Tony Khan On Orange Cassidy Being One Of AEW’s Biggest Stars, His Impact On Viewership

During his weekly appearance on Busted Open Radio, AEW president Tony Khan discussed a variety of topics, including Orange Cassidy being one of AEW’s biggest stars, Cassidy’s impact on the company’s viewership, and much more. Here’s what Khan had to say (via Fightful):

Tony Khan on Orange Cassidy being one of AEW’s biggest stars: “In the production meeting, the first year, and JR, not under his breath said something about how stupid the whole thing was in the first year. I said, in front of everyone because Jim called me out in front of the whole room, ‘Jim, this is getting over and doing ratings every single time. We’ve barely scratched the surface of what the guy can do and he’s actually a really good wrestler. Give him a chance and talk to him because he’s a very intelligent wrestling person once you get to know him. We’ve barely scratched the surface, trust me.’ A lot of people might not like it, but frankly, he’s become one of our big stars. That’s the best example of someone exceeding what I thought they could do coming in. I thought he would be a manager, mostly, coming in.”

On managing Cassidy’s character in AEW: “Once I realized how gifted he actually is, I had no idea Orange Cassidy was actually Fire Ant when I first met him. Once I realized that was the same guy and he actually is a great pro wrestler, I came up with the idea, ‘let’s hide that for six to eight months and not show anyone all the stuff you can do until the first Revolution and that’s where you make your big debut in your first real match and where you show people you can really wrestle. Don’t do anything until then.’ It worked really well and we have a lot of big stars, but that’s one person that always moves the needle for us.”

On Cassidy’s impact on the company’s viewership: “They matter. I get that some people don’t like it, but it’s net positive. It’s like making a profit. Sometimes you spend money, but you have to bring in more than you spend. He is a big-net positive. There might be people that don’t like him, but more people turn the TV on and click on his videos because of him. With every wrestler, there are pros and cons, but it’s about what they do on the net for the company. This guy is a huge net asset and brings in a lot of people.”