AEW Star Orange Cassidy Explains Why He Takes Pride In Being A Pro Wrestler

AEW star Orange Cassidy has been one of the most popular wrestlers in North America since he debuted for AEW back in 2019. His laid back persona combined with his in-ring ability has led to Cassidy being one of the most recognizable stars that AEW has on its roster, especially from a casual fan perspective. This is something that Cassidy spoke about during a recent appearance on the "Casuals with Katie Nolan" podcast, where he stated that the thing he takes the most pride in as a wrestler is seeing how many people have gotten into wrestling because of him.

"I do meet and greets and stuff a lot, like you know, I talk to fans and it's so great to actually meet the people that actually like you and not just–you go on the internet and read about all the people that hate you..." Cassidy said. "I get a lot of [people], they walk up to me and they're like–there's like another person there which is like either like an older person or a significant other, whatever it is, and they're like 'Oh yea, because of you, my parents come with me now because they get–they want to see you." Cassidy stated that he's lost count at the amount of times that someone has said they have gotten one of the friends or family members into wrestling because they watched one of his matches, something he is incredibly proud of. However, one interaction sticks out in his mind more than most.

"One time this father came up to me and he was like 'Yeah, I could never bond with my little girls, and it's like I love wrestling and they don't. They hate wrestling, but then you come on the screen...' and I looked behind him and there was three little girls dressed up like me." Cassidy explained that some people try and make him feel a little better by saying that they don't want to make him uncomfortable by dressing up like him, but Cassidy admitted that he wants people to tell him those things as its a sign that he's doing something right with his work.

Given that his character lives by the motto of "whatever man," Cassidy wants the fans to have the same vibe as him because, at the end of the day, wrestling is supposed to be fun and you're meant to have a good time watching. "Freshly Squeezed" explained that he got this mindset from his childhood where he was the only wrestling fan in his friendship group, meaning that he saw wrestling a little differently to how others saw it.

"I talk to a lot of people that aren't wrestling fans. All my friends that I grew up with aren't wrestling fans, it was just me. So I had an outside perspective always when I was watching wrestling, and to me it's like I want you just to watch and just be like 'Yes, okay, have fun, relax, just relax, have fun, it's okay, enjoy it.' You know what I mean?" Ironically, Cassidy does anything but relax when it comes to perfecting his craft despite what his character might have people believe. However, it's because he takes his work so seriously that he wants people to chill out and leave all the worrying about the little details to him.

"I take wrestling way more seriously than people probably think I do because I love it and I respect it so much, and I want to know as much as I possibly can, and I overanalyze every single little thing, and I think about it literally 24/7 and like, I want to perfect my craft. This is what I do. It doesn't mean I'm going to do all of it because you do what you have to when you have to, like less is more or whatever that garbage is." Cassidy will try and kick off 2026 in a big way as he was eliminated from the Continental Classic tournament on the Christmas Day episode of "AEW Collision," meaning that he will want to bounce back into championship contention sooner rather than later.

Please credit "Casuals with Katie Nolan" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.