The Misunderstood Genius Of AEW's Orange Cassidy
None of this works if the matches aren't great.
Even good comedy can't sustain a run like this. The All-Atlantic/International title run however has been extraordinary. After overcoming PAC's hammer with some of the best DDT spots of all-time - yet another deep cut gag, incidentally, since people have whined over that move being "dead" for decades - Cassidy has defended it so well that he has effectively evolved into the best Television champion ever. In an incredible war against Wheeler YUTA (February 22), Orange's psychological mind games were so effective (and his mat wrestling so sumptuous) that YUTA's Blackpool Combat Club stablemate Claudio Castagnoli slapped him across the face, appalled that his protege had been outclassed. Cassidy worked what might have been Buddy Matthews' greatest ever singles match on April 12.
If the ambition of any champion is to cast doubt over the outcome of a predictable defence, Cassidy realised it to perfection in that match. He sold his hand as if it were falling off, elevating Matthews as a hybrid super-worker and deadly hoss all at once. Nobody thought Buddy was winning that match before the bell rang; five minutes from the end, it felt like Cassidy had no chance. In one awesome sequence, after selling the hand, Cassidy remembered that he can actually wrestle without it. A second after putting his hands in his pockets, Matthews blasted him with a V-Trigger to earn a believable near-fall driven by a superb twist. The genius decision to choose that worked injury was revealed in 2.9 heart-stopping seconds.
Cassidy also sold his leg in a great story that encompassed two stunning efforts against Jay Lethal (March 8) and Jeff Jarrett (March 15), the first of which informed the second; by the time Jeff Jarrett trapped Cassidy in the figure-four leg lock, compounding the damage Lethal had inflicted in a debilitating technical effort, Cassidy was done for. He wasn't - he prevailed over Jarrett in a totally different Memphis Heat smoke-and-mirrors masterclass - but he elicited the anxiety of an imminent loss nonetheless. This was some of the best booking plotted all year. Tony Khan played with Jarrett's reputation as an insidious, power-hungry carny - he was always going to worm his way in - to superb effect with this meta story beat.
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