So last night on AEW Dynamite, Wardlow successfully defended his TNT championship against Orange Cassidy. Is Orange Cassidy over with the crowd? Absolutely, however, he's a comedy act, Orange shouldn't be in competitive matches like that, especially when it's against a man like Wardlow, as I feel it does him (Wardlow) more harm than good.

I've said it numerous times before, Wardlow has the potential to be AEW's biggest homegrown star (as in someone who didn't make a name for themselves in WWE or NJPW), he has the look, a pretty impressive move-set and more importantly, he has IT. Normally I'm all for AEW doing long competitive matches, the thing is though, it doesn't work with a guy of Wardlow's size. He honestly shouldn't be in matches going longer than three minutes unless it's against other powerhouses (Keith Lee, Miro, Brian Cage, Powerhouse Hobbs), or main-event level talent (Chris Jericho, Bryan Danielson, John Moxley, CM Punk).

Anyways, I guess to generate discussion, what's everyone's take on the big guy? Agree or disagree on the way he's been booked? Should he be doing more squash matches and/or his matches not running as long as they currently are?

Getting your shit in and having good matches for the sake of it are probably a huge issue with the AEW crowd but also shows you the difference in philosophies so I can't hate.

OC should be world champ though.

As I said, I don't mind AEW mostly being about competitive matches and getting your shit in, however, there are times they (AEW as a company) do it when they really shouldn't. In my opinion, Wardlow is one of those guys, whose matches should be a less is more kind of thing, AEW should be booking him similar to what WCW did with Goldberg.

The match was enjoyable but agreed it did more harm then good for Wardlow. First, he shouldn't be fighting over face this early into his run. You can easily turn a crowd against him this early. He shouldn't play into OC games as much as he did. Beating someone with one powerbomb instead of multiple doesn't make them look stronger it makes look weaker

I've said it before, Wardlow has the potential to be the biggest thing in AEW if The Elite and Co. will allow it.

When I saw Wardlow v Cassidy, I envisioned Brock Lesnar v Spike Dudley. An absolute slaughter. A master-class to show how dominant a man Wardlow could be.

275lb of beast-mode v 170lb of a skin and bone. Instead a glorified midget got his shit in. And Danhausen made an appearance to undervalue the entire thing.

Booker of the year, everyone. Bravo.

Wardlow signed long term, hook line and sinker. AEW was propping him up to entice him to not go to Connecticut, live and learn. As long as Wardlow is getting paid handsomely, it's all good at least. 

MJF probably sees this and is about to put 2 feet out the door of AEW. The guy he worked with long term for this payoff is seeing his hype defused. He got crushed by this man and Wardlow is getting Rusev'd. Another homegrown AEW talent just getting shoved out of the way for ex WWE rejects. 

AEW has no idea how to push big men and until proven otherwise, need to see it to believe it.

Jul 15, 2022 0:29:01 GMT NATH45 said:

When I saw Wardlow v Cassidy, I envisioned Brock Lesnar v Spike Dudley. An absolute slaughter. A master-class to show how dominant a man Wardlow could be.

Absolutely, NATH45.

That's exactly what it should have been, I don't mind Orange Cassidy's routine, but it absolutely should have been a slaughter. As soon as Wardlow tore out Cassidy's pockets, he should of went no non-sense beast mode and destroyed him.

Show up. Fuck people up. Leave.

Jul 14, 2022 23:59:32 GMT @ness said:

Getting your shit in and having good matches for the sake of it are probably a huge issue with the AEW crowd but also shows you the difference in philosophies so I can't hate.

OC should be world champ though.

He's tainted now.

Jul 15, 2022 0:44:59 GMT @ness said:

He's tainted now.

He was tainted during the 30 on 1 handicap match. He was on a constant rise with MJF and soon as that was over he has been mostly going down hill every since minus winning the TNT title.

Jul 15, 2022 0:39:53 GMT Lony said:

Jul 15, 2022 0:29:01 GMT NATH45 said:

When I saw Wardlow v Cassidy, I envisioned Brock Lesnar v Spike Dudley. An absolute slaughter. A master-class to show how dominant a man Wardlow could be.

Absolutely, NATH45 .

That's exactly what it should have been, I don't mind Orange Cassidy's routine, but it absolutely should have been a slaughter. As soon as Wardlow tore out Cassidy's pockets, he should of went no non-sense beast mode and destroyed him.

Show up. Fuck people up. Leave.

Smash 'em and Stack 'em. And it keep doing it until there's no one in the mid-card left to beat. 

Paul Heyman tells a story about how smart Brock was to the business early on. Brock was asked to pick two opponents. He chose Funaki and Spike Dudley. Which sounds insane -  he then murdered both. He looked like a monster and because psychology still existed in 2002 - his opponents barely got shot in. Why? Because being 280lb matters. 

Jul 15, 2022 0:36:32 GMT Blindy said:

AEW has no idea how to push big men and until proven otherwise, need to see it to believe it.

