AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy has responded to critics who claim he is disrespecting professional wrestling by citing how Japanese legend and current ROH Pure Champion Katsuyori Shibata decided to wrestle him last year. Cassidy defeated Shibata on the November 4 AEW Rampage.
When asked about the Shibata encounter, Cassidy spoke with Casual Conversations with The Wrestling Classic and made the comments about critics.
“There are a lot of people that don’t care for me, that don’t care about what I’m doing,” Cassidy said. “They don’t like what I’m doing, they don’t appreciate it. They think I’m insulting professional wrestling or whatever you want to call it. Then there is a living legend and a phenomenal professional wrestling in Shibata. He said he wanted, on his return, because he actually almost died doing what he does in the ring, and when he came back and was able to wrestle, he mentioned two people. One of them was Bryan Danielson, and the other one was me. I don’t think people understand that, but I never thought that a person of that stature would even consider me for something like that, and it was truly an honor. I barely beat him. I mean, I was terrified because he is Shibata. But because of that, Shibata and I actually played roulette last night, so we’re friends.”
Cassidy defended his championship in the 21-man Blackjack Battle Royal this past Sunday at AEW Double Or Nothing. Shibata will defend his championship on ROH TV tonight against Alex Coughlin, then on AEW Rampage this Friday against Lee Moriarty.
You can check out the interview below:
