3 AEW stars that could beat Orange Cassidy for the All Atlantic Title

Another week, another successful AEW All-Atlantic Championship defense for Orange Cassidy. On the Feb. 22 episode of AEW: Dynamite,  Cassidy faced former Best Friends stablemate Wheeler Yuta for his title in a heated match that would make you question how these two were ever allies.

In the end, it took two Orange Punches to put the Ring of Honor Pure Champion away, and with that arduous challenge out of the way, OC now must worry about new opponents for his gold.

In the short term, Cassidy will attempt to tackle the tall task that is Big Bill (what a silly name) on the March 1 edition of Dynamite. Assuming the sloth-like champion retains on Wednesday — and there’s no reason to think he won’t — the specter of his eventual title loss will continue to loom, but who will hand Cassidy that seismic defeat?

With that in mind, these are three AEW stars who could wrest the All-Atlantic Championship away from Orange Cassidy.

Miro

In his preview for the Feb. 22 Dynamite, our own Kelly Sullivan suggested Miro as a potential opponent for Cassidy, and it’s not a bad idea. We haven’t seen “The Redeemer” on AEW television since September 2022 when he teamed with Darby Allin and Sting to defeat the House of Black at All Out.

Since that pay-per-view, Miro has fallen victim to the dreaded “creative has nothing for you” (or, to put it more accurately, “creative has one idea for you, but tough luck if you don’t like it”) quagmire. It’s a shame, as Miro was one of AEW’s most captivating acts as TNT Champion before losing the title to Sammy Guevara, a move that looks much worse in hindsight.

Clearly, AEW can’t book Miro without a championship, so perhaps putting the All-Atlantic Title on him will recapture the magic.

RUSH

Since joining AEW last summer, RUSH has shined as one of the promotion’s most well-rounded performers. He has particularly stepped up his game with Andrade El Idolo absent from TV, producing entertaining, intense outings in the ring and flashing his considerable charisma in any segment he participates in.

You could argue that RUSH fits better as a world title contender, but with a heel currently holding the AEW World Championship, we likely won’t see him get a shot at it anytime soon. However, an All-Atlantic Title reign would serve as a nice consolation prize while also giving La Facción Ingobernable a further boost in credibility.

Konosuke Takeshita

It’s only a matter of time before Konosuke Takeshita holds a championship in AEW. He’s become a standout performer in his short time with the company and those in-ring efforts have easily won him over with the workrate-appreciative AEW fans.

There’s a good chance that we could see Takeshita chase after the TNT Championship, but a potential match against Cassidy wouldn’t be a bad move either. The match would be a lot of fun to watch, and Takeshita could continue the trend of producing quality title defenses against a variety of opponents.

Plus, it would help AEW avoid the pattern of attempting to contrast the valiant babyface reign with a heel champion that rarely defends the belt.