Dax Harwood speaks highly of Orange Cassidy.
“Freshly Squeezed” is a polarizing figure in the wrestling world, as his laid-back character, which often centers around not “trying” until he flips a switch in his matches, has been a source of controversy. Still, Cassidy is one of the most popular stars in All Elite Wrestling, and he currently holds the AEW All-Atlantic Championship.
Speaking on FTR with Dax Harwood, the former AEW World Tag Team Champion looked back on AEW Full Gear 2020, and Cassidy’s match against John Silver came up in the conversation. Harwood then shared his thoughts on Cassidy as a wrestler, and he praised him for the unique way he has gotten over. As a wrestler, Harwood emphasized that he appreciates Cassidy’s talent.
“I think that, and I’m sure this is gonna get me in trouble with some of my peers or not even my peers but some of the people that are a generation above me, I think if you don’t think Orange Cassidy is good, you need to reevaluate and watch some of his stuff. I understand that some guys from a different era can say, ‘Oh, but he’s hokey,’ or he does this, but then in the same era they’re from, Jimmy Valiant was fake peeing on people like he was a dog or sticking his thumb up their butt. So you gotta think about the entertainment aspect too.
“This guy can go. He can wrestle. But imagine if Orange Cassidy, who’s gotten over to the extent that he’s gotten over because of his gimmick and because of his character and the weird charisma that he has and the unique charisma that he has because it’s unique to him. No one else has gotten over the way he’s gotten over. But he went out there and started wrestling like Johnny Saint, it wouldn’t correlate. It wouldn’t match together. Or we talked about Magnum T.A. If he kicked ass for five minutes straight and fought and punched and all this stuff, it wouldn’t correlate.
Harwood continued by noting that he believes Cassidy is a smart worker without “sh—ing” on the business. He made it clear that he’s a fan of “Freshly Squeezed”, and he also highlighted his abilities as a seller.
” I think he works so smart without sh—ing on the business,” Harwood said. “That’s what I respect. I think that he uses this thing with his pockets as a quote-on-quote distraction for his opponents. It’s about how his opponents sell it too. If they make it a mockery, if they make it a joke, then it is a joke. But he uses it as a distraction, and I think he does it so smartly. I’m a huge fan of his, and I think his selling is completely underrated.
“I remember he had a match, I think it was a three-way with PAC and Omega, and I remember, I told him he made that match because he sold so well that everyone bought all of his false finishes. I can’t say enough good things about Orange Cassidy.”
When asked whether he thinks people “miss” on the character and its intent, Harwood stated that he personally takes wrestling seriously, and if he can understand Cassidy’s gimmick, then most people should be able to do so.
“I take wrestling very seriously. Too seriously sometimes. So if I can get on-board with Orange Cassidy and understand what he’s doing, then I feel that most people should be able to. If he was going out there and wrestling the invisible man or he was doing these hokey spots that sh— on wrestling, I could understand it, I could get it. But he works it perfectly, and that’s all I can say. For his gimmick, he is the perfect wrestler.”
Cassidy will defend the AEW All-Atlantic Championship on the February 10 episode of AEW Rampage. WrestleZone will have coverage of the show as it airs.
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