Orange Cassidy Recounts Origin of His Hands in Pockets Spot

Orange Cassidy’s signature “hands in pockets” spot has become a calling card for him as a performer, and he recently recalled its origin. The AEW star has done a number of high-risk maneuvers with his hands in his pockets, which has drawn the attention of fans both good and bad.

Cassidy was asked about the spot during his appearance on TMZ Inside the Ring. He recalled coming up with the bit during a match with Marko Stunt in order to annoy Stunt, and began doing it once it caught on. He also recalled how he’s had some flubs with the spot on the indies while running the ropes. You can see highlights below:

On the Origin of the Hands In Pockets Spot:

“I was finding a lot of success being as lazy as I possibly could. You’d be amazed that when you’re wrestling somebody, and you’re standing in the middle of the ring, and you don’t really care how disarming that is and how easily it is to take advantage of that. It’s just another — as I was doing stuff, I believe I was wrestling Marko Stunt. If you know who Marco Stunt is. He was doing his thing and really getting under my skin. So I just decided, ‘Alright, I’m going to put my hands on my pockets.’

“And you know, he got mad, and I took advantage of it. And I just did it ever since. It’s just one of those things that, when you’re in the ring, and you’re trying stuff, something works, and it clicks, and you’re doing it for six more years.”

On His Reaction To Realizing It Was Working:

“I thought about how ridiculous, like, ‘Oh, this is working? Great!’ It’s one of those things — I’ve spent a lot of time in professional wrestling. And like over a decade, it took me to figure out what I needed to do to connect with people and stuff. And you never know what’s going to work, and you just got to try to just keep at it and be persistent. It’s one of those things where I am very grateful I had the opportunity to try this stuff out, like I had a lot of time. I had nothing to lose, so I was just trying anything.”

“And that is like a thing I never thought would happen, where people would be like, ‘Oh yeah, you’re the guy who puts his hands in your pockets.’ But that to me is what is a great professional wrestler. Something that stands out that people can identify with.”

On if He’s Ever Had Close Calls With the Spot:

“Yeah, running the ropes is not fun. AEW, we have a great ring crew, phenomenal ring crew. Burt is, he’s amazing for the ring, and Bob and stuff. So I’m not worried about that. But when I was wrestling in some other promotions or wrestling around the country in the independents, sometimes you hit those ropes, and they might slide up. And there was a couple times where I went backwards through the ropes, and then the top rope came back and hit me in the mouth. And nothing you could do about it.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit TMZ Inside The Ring with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.