Orange Cassidy Should Leave Double Or Nothing As World Champion, But Will AEW Pull The Trigger?

Imagine the scene. 

May 30 at Daily's Place, a certain King Of Sloth Style has his arm raised with the AEW World Championship in hand as the 5,500 fans in attendance cheer. An irate Kenny Omega tries to get at the man who bested him, only for the victor to deck him with a Superman Punch and force the former champion to scurry backstage with his pride wounded. 

That man is, of course, Orange Cassidy.

And he should leave Daily's Place on May 30 as the new AEW World Champion. 

The King Of Sloth Style will face off against long-time rival PAC and Kenny Omega for the AEW World Title at Double Or Nothing in his first shot at the gold and he will walk into the match as the ultimate underdog, with few believing he has any chance of winning.

That belief is only further reduced when looking at the man who is champion. Kenny Omega has arguably been the top star in all of professional wrestling since he captured the AEW World Championship in December. He has added the IMPACT World Title to his collection since then and The Best Bout Machine finds himself as the world champion in three different promotions and someone who is seemingly unbeatable in singles competition.

IMPACT Wrestling

As noted, though, Double Or Nothing won't be a singles match and AEW has the opportunity to create a historic moment with a big babyface Orange Cassidy win. It's something they should do, even if it means taking a detour from their long-term booking goals. 

Double Or Nothing will be AEW's first show in front of a capacity crowd since March 2020 and the importance of that occasion cannot be understated. It has been a difficult 14 months for every professional fan. We have been locked down, seen our nations briefly reopen before being locked down once more for months. Our lives have changed dramatically during this COVID-19 pandemic. 

I, for one, am writing this feature while sitting on the sofa in my living room, instead of being surrounded by my friends at our office.

Life appears to be getting back to some semblance of normality, though. In the UK, we can once again go inside a football stadium, eat out with our friends and family, go to the cinema and watch live professional wrestling in person. The COVID variant from India could ensure all of this is just another false dawn, but with more and more people getting vaccinated, the cycle of lockdowns may not return. 

What just happens to be occurring at the same time as this possible new dawn is the main event of Double Or Nothing and AEW has the opportunity to welcome the post-COVID era of professional wrestling with a big feel-good win for Orange, the audience inside Daily’s Place and the fans sitting at home. 

AEW

Cassidy has not been booked as a man capable of dethroning Kenny Omega. After a high-profile programme with Chris Jericho during the summer of 2020, 'Freshly Squeezed' has settled back into AEW's mid-card since he was brought back down to earth with a TNT Title loss to Cody on the road to Full Gear.

Yes, he has an 8-0-1 singles record in 2021, but outside of a victory over Penta El Zero Miedo a couple of weeks ago, those wins have come against the likes of Luther, John Skyler and Dean Alexander. Hardly victories that would push someone into the main event picture. 

The manner in which Cassidy earned the title shot also does little to put him over as a main event guy, having won the opportunity after his match with PAC ended in a double knockout.

Yet, despite not being booked as a main event player, that is exactly where Cassidy finds himself and he remains one of, if not, AEW's most popular babyface. He has consistently been cheered inside Daily's Place and fans remain behind The King Of Strong Style online. Even for non-AEW crowds, you just need to look at his reception at the Collective back in October to see how his popularity has endured outside of Jacksonville. 

With all of this in place, AEW can create a true feel-good moment by booking a David vs. Goliath story. Here is a man who has not been booked in a top spot and is underestimated in storyline by many of his opponents, yet has the opportunity to win it all and take it from someone who appears unbeatable. The miracle of Daily's Place no less.

Picking up the win over a champion such as Omega would only enhance the occasion and adds another reason as to why AEW should pull the trigger on a big win for Cassidy! 

Kenny Omega has lorded himself over AEW and wrestling as a whole outside of WWE since he captured the AEW World Championship in December. He has picked up multiple wins against the likes of Rey Fenix and Matt Sydal, and The Elite has gotten the better of Jon Moxley at every turn. Moxley will likely get some revenge alongside Eddie Kingston against The Young Bucks, but this leaves Omega still on top, still gloating.

Now as with all good wrestling heels, there has to come a time when they get their comeuppance and after six months of constantly winning, now feels like the time for Omega to be embarrassed a little. 

AEW

I don't believe the loss at Double Or Nothing would do any damage to The Cleaner in the long run either, especially since Orange Cassidy should only have a short reign with the gold. 

Best Friend's best friend has many positives but a six month+ title reign would likely grow tiring. There is no reason why Cassidy shouldn't hold the belt for a few months, though, even possibly all the way until All Out picking up underdog babyface wins along the way. 

AEW could even kickstart an Omega-Orange singles feud following Double Or Nothing and run with the idea that The Best Bout Machine doesn't view Cassidy as a serious threat. This would then play into the July 7 Dynamite after AEW resumes touring and another memorable moment could be created when Orange manages to pull out the win and stun Omega in the process. 

Following that match, though, the numbers advantage The Elite holds over Best Friends would ultimately allow Omega to reclaim the gold and his mantle as The Belt Collector. The AEW World Champion could then overbearingly gloat on Dynamite to his heart's content until his eventual showdown with one "Hangman" Adam Page.

AEW

Speaking of Hangman, some may reject the idea of an Orange Cassidy win at Double Or Nothing because of the effect it could have on The Anxious Millennial Cowboy's own title shot against Omega at some point down the line. 

If Omega is kept near the forefront of AEW during his time without the belt, though, as I have suggested, the eventual match for the title should still feel big and the history between Omega and Hangman means the match doesn't necessarily need a long Omega title reign for it to be compelling. 

They have a friendship pre-dating AEW which blossomed once they formed a tag team. The two men also maintained a begrudging respect for one another even after they lost the tag team championship. When Hangman and Omega do eventually cross paths with it all on the line, that will all come flooding to the forefront to produce a pay-per-view worthy main event, regardless of if Omega has held the AEW World Title for 300 days or 3 days. 

With all of this under consideration, All Elite Wrestling can and should give fans a big Orange Cassidy win at Double Or Nothing. The moment could be one that goes down in history as one of wrestling's great title changes and it would only be enhanced by 5,500 fans in the arena.  

The question remains, though, is AEW willing to anoint The King Of Sloth Style as their world champion?