"This is one of my "comfort matches", put this on and I will watch it again with no issues. It is also my go to for introductions because anyone who can't understand wrestling as an art and what makes it great, can actually relate or understand Orange Cassidy. Now, just throw in one of the best wrestlers during this decade in Will Ospreay, who is so gifted, but also open minded enough to both do his thing and give Orange Cassidy one of the best matches in his career. This one for me is the match of the night on this PPV."
[9.0] "This was easily one of Orange Cassidy's best matches in AEW history and another great match added to Will's collection. This was simply a great match with great sequences and kickouts. {wrote on 09.04.2025}"
[10.0] "Rewatched it recently, and yeah it's actually a 10 for me. The day everybody saw how talented Cassidy is in the ring. That match was truly beautiful."
[8.0] "Incredible wasn't it. Ospreay can have a quality match even with a bad wrestler so imagine the quality with guy like OC. Still waiting for the day OC becomes a world champion, it's bound to happen. Oh also, SHIBATA-SAN!"
[10.0] "A really phenomenal match between both men with absolutely spectacular in ring action and psychology between each other, they both gave spectacular performances, it had such an entertaining vibe throughout, and this was the introduction to one of my all time favourite wrestlers Will Ospreay."
[10.0] "This is the match that made me a big fan of Will Ospreay. This match also shut down any questions surrounding Orange Cassidy's wrestling abilities. Tons of near falls and great moves and this is one of my favorite matches."
[9.0] "This was one of those matches where it just made me change my whole idea on orange cassidy, while i dont like the joke stuff much it works well here and is a fun match ospreay is really able to use to his advantage the injured back of OC, OC starts mounting a comeback even hitting a springboard 450 onto mark and kyle, he also does a cool spot of tryig to confuse ospreays. Ospreays heel work here is amazing and so is the selling and some amazing kickout timing from Ospreay."
[9.0] "Yeah this match was as fun rewatching as it was when I saw it back on PPV, cocky Ospreay is hilarious especially against the fuck-it-we-ball OC was at the time. The ending sequence is still chef's kiss, although man if he defied the world and kicked out of the Stormbreaker...oh well, still a great match that had me questioning who would win by the end of it."
[10.0] "Best match of Orange Cassidy's career in my honest opinion as a guy that enjoy his style, persona and abilites inside the ring and outside. This can be considered a easy fun match, you don't even need to know the story behind that match to enjoy yourself and have a great time watching this, both guys didn't disappointed in any moment in ring. Will Ospreay was a great and truly unforgetable cocky heel which underrated how good can Orange Cassidy be, and his arrogance almost cost the title from him. It was this match that showed to me that OC can face one of the best wrestlers in the world and deliver a great match, don't fucking matter. He is just as good as this guy, but he chooses to follow another style, the famous meme of Born to be the GOAT, forced to be a Comedian. It's gonna surprise a lot of people, but this right here IS A FREAKING five stars match for me, and it might be the most entertained match of my entire life. I always have so much fun watching this."
[9.0] "[4.25*] The clear MOTN and the second best match of OCs career (at the time, the best). This is one of the most easy-watches of all time, you can just sit there and have a huge ton of fun. The sequences were spectacular and the classic moonsault dance with OC rolling to scape was amazing. An almost perfect match where everything was incredible."
[9.0] "(9.3) What a match! Some really fun spots like OC dodging the Oscutter and Ospreay being launched by the Aussie open. OCs Kawada kick fake out and him baiting in Ospreay after the camera spot was so good as well. Ospreay really proved he is one of the best at the 2.9999 kickouts. I love how whenever we get serious OC it is always a banger, easily one of my favourite things about him and I need to see more heelwork from Ospreay!"
[6.0] "Cocky heel Ospreay vs most beloved babyface in AEW Cassidy should've been a match for the ages, and clearly, for most of y'all, it is, but there's so much that dragged this down for me. The opening convoluted sequence that didn't look like a fight had me worried from the start, but thankfully they didn't keep that up all the way through. Enjoyed Ospreay getting heat, playing to the crowd, and Cassidy fighting back worked really well for me. But the final stretch took me out of it completely with so many big moves and nearfalls that started exciting but kept being overused to the point that it sucked the tension out of the match completely. Then had Cassidy kick out of a hidden blade and then get pinned 5 seconds later? It made absolutely no sense to me; why would you waste that spot on a babyface loss? There's good stuff here, particularly in that middle stretch, but this is probably my least fav on the card, which is a shame."
