When Jeff Jarrett made his debut in AEW on November 2, 2022, appearing alongside Jay Lethal, Satnam Singh and Sonjay Dutt on AEW Dynamite.
He aligned himself with The Lethal Connection and began a feud with Darby Allin. This also reignited his feud with Sting, who he wrestled multiple times in both WCW and TNA.
He teamed with Jay Lethal to take on Sting & Darby Allin in AEW, losing the match but showing the world that Jeff Jarrett can still go.
He then began a feud with the Best Friends, which included a blockbuster AEW International Championship match against Orange Cassidy in Winnipeg, Canada (the home of Chris Jericho, Don Callis and Kenny Omega)
Jeff Jarrett vs Orange Cassidy
Jeff Jarrett took on Orange Cassidy on AEW Dynamite (15th March, 2023) in an attempt to win his first championship in AEW.
Jarrett had aligned himself with the group led by Sonjay Dutt, which also included Jay Lethal and Satnam Singh. Since his debut, Jarrett has been doing some of his best work, bring some old-school heel work to the contemporary product.
He took on the most dominant champion AEW has ever seen in Orange Cassidy. The Freshly Squeezed superstar had managed 14 straight defences of his AEW International Championship (previously called the All-Atlantic title), and hoped to make it 15 by defeating The Last Outlaw.
While this may not have been quite the match that was expected, that was not a bad thing. This was a very, very good match.
Despite his age, Jarrett can still go. That is because he wrestles an old-school style this is light on the body, but heavy on the pageantry. Taunting and strutting are key parts of his repetoir, and he used them to perfection.
However, combined with Orange Cassidy’s more contemporary and gimmicky style, the two styles clashed in the best way possible. Jarrett fell for all of Cassidy’s lazy tricks, but used old-school heel tactics to cut him down to size.
Jarrett mocked Cassidy and the crowd equally, putting his hands in his pockets after attacking his younger opponent. Being in Canada, he even locked in the Sharpshooter (the move used by Canadian legend Bret “The Hitman” Hart), for extra heel heat.
However, despite notable interference from Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt and Satnam Singh (as well as an Emmy), Orange Cassidy got help from Trent Beretta and won the bout, pinning Jarrett with an Orange Punch to retain his title.
However, the highlight of the match had to be Orange Cassidy’s selling of his knee. An underrated aspect of his wrestling is his selling ability. He really makes it look like he could collapse any moment from the pain (and he did at times during the match).
With the win, Orange Cassidy retained the newly-renamed AEW International Championship, and will go on defending it until he simply cannot be bothered anymore.
Here’s hoping for a match against Kenny Omega or Jon Moxley in the near future.