Correct me, if I'm wrong - apart from The Indian Guy and Big Show, is Lance Archer the biggest guy in the company at 6'8" 275? 

I am glad you guys aren’t in charge of booking. Holy shit these takes.

You want Wardlow, who is red hot and just came off his first title win, AND is a massive babyface, to squash one of the most beloved wrestlers in the company? The scrawny guy that kids dress up as and is probably a top 10 merch seller?

Yeah lets have the guy on a massive hot face streak do heel shit in his first title defence. That’ll work.

“Well then don’t have him face Orange Cassidy!” You want some nobody that is going to get pummeled in 30 seconds to challenge for a title? Where is the logic in that?

The squashes are probably over now. That was done. Wardlow is over. He’s a champ now and should only be facing worthy opponents.

They put on a good match with two faces and both left still over with the crowd. “But muh squashessss..”

Thank you RT.

Wardlow had his Goldberg run. Not only was he beating jobbers, he demolished CM Punk, but only lost to further the MJF vs Punk storyline. Same with Chris Jericho. The story being he could kill anyone, but his inexperience and MJF got in the way of him beating the top guys.

Then he ditches MJF, and squashes him. That's MJF, by the way, top guy in the company.

But Wardlow can't just go around squashing everyone he faces from then on. The whole company doesn't need to be undermined to push Wardlow. That's arguably a problem with WWE: Reigns and Lesnar being so above everyone else.

Orange Cassidy is a top babyface, and he has credibility behind him. He beats pretty much everyone he faces who isn't a main eventer. Won a feud against Jericho. Beat Adam Cole. Just because he's small doesn't mean he's a jobber. Would you guys be saying the same thing if Adam Cole challenged Wardlow? NATH45 certainly wouldn't, he's Cole's biggest fan.

To be honest I was wondering how they would make Cassidy vs Wardlow competitive, fortunately they worked it brilliantly. All of Cassidy's offense was totally believable. Using his speed and athleticism to hit wild spinning DDTs and the like. Could have done without the interference stuff but that was at the start of the match, they were going hard one on one after that.

You have to admit, Adam Cole has a much larger degree of credibility than Orange Cassidy ever has. Despite his size, he was always presented as a World Class performer, who especially in NXT always looked a million bucks in the ring. Orange Cassidy is presented as a clown.

Sure, there's posturing. But there's no bullshit in an Adam Cole match. No shenanigans like an Orange Cassidy match.

You would put Adam Cole, maybe not at the same level as someone like Danielson, AJ Styles or Finn Balor, but certainly he is (or was) cut from that similar cloth that includes guys like Johnny Gargano, Tommasso Ciampa, KOR. All smaller guys, who skill set and execution squashes any doubts about their size or weight.

I'm glad Lony & NATH45 didn't book this match. You don't have a rising babyface squash 1 of your most popular good guys. Wardlow would have been booed out of the building.

Jul 16, 2022 0:39:49 GMT Ed said:

I'm glad Lony & NATH45 didn't book this match. You don't have a rising babyface squash 1 of your most popular good guys. Wardlow would have been booed out of the building.

I mean, I wouldn't have put Orange Cassidy, in the match in the first place. Tony Khan putting either guy in that position, was a bad booking decision in my opinion.

You wouldn't book a babyface v babyface match unless it was absolutely necessary.

Also, I could buy Adam Cole holding his own against Wardlow (going back to him being a main-event player), my issue isn't necessarily size, it's that Orange Cassidy is a comedy character. Adam Cole is a world-class athlete who's been a world champion in multiple organizations (ROH and NXT), whereas Cassidy has spent most of his career as a fricking ant, there is a major difference between the two. On top of that, Undisputed Elite as a unit would be a far bigger threat to Wardlow than the Best Friends.

Wardlow shouldn't be getting his ass kicked by a comedy character.

You two are talking as if Orange Cassidy is Santino Marella. He's not a comedy jobber. I wouldn't even describe him as a comedy character. Not completely. His whole shtick is that he always starts off not taking the match seriously, infuriating his opponents and luring them into a false sense of security. Then the last two thirds of the match he's wrestling in a Rey Mysterio style, and doing it really well.

This is literally every Orange Cassidy big singles match. His very first singles outing against PAC - he did that, took PAC to the limit. He defeated Chris Jericho and Adam Cole. Had a competitive match against Will Ospreay, one of the best wrestlers in the world. He has the resumé and I fully expected a competitive match against Wardlow because of that. Sure Cassidy has not been world champion in other companies, but if we look at AEW credibility alone, I'd say Cassidy is on the same level as Cole, or maybe one rung below on the ladder.

Cassidy beat Jericho and Cole in street fights though(Which OC beating Cole so soon after his arrival was a massive point of criticism), the big man should always have the advantage and should not take extra long to beat someone in the ring with no gimmicks at hand. If Wardlow got jumped earlier prior to the match and wanted to man it up, yes I get the struggle then. Or if there was a stipulation like he can't use slams or something, then sure. But not this.

If 5 years goes by, and AEW has still failed to create a World Champion that wasn't a former WWE worker or member of Bullet Club - remember this discussion.

