Would Orange Cassidy Be a Credible AEW Champion?

Ever since AEW Dynamite made its television debut in October of 2019, one of the most polarizing figures on the program has been Orange Cassidy.  Cassidy has grown into one of the most popular stars in AEW, and he did so in a way that we have never seen before.

Orange Cassidy is the definition of an anti-establishment professional wrestler.  Never have we seen a performer with a level of apathy that Cassidy exhibits day in and day out.  In a profession where 99% of the roster spends countless hours in the gym and training, Cassidy can’t be bothered with such things.

Orange Cassidy has made his mark in AEW as the man that just doesn’t care.  From rolling into the wrestling ring instead of walking up the steps and stepping through the ropes, to the limp wrist fist bumps with fans and other wrestlers, to the vaunted kicks of doom, Cassidy exerts as little energy as possible in each and everything that he does.  This is the man that once sacrificed a chance at winning the Face of the Revolution Ladder Match for the simple reason that climbing a ladder was too much work.

Contrary to what one would think, these characteristics have turned Orange Cassidy into one of the most popular performers in AEW and have done so because he mirrors our society.

In a time where third-party food delivery, curbside grocery pickup, and Amazon delivery service have exploded in popularity, so has Orange Cassidy.  Our society as a whole is doing less and less for ourselves, and instead, we are paying others to shop for us as well as bring us food and supplies directly to our doors.

Whether we are doing these things because we are lazy or just strapped for time, the bottom line is we are finding ways to make our lives easier wherever we can, and that is the whole idea behind the Orange Cassidy character, minimum effort, maximum reward.

While there is no denying Orange Cassidy’s popularity, the question remains, would Orange Cassidy be a credible AEW Champion?  And after his match with Will Ospreay at Forbidden Door, the answer is clearly yes.

Orange Cassidy would be a credible AEW Champion.

If you go down the list of what makes a wrestler excel in the ring you would probably list things like timing, diverse offensive repertoire, ability to tell a story, stamina, and ability to elicit a strong crowd reaction. When honestly rating Orange Cassidy in all of these categories, he would come back with high marks each and every time.

These things were fully on display at Forbidden Door when Cassidy and Will Ospreay stole the show by having the match of the night.  This proved two very important things, Orange Cassidy has the in-ring ability to compete with the best in the world and excel and the comedy schtick that Cassidy brings to the ring does not take away from the overall enjoyment of his big matches.

While Orange Cassidy checks all the boxes that would make him a credible AEW Champion, one very important factor would be the timing of a Cassidy title run.  If AEW waits too long and the fans start to tire of the gimmick, then it takes away an extremely important factor in a possible run with the title for the “King of Sloth Style”.

If you run through things that would elicit the biggest fan reactions in AEW right now, other than CM Punk making his return from injury in Chicago, it is hard to imagine a scenario that garners a louder crowd reaction than Orange Cassidy winning the AEW World Title.

There are always going to be naysayers out there, the “wrestling purists” that hate the Orange Cassidy gimmick and believe it makes a mockery of the great sport that they love.  But the honest truth is these people are dinosaurs that have trouble embracing change.

The world we live in is changing and will continue to do so.  So why shouldn’t professional wrestling change with it?  And there would be no better way to emphasize that change than one day in the future making Orange Cassidy the AEW World Champion.