10 Wrestlers Who Didn't Care About Kayfabe

4. Orange Cassidy

Joey Janela Kip Sabian
Scott Lesh

...wrestles with his hands in his pockets (better, and this isn't hyperbole, than most do with full use of them).

Orange Cassidy operates almost staunchly within kayfabe - or a fairly strict version of wrestling that opts for realism, as oxymoronic as that reads - in AEW. He lazily throws apathetic calf grazes at his opponents, but that's because he can't be bothered. Nobody sells. That's his character. It makes little sense that such a character would want to be a professional athlete, but that's the gag. The humour - that which makes life tolerable and has been a part of wrestling in various forms for a century - is derived from how absurd that is situationally, Mr. Thompson.

It's also funny because the dude has like 1.7% body fat. He's shredded. He is, wonderful with every reveal, an exceptionally capable pro wrestler. This enigmatic quality of Cassidy's doubles as a psychological ploy in AEW, but outside of it, Cassidy, a product of post-post-kayfabe, will roll around the canvas with his hands in his pockets to satirise the drop down and - not unlike a certain urn - be magically energised by his sunglasses.

The gift of Orange Cassidy is that he's less silly than pro wrestling itself, but the parody is affectionate - and, given how superb he is, hard-earned.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!