[10.0] "They took the great final stretch of the battle royal from AEW Double Or Nothing (2023) between these two and turned it into a match. This match between both men was real fantastic with fantastic in ring action and chemistry, the crowd was hot and it showed just how much of a rising star in AEW Swerve was evolving into."
[7.0] "This match had a pretty rough start. After a nice display of grappling both guys just didn't look on the same page. Cassidy looked really sluggish with his movements and there were several lulls in the action during the first half. Cassidy's attacks looked pretty weak while Swerve's looked a lot cleaner. Things picked up after the big-move trade on the apron. Their exchanges were really fun and the finishing stretch was really hot. There were several believable nearfalls and impactful big moves like Cassidy's rana counter and Swerve's brainbuster on the floor. Good match in the end. ***1/2"
[9.0] "That was excellent. Swerve was a serious candidate to dethrone OC, but the champ displayed once against his resilience. Strickland dominated a lot, but Cassidy kept going, and kept going, and it pissed Swerve so much. The chemistry between them was so natural, and they have put some crazy spots. Both lads took nasty bumps for the love of the game. Great use of nearfalls, too. The fans were so hot for this, and I can only agree with them. It was 15 minutes of great wrestling, with a lot of suspense and good moves as well. One of the best, if not the best, defense of Cassidy."
[8.0] "Great way to kickoff the show: really good perfomances by both men and some very cool spots and moments. Cassidy's ddt on the floor was awesome and Sw3rve's brainbuster on the floor was sick. Nice roll-up sequence as well for the ending and the post-match was also very fun. Cassidy is on the run of his life and Se3rve is doing great as a heel, very solid match. 8/10 - 4*/5*"
[8.0] "Man, the crowd was HOT for this one and rightfully so. These two guys put on a banger to open up Dynamite. I wasn't the biggest fan of the "leverage pin" finish, but this was still one of Cassidy's best title defenses yet that only adds to this awesome reign as International Champion."
[6.0] "Cassidy continues the stupid tradition again, purely defeating those who dominate him 90% of the match, and defeating those who have been beaten in every possible way with a roll-up. The match was interesting in moments, sometimes impressive things happened, but mostly I felt that it would become clear to me whether I liked this match or not after the end. And, unfortunately, final was bad. It's not a bad match, but such a strong rating depresses me (***)."
[6.0] "This match had a good story and a good pace, but it also had a lot of small mistakes and some over-choreographed spots, which is the problem I have with most of Orange Cassidy's matches. Plus, Swerve is not the most solid guy in the ring, as he also commits some small botches in his big spots. Had it been flawless, I'll probably rate this an 8. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable opener."
[9.0] "Swerve and Orange were a very good pairing. Strickland played a very good heel and Orange played the injuried underdog babyface great in this match. Lot of good new spots and hard hitting high paced action."
[9.0] "Really great match. Last few minutes were amazing. Was rooting for swerve. But still really good opener. hoping we get another match between them down the way."
[8.0] "A red-hot opener between Cassidy & Strickland with the intentions being clear for both & a gradual change in the match flow. After a contrasting start, they found the right tempo & tools to deliver a crispy clash of a beloved champion & a despicable challenger. Cassidy's reign is setting a bar that'll be tough to follow for the future champions and I'm glad that he's shining bright in spite of the major attractions. The same goes for Strickland for his wonderful craftiness in his demeanor and class of action. The ending seems to pave the way for a rematch that could be built even intense. 4 out of 5 stars!"
[8.0] "Started off a bit awkwardly I thought, with a few stutters and slowdowns, but they soon picked it back up and it got really good. Swerve is a top class heel, managing to be dislikeable while still keeping his wrestling entertaining to watch. The diving DDT to the floor was incredible and led to a fantastic near fall. I love the story of OC getting more and more banged up and getting closer and closer to losing his belt. I hope we get a rematch further down the line!"
[9.0] "A good episode starts with a Cassidy match. What this guy managed to do in the international draw, thanks to him and all his very good matches the prestige of the title is incredible. Very happy that he's keeping it."
[8.0] "Excellent match. OC has had a great reign. I actually thought Swerve was going to win this one though. I wouldn't mind at all if this turned into a longer story."