[8.0] "(Grade:B+) This was a solid match! Orange Cassidy when he get in the zone pulls out some impressive moves and Ospreay is one of the best without a doubt! it was face-pace & while I knew OC wouldn't win some the near-falls got me at times!"
[9.0] "This was a very fun match to watch. A good example in in-ring storytelling too, since all of it was based around Will Ospreay underestimating Orange Cassidy and slowly getting "surprised" by him. Some really good near falls too, and seeing Ospreay's faces when Cassidy kicked out of his moves was fun."
[10.0] "This is the best this match could've possibly been. It's amazing how they can make you believe that Cassidy just may get the upset against Osprey with all of the false finishes. The match is built around Osprey treating Cassidy like a joke then almost losing it to him. Without this match there is no Cassidy international title reign. This match is what made people take Cassidy seriously. Cassidy is one of the best underdogs in wrestling and Osprey is brutal enough to work great in control and versatile enough to go hard and fast for the end. Amazing character work, in ring and crowd work wise."
[8.0] "Wrestling is first and foremost a show. Big matches are often killed by the lack of crowd investment, despite the work in the ring. This match was for the crowd and for the viewer. Opsreay and Orange are capable of amazing things in the ring, their work is seamless when combined, but that isn't the most impressive part. They told a simple story, Cassidy is the underdog, and Ospreay is the prick heel. And they did that so masterfully. The crowd was invested, I was invested, and this match is what the Forbidden Door is all about. Sure it's another great match for Ospreay, but it's a unique one in his catalog to this very day, and Orange got to flex his chops of greatness here too. 4.25 Stars."
[9.0] "This is one of the closest 9 matches to a 10 that I can think of. Cassidy further showed the legitimately impressive spots that he had been capable of, and Ospreay mixed his amazing move set with some egotistical charisma. This was a lot of fans most anticipated match, but the chemistry between these two were still able to exceed those expectations. With hilarious character moments, terrifically paced back and forth sequences and some shocking near falls. This really showed what the Forbidden Door should bring in a match. ****3/4"
[9.0] "[4.75*] This is my favorite match of all time, I have never had as much fun watching wrestling as I did this match. This is the peak of Cassidy's in-ring character, he does a phenomenal job. Ospreay and Cassidy had instant chemistry in the ring, Ospreay's moves were excellent, even more so with Cassidy's great sale. Ospreay's reactions in this match were hilarious, he was having fun here. The in-ring action was excellent, with phenomenal exchanges between them, the spots were incredible, and the final sequence of the match was exciting with several nearfalls between Cassidy and Ospreay, when I think of matches that are extremely entertaining from start to finish, I always I think about Ospreay vs Cassidy. Banger match. When this match ended I was extremely excited for the experience of watching it, but when Shibata appeared at the end, my hype grew even more, simply everything was excellent."
[7.0] "I'm not a huge fan of either of these guys but I thought this match was fairly good. I like Ospreay more now since he's gotten a bit older and switched up his style to be more grounded. I'm mostly a fan of this because its part of Katsuyori Shibata's AEW debut/return to wrestling more frequently."
[8.0] "never in my life would i think that these two would have such great chemistry in the ring, the false finishes alone made me jump out of my seat but the pure athleticism that they displayed made me take my shirt off"
[9.0] "This was a fantastic match in an almost surprising Match of the Night, in my opinion. Cassidy had an incredible showing while also giving Ospreay a strong title defense. This was truly amazing and an example of what makes Cassidy such a great underdog in wrestling. Plus, seeing Katsuyori Shibata come out to help Cassidy afterwards was so crazy."
