Love him or hate him, Orange Cassidy does numbers for All Elite Wrestling.
AEW President Tony Khan was a guest this morning on Busted Open Radio to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked if anyone in the company has come in and exceeded his expectations, Khan took the time to really put over Orange Cassidy and shared a story about Jim Ross downplaying Cassidy in a production meeting a couple of years ago.
“I think everybody’s their own individual case. Some people have exceeded expectations by a lot. Others have exceeded expectations but maybe had high expectations going in,” Tony Khan said. “I think one person who a lot of people were critical of him and some of the smartest people in the wrestling business were really critical and still are, to some extent of him, is Orange Cassidy. Who’s in the big Face of the Revolution ladder match this weekend. [Who] has been, whether people like it or not, one of the biggest ratings draws in our company and in terms of selling merchandise, like online engagement for streaming hits. He is one of the most important people, and I don’t think anybody expected that going in, and I didn’t expect that going in, but I could see he was getting over and one of the things I think I am strong at is course-correcting because I’m not always right. And I do try and stay engaged with the fans and pay attention to what moves the needle with them. What they’re talking about, but also what does numbers. He does numbers, and people might not like it, but it’s a fact, and he consistently has.
“I’ll tell you the truth, I don’t think I’ve ever told this story before, and I don’t know if either one of them would mind, but I’ll just be honest with you guys in the spirit of doing a lot of interviews on the road to Revolution, and you guys are the guys I always talk to. We were in the production meeting the first year, and JR, not under his breath, said something about how stupid the whole thing was in the first year, and in front of everyone, Jim called me out in front of the entire room. So I said back to him. I was like, ‘Jim, this is getting over, and it’s doing ratings every time, and we barely scratched the surface of what the guy can do. And he’s actually a really good wrestler, and I think you should give them a chance and talk to him because he actually is a very intelligent wrestling person once you get to know him. And we have barely scratched the surface of what this guy can do. Trust me,’ and a lot of people might not like it, but frankly, he has become one of our big stars.
“So that is probably the best example of somebody exceeding what I thought they could do coming in because really I thought he was gonna be like a manager mostly coming in, and then once I realized how gifted he actually is, I had no idea Orange Cassidy was Fire Ant when I first met him, and when I realized that was the same guy, and he is a great pro wrestler, then that’s where I came up with the idea. Let’s hide that for six to eight months and not show anyone all the stuff you can do until the first Revolution, and that’s where you make your big debut and your first real match. And that’s when you show people you can really wrestle don’t do anything until then. And it worked really well. And now again, we have a lot of big stars, but that’s one person who always moves the needle for us. So not to belabor it, but I love talking to mechanics of wrestling, and I think this is the show with the most savvy audience about those kinds of things. And I love coming on and promoting the shows and the pay-per-views, but you got me talking about kind of a technical point.”
Tommy Dreamer went on to tell a story about how he didn’t get the Orange Cassidy character until he shared the ring with him for the first time. Stating that some people might not like him, but he’s a great wrestler. Khan echoed this sentiment calling Cassidy a net positive for the company.
“I get that some people don’t like it, but the thing is, it’s a net positive, right? It’s like making a profit,” Tony Khan said. “Sometimes you spend money, but you got to bring in more than you spend. He is a big-net positive. There might be people that don’t like him, but more people turn the TV on, more people click on his videos because of him. With every wrestler, there’s pros and cons. People like them, people don’t like them, but it’s about what they do on the net for the company. And this guy is a huge net asset. He brings in a lot of people. I was the same as you; I didn’t get it.
“What really clicked to me the first time is when he talked to me about the kicks. And because I asked him what’s the deal with that? And I was like it’s the weakest offense, and he said, well, it’s not an offense, and he explained what it is. And that’s where I realized I said so it’s like a taunt. And he’s like, yeah, exactly. And that explained the psychology of everything. It opened up everything to me, and then he told me, there’s only one person that was ever dumb enough to sell the kicks, and I kept telling them not to because you’re not supposed to, they’re not offense. That’s not what they are. And so people think it’s bad offense, but it’s not. And then when you realize nobody’s ever sold it in the history of AEW because like it’s not to be sold.”
READ MORE: Tony Khan Will Make A Major Announcement On 3/2 Episode Of AEW Dynamite
What do you make of Tony Khan’s comments? Do you enjoy the Orange Cassidy character? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
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