[8.0] "The match started with OC putting his hands in his pocket and going on offense which the crowd enjoyed although some of the early exchanges were a little too choreographed for my tastes. The action later in the match made up for the rough beginning, all the big bumps and exciting exchanges coupled with the charisma of both men made for a great title defense. Even though Swerve lost clean here he's still a good candidate to take the belt off OC, the crowd really bought into some of his near falls and cheered him a lot at certain points."
[7.0] "That DDT from the edge of the ring to the ground was very nice; What this match has that not many starting matches have is that, in addition to the fact that it is not a very important show, not PPV, the need to win is still felt, that realism that the two are fighting for a championship, giving it importance and relevance to a championship, a championship that can even be defined as terceary, something that I applaud from AEW and these two wrestlers in particular; beautiful transition from a bombshell to a hurricanrana by Cassidy; What a shitty ending, well the match still makes many mistakes and shows some lack of coordination, but at the same time the match is excellent to watch and in execution of movements, it's acceptable."
[10.0] "Yet another killer title defense from Orange Cassidy, maybe his best so far. He showed amazing chemistry with Strickland just like at the PPV, but with full focus it came off even better. I really bit on some of the nearfalls and was surprised at the outcome."
[8.0] "As always, Orange Cassidy proving his worth and obviously although he was expected to retain, Swerve put up a great fight and I think he deserves some individual push."
[8.0] "another great defense from Cassidy. the plot is allways the same but the good thing it's that it never gets boring. this is a candidate for the best title reign of the year"
[8.0] "I was really looking forward to this after these two ended up as the last two combatants in the Blackjack Battle Royal. It didn't disappoint. This was pretty evenly matched with both guys pulling off some absurd counters. Thought Swerve might be the one to end OC's epic reign but it wasn't meant to be. ****"
[7.0] "I severely dislike Swerve....until I watch him wrestle. Then I think he's just a great heel. Look I know people are tired of Orange Cassidy or whatever, but he's been telling this story of his body just breaking down from all the defenses. On a side note, I think wrestling fans are a lot less fond of top babyfaces by default and OC is getting a little long in the tooth with this title run. The kids still love him, so maybe it's not for wrestle nerds who sit writing long reviews on 15 minute TV fillers.Swerve tormented the man with his control through most of the match. There were a lot of really awesome acrobatic spots, but for the most part much slower than a normal OC match. Sped up as the match went into the finish. Made you think that Swerve didn't have it in him. Really sold that he's very close to losing the title. It could have happened tonight. Maybe? Who knows. Was it a wrestling classic? Nah. But held ok. Solid TV match."
[5.0] "Standard AEW overkill 'epic'. Their interactions at the end of the Double or Nothing battle royal were really fun, but them having an extended meeting here, while not bad or anything, definitely wasn't that exciting. Aren't we just tired of Cassidy doing the exact same 'pocket' spots and 'pretending to not care' spots by now? I know I am. It doesn't help that those spots have become even less special because he's been so overexposed with his title reign forcing us to see him wrestle every single week. At least Cassidy impressed with a few nice displays of genuine grappling early on, though his attempts at high-flying were often quite sloppy or just weak-looking. Swerve's own offence was always far more crisp and flashy, and I also enjoyed his arrogant displays and aggressive beatdown work. They unfortunately had quite a bit of annoying over-cooperation for their bigger spots, though at least those spots were usually somewhat creative in theory. Cassidy was pretty pick-and-choose-y with regards to when he decided to sell his supposedly near-broken hand, which was disappointing because the whole story of his mounting injuries is the only slightly interesting thing about his reign, but he won't even fully commit to getting that story over. Their rapid trades were much more exciting (naturally, given their faster pace) but they were still a bit sloppy and they became completely absurd with their no-selling and lightning-quick recoveries. Props to Swerve for taking some equally awesome and sickeningly dangerous bumps for all of Cassidy's big moves. However, Swerve surviving so many big moves from Cassidy PLUS Cassidy's Orange Punch and Beach Break finishers was ridiculous, and Swerve barely sold any of them before immediately firing back with big moves of his own while running and flying around the ring like he was totally fine. All those big moves, only for the match to end via a flash pin, was also disappointing. What's extra disappointing is just the fact that Cassidy is STILL International Champion after all this time. He's already beaten everyone in the mid-card, and despite having kayfabe injuries building up week after week, he STILL manages to continue winning, and it's just really tiresome at this point. Swerve already lost to Cassidy in the Double or Nothing battle royal, and he's lost to him again now, so where does he go from here that's remotely interesting? Alright match with some real annoyances and bad booking all around. **3/4"
[9.0] "A low 9/10. Balls to the wall incredible opener. Some off the moves on and off the apron would bloody brutal and I love it. Hope they revisit this match.I would say this is the second best TV match this week behind Rollins VS Priest."
