Following Edge vs. Randy Orton, is Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy poised to be the true GREATEST WRESTLING MATCH EVER?

There’s been a lot of talk recently about the greatest wrestling matches of all time.

Let’s be honest, most of us have had a lot of time on our hands. Most people have been at home for the past three months or so, and have had plenty of time to watch the pro wrestling. They’ve had time to form their opinion on what they liked the most out of anything ever presented. Maybe less time than originally predicted, since WWE managed to get itself declared an essential business & AEW came along for the ride. Still, most of us have had some time to go back and watch some of our favorites, or watch something that we hadn’t seen before that was new to us.

It seemed like a good time to figure out what actually was the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever. Then, WWE decided they were going to answer that question for us. Randy Orton challenged Edge to a straight-up wrestling match at Backlash, and right away WWE decided to build that as the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever. Everybody actually involved in having the match hated the idea, because they had to try & live up to it. I actually liked the idea because it was something different. WWE had never built something up as the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever in name. I’m not sure I’ve seen any promotion do that. I’ve seen things hyped as the Match of the Decade, like when AAA booked Dr. Wagner Jr. against Psycho Clown in a Mask vs. Mask match. (It actually kinda lived up to it from an emotional perspective, try finding a more emotional moment in the 2010s than Wagner unmasking. There weren’t many.) I don’t remember seeing anything other than Edge vs. Orton hyped as the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever.

They did their best to live up to it, and it was a damn good match! I hated their WrestleMania match, but their Backlash match was very good. Frankly, Randy Orton has found another level lately, as we saw on Raw with the Christian angle. He’s found some good material that interests him, which happens to be killing legends that broke in around the same time he did. He really doesn’t want to do it, as he tells us over & over again, but he has to. I have been on record as being bored by Randy for years on end, but he’s one of the more compelling characters in WWE today.

Of course, we all knew that somebody would have to counter this. If WWE is going to present something as the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever, other promotions would counter with something else. Usually, it would be every independent promotion under the sun during the next major WWE PPV weekend. GCW would give us Nick Gage vs. Necro Butcher. CHIKARA would give us Mike Quackenbush vs. Reckless Youth. For the record, I wish both feds would book both those matches as the Greatest Wrestling Match Ever.

Instead, AEW has answered the call. They’re hyping Fyter Fest as a two-week event on TNT, and NXT is already booking against it with a unification match. They already had Jon Moxley defending the AEW Championship against Cage and a big Tag Team Championship match, along with a big Women’s Championship match too. This Wednesday night, they booked a match that will set Fyter Fest apart from the rest of the two-week presentations on cable television.

It is official!@orangecassidy goes one on one against @IAmJericho at FyterFest!
It's the start of a two-week event!
July 1st & July 8th! pic.twitter.com/3cJUyq6AQn

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEWrestling) June 18, 2020

This deserves a full breakdown…starting with Chris Jericho.

Chris Jericho is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Whether you like it or not, he’s held almost every major championship that he’s been able to fight for. He was the very first Undisputed WWF Champion that beat Steve Austin & The Rock in the same night. He has more Intercontinental title reigns than anyone. He was the very first AEW Champion. There aren’t many wrestlers with the credentials he has, and there’s no signs he’s slowing down anytime soon. He’s been a drawing card for any promotion that he’s worked for. Like him or not, you have to admit that Chris Jericho is among the very best at what he does.

We’ve seen during his AEW tenure that Jericho elevates everybody he works with. Sure, he beat Adam Page, but Page turned into one of AEW’s best characters. Darby Allin got made by some interactions with Jericho. Cody’s loss to Jericho led to other stories where Cody tried to remain relevant. Scorpio Sky got made by beating Jericho one time and having a title match. Jon Moxley is obvious. Whoever wrestles Jericho is a big deal.

Then we have Orange Cassidy.

So many people wanted to tell us that AEW made a mistake signing Orange. Jim Cornette was big on the anti-Orange bandwagon. That character wasn’t exactly known for its workrate, except for certain times where Orange had great matches. And I don’t want to break kayfabe, but I’m told that Orange worked as other characters in other promotions that showcased plenty of ability. I don’t know if any insects were involved. All I know is that the guy has been highly touted for years. And also bashed by people that didn’t know better.

AEW fans have been into Orange since the start. His segment ratings do well. His YouTube views are among the best. Fans liked dressing up like him when they could attend shows. As far as we can tell, Orange Cassidy is one of the best drawing folks in the company. Some wanted to write that off as an accident early on, but it kept on happening. Not everybody gets Orange, but enough people do. As I told my best friend that didn’t really get Orange Cassidy, sometimes you just have to go with it. The majority of AEW fans are on board. It’s tough to get the majority of any promotion’s fans on board with anybody, so these days I just tell everybody to go with it.

Orange is a draw. Jericho is a draw. The ultimate draw, theoretically, involves Mike Tyson. Maybe it doesn’t. Who knows what to expect with Mike Tyson in 2020? Maybe he has some big PPV fights in front of him. Maybe there’s nothing there. I feel like it’s either all or nothing, but I can’t swear to either. Maybe this all leads to a Jericho/Tyson match at All Out, which would be a whole other conversation.

Which wouldn’t involve the “Greatest Wrestling Match Ever.”

Nobody would expect that from Jericho & Tyson. However, the argument could be made for the match setting that up. Think about it. We’re talking about one of the greatest of all time, a man that’s been on his game lately. We’re also talking about one of the greatest of his generation. A man that can do all of the spots. A man that can also avoid doing all of the spots, and can still get over. Chris Jericho was always over back in the day no matter how he was pushed. Orange Cassidy has that same quality right now. We don’t know whether or not it will last, but that doesn’t matter right now.

We’re talking about the “GREATEST WRESTLING MATCH EVER” right now.

You can’t find a more valuable performer than Jericho in AEW. You also can’t find a more popular performer than Orange Cassidy. Why wouldn’t that be the GREATEST WRESTLING MATCH EVER? Tony Khan knows it is, that’s why he booked it.

This is no slight against Randy Orton or Edge. Lord knows they did enough to earn the slot this past Sunday. But they’ll have some company after Fyter Fest.