-led promotion's X/Twitter profile regarding his in-ring return against the Undisputed Kingdom member. The announcement was made during Grand Slam Australia last week.
"I guess, surprise?" wrote Cassidy.
Check out Orange Cassidy's tweet below:
The winner of Cassidy vs. Strong will move on to challenge Konosuke Takeshita for the International Title next Wednesday. The winner of that bout will defend the championship against Kenny Omega at AEW Revolution 2025.
Reason behind Orange Cassidy's brief AEW hiatus
Orange Cassidy has been a consistent feature of AEW programming since his debut in the promotion. He was pushed to the AEW World Title scene towards the end of last year, but has been absent since being incapacitated by Hangman Page at Dynamite: Fight for the Fallen.
Cassidy's hiatus lasted only just over a month, as he will return to the squared circle this week on Wednesday Night Dynamite. Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp recently reported that OC had taken some time off, which seemingly accounts for his television absence.
“Yeah, he was just taking a little time off from what I understood, and now he’s booked in the International Title series. He is going to be facing Roderick Strong this week.”
Whether Orange Cassidy can climb his way back to the International Title remains to be seen.