Matt Hardy has massive praise for Orange Cassidy.
The Broken One spoke about the current AEW International Champion during the latest edition of his Extreme Life podcast, where he called Cassidy one of the most tremendous performers he’s ever seen with a character that is not easy to do.
I think Orange Cassidy is tremendous. I think he’s at the top of that list when it comes to performers in AEW. He’s out there and he’s playing a character that is not easy to do, but he’s very committed to the bit, he’s committed to the gig. Once again, I can tell you how I respect someone who does that because I did that as ‘Broken’ Matt Hardy. But if he was just to go out and just be a normal, typical, regular wrestler, he’d be having amazing wrestling matches. He can go in there night in and night out and have this incredible wrestling match. But I feel like the thing that attracts him to so many fans is the persona, the whole Orange Cassidy shtick. So I greatly applaud him for doing that. I think he is one of the best wrestlers in AEW. I think he’s one of the best wrestlers in the industry right now. I think he has a really, really great confidence in knowing what he needs to do to make the character excel and continue to grow and connect with people.
Hardy later compares Cassidy to the Undertaker, not in terms of character but in terms of how reliable he has become for Tony Khan, the same way the Deadman was reliable for Vince McMahon.
On top of that, man, I’m going to make a very strange connection, but I do think there’s some truth to this. In some ways, right now, if you notice this, Orange Cassidy opens up Dynamite all the time. I feel like Orange Cassidy to Tony, at this stage, right now, where they’re currently at, these last few months, in some ways reminds me of the relationship between Vince McMahon and The Undertaker. He was his go-to guy, a guy that he knew could go out and get the job he wanted done, done. On top of that, those guys were both really good wrestlers, but they played these outlandish and outrageous over-the-top gimmicks. So there’s a crazy similarity there. Imagine that, hearing Orange Cassidy compared to The Undertaker.
Staying on the subject, Hardy believes that Khan has tremendous trust in Cassidy and points to his recent defense of the International title at Double or Nothing as an exmaple.
Just think about this. Tony put him in that battle royale where he was going to go in as the champion and retain the title. That speaks volumes right there. Then how many times on Dynamite do you see him kick off the show, to have a great match? That shows Tony has great faith in him. Not only does he enjoy and like him as a person, but he is a big fan of his wrestling style, and he also feels like he does numbers. He feels like he retains an audience. So he’s a young guy, it’s his first ever being a national, global star. Tony’s running with him, and I respect him for that.
Cassidy will be in action on tomorrow’s AEW Dynamite, where he will be defending the International Championship against Swerve Strickland. You can check out the updated Dynamite lineup here.
(H/T and transcribed by Fightful)