Last night on AEW Dynamite in the opening contest, Orange Cassidy competed with Speedball Mike Bailey, Mike Davis, and Ricochet with the winner getting a shot at Kenny Omega at Dynasty for the AEW International Championship.
Cassidy is already the most decorated International Champion of all time, having held the championship twice for a combined 471 days on a championship that has only existed for less than three years. Former champion Konosuke Takeshita held the title for 148 days. Cassidy was 145 and 326, meaning Cassidy is first and third on longest title reigns, and only Will Ospreay has held the belt twice as well.
In other words, is there anything else for Orange Cassidy to really do as International Champion? He’s done it all with the title. Yet here he is, opening Dynamite in a four way to get a title shot, and he isn’t the most pushed babyface in the match. That’s Speedball Mike Bailey, new to All Elite Wrestling, making the most of his debut by trying to get this pay per view match.
Cassidy would not be involved in the finish, as both Bailey and Ricochet pinned Mark Davis to both win the match and get the shot. Both Davis and Cassidy essentially lost a four way match, and OC lost it without even getting pinned.
With Friends Like These?
It was a little more than one year ago that OC was International Champion, losing the title to Roderick Strong. Following it, the Best Friends of Cassidy and Trent Beretta set their sights on the AEW World Tag Team Championship, entering a tournament to win the vacated championship. The Young Bucks would beat Cassidy and Beretta, leading to the heel turn of Trent and the breakup of the Best Friends.
That break up put Orange Cassidy in a bit of turmoil. He feuded with Beretta, beating him twice but having to watch Beretta end the career of his former tag partner and Best Friend Chuck Taylor in a parking lot fight. Even though Orange Cassidy beat Trent at Double or Nothing, it didn’t feel the end of things. Trent had joined Don Callis Family but ended up bonked over the head with a wrench by Orange Cassidy to cover for a long time injury. Trent has been out since last May, and it was that injury that really seemed to knock OC’s career off the axis.
It was here that Orange Cassidy ended up forming a new crew in the Conglomeration along with Tomohiro Ishii, Mark Briscoe, and Kyle O’Reilly. It felt like a bunch of babyfaces in AEW just getting together because they were all fun guys and had not much else to do. It certainly felt like Orange Cassidy just trying to find New Friends if he couldn’t have his Best Friends.
Cassidy would lose to Zack Sabre Jr. at Forbidden Door and find himself constantly in casino gauntlets and contender shots, never winning. He did win a spot at All Out in an AEW Continental four way but got pinned by Kazuchika Okada to lose the match. It would be soon after this that Orange Cassidy watched Bryan Danielson get suffocated by Jon Moxley, and made it his goal to get the championship away from Jon Moxley.
The Death Riders and Jon Moxley tried to break Orange Cassidy and make him something he wasn’t, in Moxley’s own weird way of trying to inspire people to become their best in the company. Moxley’s hate for All Elite Wrestling includes Orange Cassidy’s success in the company, and he wanted to break him in both spirit and body. Cassidy couldn’t defeat Moxley at Full Gear, and in multiple tag matches after, was unable to beat the Death Riders. This culminated in another shot at Worlds End where OC, Jay White, and Hangman Adam Page couldn’t stay on page long enough for one of them to defeat Jon Moxley.
It was out of this that Adam Page faced Orange Cassidy on the first Dynamite of 2025, a match that absolutely could have been a major pay per view match at Revolution or any pay per view name you can throw at it. Instead, Adam Page ran over Orange Cassidy in a way we haven’t seen someone beat OC in a long time. OC could be gone for a month and a half after that, and has since stayed away from world championship contention.
Cassidy returned to try to win the AEW International Championship, losing to Konosuke Takeshita on Dynamite. One month later he’s back at it, trying to win the International Championship by beating Hechicero in an Eliminator and now losing a four way for a shot at Dynasty.
Orange Cassidy is now no longer good enough to be in AEW Men’s World Championship contention and now not good enough to win a title shot for a title he’s held longer than anyone. Where is it left for Orange Cassidy to go? He’s still with The Conglomeration, though Kyle O’Reilly left to go back to his Undisputed friends in Roddy and Adam Cole.