"An incredible match with one of my favourite final stints in recent memory. Both men get to show their style and the crowd are incredibly into it, especially in the final false finishes. It's a match that had people confused as OC wasn't high on many peoples dream match list for Ospreay, but truly delivered. 9.5/10"
[10.0] "Match that turned my mind around on Orange Cassidy. Ospreay was a fantastic foil for him here, really playing into the gimmick and giving great character work."
[0.0] "I am not a fan of the style of any of them, so watching them in the ring together in this way and mixing their styles in the same match makes me feel a great hatred for this match, i can not see why this match is even here but the crowd was fully into it so i think it's worked just not for me."
[9.0] "A very unique spectacle between these two: both men's styles matched up very well and they both delivered amazing perfomances as Ospreay was the cocky heel and Cassidy was the perfect babyface. Some amazing counters and sequences with a beautiful crescendo near the end. Cassidy was so good in this match that made me believe he could've won the match but eventually Ospreay pinned him after a hidden blade and a stormbreaker. Post-match with Shibata was amazing, too. 9/10 - 4.5*/5*"
[9.0] "There's a reason why Orange Cassidy was called one of the best in the world by Will Ospreay after this match. He showed here just how good he is. His gimmick worked perfectly to antagonise Ospreay, but kept up with a man who is quickly becoming one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. A unique match that will both be one of the best of both men's careers by the end of it. Almost perfect"
[9.0] "This match balances comedy and being a downright incredible wrestling match very well. Ospreay is obviously great, playing a perfect heel, but Cassidy more than holds his own here. Most of the first half of this match is Cassidy basically just trolling Ospreay with his usual shenanigans until Ospreay eventually just starts beating Cassidy down. This leads to a banger of a comeback for Cassidy, surprising Ospreay with some absolutely insane counters, like a Stormbreaker into a hurricanrana for a brilliant near fall. Ospreay eventually got the win, but Cassidy proved that he is a brilliant wrestler when he wants to be and proved that he isn't just a gimmick. ****1/2"
[8.0] "The start early on where Cassidy just moved out of the way when Ospreay was doing his flippy stuff was awesome. Cassidy getting into Ospreay head while also keeping up with him was great stuff. Will's first heat segment was pretty good and he even had some solid back work that Cassidy solid in the moment well , but it didn't really lead onto something later on in the match. Cassidy's eventual comeback was very good and Osprey's bumping definitely made it better. The counters they had all match were good but they definitely amped it up down the stretch creating some cool near falls. Cassidy was able to survive a lot here but the storm breaker was eventually his downfall.****1/4"
[9.0] "What a match, gentlemen, what a match. Anyone who has always accused Will Ospreay of being a spot monkey and has always said that his matches have no psychology, do yourselves a favor and watch this gem. Ospreay and Cassidy's styles blended beautifully, creating something I've never seen before. The most comedy moments of the match are fantastic, like the one where Cassidy pretends he was down the whole time from Ospreay's elbow when in reality he was already ready to avoid his next attack, and the final minutes are pure fire. I repeat, Will Ospreay haters have to watch this match, maybe they'll change their minds"
[10.0] "This match stole the show! I thought it would be awesome going in, and it was even better than I expected. These two had incredible chemistry, matching each other step-for-step in both taunts and high-octane offence. So many great little moments, perfectly paced and they got the crowd progressively invested as it went on. Four false finishes and the crowd bought every one of them. It's summer 2022, and I think Will Ospreay might be the best professional wrestler on the planet at the moment."
[10.0] "I'm not the biggest Cassidy fan. I don't understand his gimmick and I don't find his character appealing. Though his match against Will Ospreay was incredible."
[10.0] "Watched this match back the other day and WOW! First ever AEW PPV I purchased and watched live and man was this the match of the night if not the year. As someone relatively new to wrestling this was amazing to me with awesome reversals, insane false finishes, amazing crowd reactions and taunts and by God, was that in ring work ws incredible. OC wants again puts in amazing character work as a guy who seems not to care but deep down you know. Ospreay plays the heel role tremendously, with outside help from Aussie Open, his arrogant attitude only for it to bite him in the *** and digging his hands in OC's pocket to pull out a middle finger. Only problems I kind of have is Orange not winning and the fact Ospreay didn't have the belt/title with him. Insanely good match that dunks on the haters of both these amazing men. My MOTY for sure."