They've been gifted a specimen in Wardlow. The type of worker any other company would be salivating over. Putting a 160lb guy in a competitive match with a 265lb monster doesn't elevate both workers, it elevates one. Cassidy. What it also potentially does though, is erases the mystique a guy like Wardlow has, or could have.

You want to book big guy v small guy match and make it work, you can. Look at Undertaker v Jeff Hardy, ladder match. Hardy looked like he had gone into battle by the end of it. He could barely stand. The Undertaker showed a considerable amount of remorse for the smaller opponent, despite being the bigger more dominant athlete. Hardy showed guts and determination to keep fighting. Despite it being a gimmick match, it still told a story. Undertaker looked strong, and Hardy won the hearts of the fans with a gritty performance. That's a little thing called psychology.

I get, it's the cool thing to go against the grain these days, and throw logic in the trash. But jeez..

You're really making a mountain out of a molehill. As if this is the single moment that will prevent Wardlow from becoming World Champion. You're also stuck in a 90s/00s mindset of how pro-wrestling works. Times have changed, and continue to change.

I'm not going to argue that Taker vs Jeff is the inferior match, but they are parallels to be made. Hardy's first offense came when he outsmarted the Undertaker to get a sneak attack. Cassidy got his first offense when Danhausen distracted him allowing Orange to hti a superman punch. Before then he couldn't touch Wardlow. That's already making your 265lb monster look like a monster.

Orange was always fighting from underneath, and all of his offense was some kind of speedy lucha move. Spinning tornado DDTs and the like. And it always took a couple of tries for him to hit those moves as Wardlow used his power to counter them the first time. There was psychology in that match. I'm not saying it's as strong as the Taker/Jeff psychology, but it was clearly there, you're just not seeing it because you're blinded by Orange Cassidy = comedy wrestler when he's much more than that.

Nothing Orange did in that match, either in terms of offense or defense, is outside what he's done in any other of his big AEW singles matches. I thought it was a great match and I believed all of Cassidy's offense, although I wasn't expecting to believe it before the bell rang.

I'm not necessarily against what you are saying about Wardlow's booking. The guy already has his Goldberg run and it was great. There's a reason Lesnar is the special attraction he is, and that's because of the way he's booked. HOWEVER, you can take that too far. Nobody liked it when Kofi's World Championship run was ended in literally 10 seconds by Brock Lesnar. Sure, Lesnar can win, but don't make Kofi look like a joke in the process. It was a bad decision. Wardlow squashing Orange would have been similarly bad. No need to kill one of your top babyfaces and merch movers.

Wardlow should just beat up all the meme wrestlers every week. OC, Danhausen, Hook, Fuego Del Sol, all of them.

Not sure how people walked away thinking Wardlow looked weak. Cassidy is a top guy in AEW with wins over many of the top stars. Wardlow taking all three of Cassidy's finishers in the match and kicking out showed how strong he is. Those moves beat many others, but not the big guy even when he took then chained together.

It's important to appeal to your core audience. In this case by booking Wardlow/Cassidy it gives Wardlow a chance to demonstrate his versatility and have a different style of match that only adds to his appeal.

With that said, I wasn't that impressed with the match either. I thought Wardlow's selling was too goofy, I didn't buy the spot where OC slammed Wardlow's head into the turnbuckle ten times or anytime he sent Wardlow into a corner or ring-post. I thought Wardlow could have taken both DDTs better and then the kick out should have been more explosive.

There's just little things in Wardlow's game that he needs to fix up if he wants to get to that next level. With that said, I thought the cartwheel and exploder suplex were good spots, I just think he could have popped off more and timed his moments better.

As far as Wardlow and the World Championship is concerned, he's certainly in the mix. I don't buy him as a champion just yet but the right program could easily get him there. With that said, the whole title seems to be in limbo right now and Mox seems to be keeping it warm for Punk which isn't ideal.

I wonder how people would feel if Dominick Mysterio gave Gunther a competitive 15 minutes?

Jul 17, 2022 0:01:55 GMT NATH45 said:

I wonder how people would feel if Dominick Mysterio gave Gunther a competitive 15 minutes?

Either you don’t actually watch AEW or you know these aren’t at all the same thing and you’re just being a dick.

Jul 17, 2022 0:28:05 GMT RT said:

Jul 17, 2022 0:01:55 GMT NATH45 said:

I wonder how people would feel if Dominick Mysterio gave Gunther a competitive 15 minutes?

Either you don’t actually watch AEW or you know these aren’t at all the same thing and you’re just being a dick.

This is a discussion. If we all shared the same opinion, there wouldn't be much point to any of this.

Jul 17, 2022 0:01:55 GMT NATH45 said:

I wonder how people would feel if Dominick Mysterio gave Gunther a competitive 15 minutes?

The fact that you put Dom on the same breath as OC is laughable. The booking, the companies & the circumstances are different. You are hellbent on shoehorning this argument into this discussion despite evidence to the contrary is silly to me.