Instead of having a major match at Revolution, Orange Cassidy was working the Zero Hour with Conglomeration mate Mark Briscoe to team with BIG BOOM! A.J. against Johnny TV and the MxM Collection. Unless something changes soon, it doesn’t feel like OC is getting on the Dynasty main card. That would be two world championship matches followed by two pre-show matches.
Is Orange Cassidy Punched Out?
Best Friends Reunion?
Kris Statlander at one point took advice from Trent Beretta and turned heel on Orange Cassidy and the Best Friends, breaking the heart of good friend Willow Nightingale (I haven’t brought Willow up as a member of Conglomeration which while she is, she’s hanging around Cope more) to be managed by Stokely Hathaway, only to one day end their services and turn back babyface. Statlander has slowly tried to make amends with Willow and OC, and has admitted that it’s going to take time.
I don’t think a reunion can happen until Trent returns, and we see how Trent feels. Is he still the man full of rage who joined Don Callis Family? Or has the time away, taken out by Orange Cassidy with a wrench, made him realize the error of his ways? Will Orange Cassidy turn his back on The Conglomeration to bring back the Best Friends like Kyle did, or will he try to conglomerate the two together?
We all know that Orange, Chuck, Trent, and Kris all coming in for a hug again to give the people what they want is going to hit like no other drug AEW can provide (I certainly want this more than an Elite reunion) but will that be best for the career of Orange Cassidy? Is trying to go for the tag titles with Trent again really the plan?
The Alliance To End Deathridermania
I really thought that Rated FTR were in the driver seat to beat Death Riders for the Trios Championship. Then Cope made it just about his singles gold attempts and FTR didn’t even work Revolution. Heck, neither did the Death Riders! There’s a lot of good Trios teams out there but I don’t know who is really going to be the team to eventually stop Wheeler Yuta, Claudio Castagnoli, and PAC.
This is a little bit of fantasy booking, but let me get there. I want to see the Death Riders lose the Trios Championship to a babyface team and blame Wheeler Yuta for it. Yuta gets left for dead, and it’s Orange Cassidy and Trent Beretta coming for the save. The Best Friends essentially save Wheeler Yuta from getting the bag suffocation.
This leads to Yuta being finally out of the grip of the Death Riders. However, the Death Riders get the Trios Championship back, this time with Jon Moxley in the spot of Yuta.
This leads to a pay per view match in which the Best Friends, complete with Orange Cassidy, Wheeler Yuta, and Trent Beretta taking on Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and PAC. If Trent can’t go? I would be fine with Mark Briscoe in this.
This match would be more than just Orange Cassidy finally beating Death Riders. It’s also Wheeler Yuta finally getting his revenge against Claudio Castagnoli and the Death Riders. It’s also going to be the first gold for the Best Friends in AEW. I feel like this is the best road for Orange Cassidy, a way to ensure that his past year wasn’t a waste.
This alliance to end Deathridermania could happen at Double or Nothing if this can roll out in enough time. If not? This is what you do for All Out. This would be how you eventually end the Death Riders for good in AEW. After Moxley loses the AEW Men’s World Championship at Y’All In Texas, and Death Riders lose the Trios Championship at All Out? You can put this angle finally to bed, and use it to not only elevate Darby Allin, but give Best Friends their first big championship and feel like they saved the company.
However AEW does it? They need to stop just using Orange Cassidy to make others look better for the International Championship. He’s been there and done that. He’s lost his shot at Okada for the Continental Championship, and I doubt he goes after Daniel Garcia for the TNT. I don’t want to keep seeing OC go back to the International Championship with diminishing returns.
If Adam Page taking him out in January was a knock out of the World tier, then I hope the loss in the four way last night was knocking him out of the International tier. It’s time to start focusing on Orange Cassidy putting the team together that eventually ends the Death Riders. He said it himself. His goal wasn’t to become champion. It was to end the championship of Moxley. I want to see him accomplish this, and accomplish it with his Best Friends.
