Orange Cassidy and Danhausen have been criticised over the last few years for being too “goofy” and being focusing too much on comedy wrestling, despite being two of the most popular wrestlers in all of AEW.
The pair have been unfairly labelled as not being “real” wrestlers by outspoken critics like Jim Cornette. Cornette in particular has a distaste for what he thinks of as comedy wrestling (the old adage of “funny doesn’t draw money” is one he stands by) and even refuses to call Cassidy anything other than “Pockets”, due to the spot where he wrestles with his hands in his pockets.
Despite the criticism, Orange Cassidy managed to get over as one of the top wrestlers in AEW. His weekly pops outshine 90% of the roster and he has the legitimacy and ability to slot into a main-event program whenever he is needed – his recent All-Atlantic Championship victory over PAC exemplified this. He also challenged for the AEW Championship on pay per view, taking on PAC and champion Kenny Omega in a losing effort at Double or Nothing 2021.
Meanwhile, Danhausen got over in a different way. He utilised Youtube – pioneered by Matt Cardona in wrestling – to get over, with clips of his wacky antics and his own Youtube channel helping him connect with an audience that previously would have had nothing to do with him. The Very Nice, Very Evil wrestler became one of the most popular wrestlers on the independents based on his online presence, which he claims is inspired by The Simpsons and Conan O’Brien.
The pair recently linked up when Danhausen was signed by AEW in 2022. He appeared from under the ring during Orange Cassidy faced Adam Cole at AEW Beach Break on January 26th, 2022. He was dragged from the ring by Cole before cursing the former NXT star, scurrying backstage afterwards.
Since then, Orange Cassidy and Danhausen have been linked together as part of the Best Friends stable. While he is not one of the best friends, Trent Beretta did confirm that he was a friend to the Best Friends.
“I don’t know, I’d say follow around. He’s not a best friend, but he’s a friend of the Best Friends,”
Trent Beretta on Danhausen as part of the Best Friends stable
As part of the group, Danhausen and Orange Cassidy have been credited for bringing in new faces to wrestling, through their innovative ways in and out of the ring that non-wrestling fans have latched on to. These viral clips featuring the pair can be attributed to growing the AEW fanbase, at least according to one member of the Best Friends
Orange Cassidy and Danhausen
AEW’s Danhausen has spoken about how he and Orange Cassidy are “creating new wrestling fans” amidst a variety of criticism against them and their wrestling style. He spoke with HardLore for a new interview about this issue, revealing that multiple people always come up top him and attribute their wrestling fandom to his YouTube.
Danhausen also talks about how he creates new fans who grow to love other AEW stars, like former WWE Champion Bryan Danielson.
“I feel me and Orange Cassidy are the ‘go to’ people for people to complain about when people don’t like, ‘Oh, this is too goofy for wrestling.’ Also, we’re the two people I always hear, ‘Oh, my friends don’t like wrestling, but they love you two,’ and now they watch, or ‘Oh, I wasn’t really watching, but I saw you two, so I started.’
It’s a testament to, we’re creating new fans, which is what you should be doing as a wrestler. That’s exactly what all of our jobs should be and I feel only a handful of people are actually doing that.
“Whenever anyone comes up to me, it’s multiple people every single line I do a meet & greet, ‘I never watched wrestling, but I found you on YouTube.’ Great, that means I’m creating new fans who haven’t watched people like Dante Martin, who is a tremendous athlete.
Now they’re watching him like, ‘Oh, this weird guy got me into this and now I can see Bryan Danielson, Dante Martin, Jade Cargill.’”
Orange Cassidy and Danhausen are currently wrestling for AEW and are two of the biggest fan favourite wrestlers in the company. Click below to read more about Orange Cassidy, or click this link to read about Chris Jericho’s Barbed Wire matches