5 reasons why AEW's Orange Cassidy is awesome
During Saturday's pretty darn stellar AEW Revolution PPV, though many incredible matches were showcased, we were treated to one true diamond in the rough.
OK, first off, I have no idea what that expression is supposed to mean. Like, the rough on a golf course? Like, I get its overall meaning, clearly, but... what the hell, man? Anyway, not important. Moving on.
The penultimate match of the evening, preceding the fantastic Jon Moxley vs. Chris Jericho battle for the AEW World Championship, was "The Bastard" PAC (formerly Neville in WWE, in case you needed to be told) taking on quite possibly the most original character working in pro wrestling today, "Freshly Squeezed" Orange Cassidy.
First off, we need to make it perfectly clear that Orange Cassidy is in no way - that we're aware of - related to Sportskeeda Wrestling's own maestro of the interviewing arts Gary Cassidy. I know that probably wasn't a necessary distinction to make, but for the two of you wondering, no - not related.
Over the next five pages, I hope to not only inform you about this very talented performer, but more importantly, illustrate just how brilliant his character is.
So get your denim jacket and aviator sunglasses and let's get going.
#5 Cassidy's persona began as extremely meta
Right, OK. So, what does that mean?
During Cassidy's days on the independent circuit, he did more than just play a "slacker" who wrestled even though he didn't really want to. He also messed with professional wrestling conventions.
Watch this match against Swoggle (another Bastard, ironically - sort of ironically if you base irony solely on the contents of this article) from early last year for Beyond Wrestling. See if you can get what I mean.
From blatantly - almost joyously - calling out spots, to Swoggle telling Cassidy he can't take a particular move because he's not tall enough, the two wrestlers are having a blast messing with normal wrestling tropes. You can find a ton of these types of matches free on YouTube (also, I encourage you to subscribe to Beyond Wrestling's YouTube page, as they have a ton of great free content, featuring wrestling for fans of all styles).
This wasn't all there was to Cassidy's burgeoning persona - and he's certainly toned it down since coming to AEW - but it still influences his character to this day.