[7.0] "Swerve looked great. The OC formula is what it is at this point. Not the most compelling thing to see week-to-week, and Swerve should've gone over here or at least loss in a way that protected him a bit more."
[8.0] "Great match. Great opener. Great back and forth between these two. Cassidy showing incredible resilience and even beating Strickland at his own game. Strickland looked good in defeat."
[9.0] "This was a fantastically fun match, the whole bout had me at the edge of my seat. I thought for sure Swerve would come out on top, but Cassidy won in a way that made sense and this would up being really entertaining. Cassidy's been on a hell of a roll lately with these title defenses. *4.5*"
[8.0] "This was a good opener to start off the show. This would had been the perfect time for Swerve to win the title, but ill only rate this for the match itself. Cassidy wins via roll up. 7.75 out of 10. ***3/4"
[7.0] "It felt like they weren't on the same page for the first half but the second half was incredible. Great nearfalls at the end and this OC story will continue to work as long as the matches are still this good."
[7.0] "Way too fucking long. Im tired of this OC bullshit. Hes burying the entirety of the mid-card roster. Hes an unimpressive wrestler with a shit gimmick. This reign is ass and I hope someone takes the title from him soon and whoops his ass. Strickland is good though. Hes why I rated it as high as I did. Hes athletic, agile, charismatic, and has the look of a star. He shouldve won this thing. I will give props to both guys for taking those bumps. Still doesnt mean I like OC. 7/10. ***1/2"
[7.0] "SIGH. I have such mixed feelings on this one. First - this was a good match. Swerve has Orange's number here and stays a step ahead - finally somebody countering or avoiding many of Orange's well-patterned moves. That was awesome and Swerve looked so good. But then Orange wins. It's just....I don't care. I went from really liking Orange to not wanting to see him on my TV for awhile. It isn't the length of this title reign, or that he isn't a good champion, but the excessive screen time and matches EVERY WEEK he has, while the TNT title suffers in constant limbo and the women fight for a single match per show. The beaten-down storyline has also overstayed its peak, and he now looks stupidly overpowered and protected."
[9.0] "I understand wanting Cassidy to into Forbidden Door as champion but sometimes you just have to pull the trigger especially after an awesome match like this one. Now, I'd do Suzuki vs OC at Forbidden Door where he retains again and then Swerve wins in a rematch in the weeks after. ****1/4"
[6.0] "The match is good for sure but not so good to be rated more than six. It's still a skippable title defense in a reign that must end at this point..."
[5.0] "Swerve and OC didn't display the electric chemistry they've shown before, specifically in the Blackjack Battle Royal. They made up for it with big spots like the brainbuster on the floor and the driver on the apron. OC's hair-fixing remains the biggest issue with any top character's presentation in AEW."
[9.0] "Great match right here between Cassidy and Strickland which was everything I'd hoped it would be to start the evening, and much more, as for me it's the best title match of Cassidy's run behind that awesome Wheeler Yuta one, so it's quite a testament as he's had a lot of quality matches, including the one against Bandido which is also memorable. I really liked everything I saw here, the two clicked well together and in the ring they did some great spots, including the one on the apron. Big nearfalls on both sides too, I really thought Swerve was going to win. Loved this match."
[7.0] "Good, but I think it could have been a bit better. Some of the moves looked a bit sloppy and there were some occasional lulls in action during the first half. It picked up during the battle on the apron and had some exciting moments after this. I definitely preferred their work against each other in the battle royal a couple weeks ago, but there was enough here that I liked to edge out a 7.0 rating even if it could have used a bit of tightening up here and there. It helped that the match didn't feel as predictable as the majority of OC's defences."
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