[5.0] "This was an Orange Cassidy match mixed with a Will Ospreay flippy match. I have on occasian liked Ospreay's work when it was serious (recent example being against Dax Harhood) but this was just moves and comedy mashed together. The audience for whatever reason really like Cassidy's schtick and when he switched from his lazy self to his not lazy self they went crazy. The nearfalls really had them too. I don't get it but good for them. Anyways this was an athletically impressive "contest" with an obvious winner (at least to me) where the rules were followed for the most part (aside from lax countouts) which is good. This is an overrated match that I didn't hate but didn't particularly like and I wish they would have just given us Yano and Cassidy."
[10.0] "The best match of the night on a card designed to put on exciting bangers, Ospreay continues to be a MOTYC machine, and Orange puts on one of his best ever performances."
[10.0] "Match of the night absolutely no question. This is egg on the face of every single person who hates these two's matches. The reversals were insane, the whole match was on fire and the crowd was roaring like an air raid siren. And this wasn't just moves being done, both men played to all their strengths in terms of character, story, and wrestling ability. *5*"
[9.0] "match of the year candidate. OC & Ospreay stole the show. these two have incredible chemistry. the crowd was super into it. the closing stretch was just near fall after near fall. and Shibata returned! [****3/4]"
[7.0] "Its was a fun and entertaining match, really cool chemistry that this 2 have, but for there missing a little more storytelling, the action was fun tho"
[9.0] "Some will hate it, some will love it. That was always going to be the case with this match but I really enjoyed it as I don? t take wrestling as serious as some"
[7.0] "Another solid match with a predictable finish and no build in a card full of solid matches with predictable finishes with no build. The action was good. ***1/2."
[10.0] "MOTN on an extremely great card. Ospreay on display for the AEW audience is fun to see. Cassidy looked like a million bucks and his schtick is perfect for Ospreay's cocky persona. This match was the goods!"
[10.0] "Whew, what a spectacle! It's not easy to draw me in since I don't watch this stuff anymore, but this match was so easy-breezy and mellow that it might turn into my go-to for modern pro-wrestling classics. I am a bit familiar with Orange Cassidy, in fact, he is one of my favourite gimmicks ever, but not being a fan of Japanese wrestling promotions old or new, Will Ospreay impressed the shit out of me. The chemistry these guys have is unbelievable. Two artistic wrestlers, one works the crowd, the other does the crazy moves and vice versa. And the post-match events seemed epic too despite all being an unknown territory for me. So hell yeah, this match has some theatrical quality perfomances!"
[7.0] "Very good match! I thought the contrast between personas at the beginning played out very well, perhaps my favorite part of the match. The flurries at the end were also impeccable, I loved their contrast to the earlier work, kind of whiplashing you. I did think the pacing in the first 2/3-ish of the match was a bit wonky, and felt a little push and pull in an unintentional and awkward way, and I thought towards the end the nearfalls got excessive to the point where the finish of the match was diluted because of what it followed, and that held it back from being a truly great match for me. Overall it was very, very good though!"
[10.0] "one of my new favourite matches, super silly flippy bollocks but its so much fun. the fact that orange cassidy kept kicking out is really really good. im not gonna spoil much but go watch it if you haven't already. 5 stars"
[9.0] "Not really a fan of Orange Cassidy Comedic gimmick but this was a good bout against Ospreay. I didn't rate this match as highly because of the amount high flying spots from both competitor which made it seem highly planned or look kinda like a spot fest. I would agree with everyone else and say this was the motn of the ppv card."
[9.0] "Best match of the night, by far. Possibly the best match in AEW all year for me. I don't really need to say anymore than that, a great showing of personality from both of them. maybe a bit too slow paced in the middle half but it isn't a problem at all IMO. probably the best match that OC will have in his career, Once again proving how great the Billy G.O.A.T really is. ****3/4th"
[9.0] "MOTN for me. Awesome stuff with some super athletic exchanges. Ospreay makes everyone better, Orange included. The closing stretch was great in particular and the hidden blade kick out stunned me. ****1/2"
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