Cipperly debuted on March 13, 2004, for theHanover, Pennsylvania-based Ground Breaking Wrestling (GBW) promotion. Wrestling as "JC Ryder", heteamed with Danny Rage (now known as Dan Champion) as the New Jersey Independent All-Stars. Throughout 2004, Ryder wrestled primarily for GBW; he also made appearances with the Eastern Wrestling Alliance inBaltimore,Maryland and with the Valley Wrestling Alliance inWilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.[17] In January 2005, Ryder and Rage defeated Xtreme Pandemonium to win the GBW Tag Team Championship. They held the titles until May 2005 when they lost to CORE and Ian Cross.[18] They won the titles a second time in April 2006 by defeating the Untouchables, dropping them back to the Untouchables that December.[19]
Cipperly (as JC Ryder) debuted in thePennsylvania-basedChikara promotion in February 2005 at theTag World Grand Prix. In March and April 2005, he and Danny Rage (as the New Jersey Independent All-Stars) competed in a series of tag team matches. In June 2005, he competed in a qualifying match for theChikara Young Lions Cup, losing to Rorschach.[18] The following year, he began wrestling under a mask as Fire Ant, the leader ofthe Colony, a role he continued to portray for the next thirteen years.[20]
In 2012, Cipperly began working unmasked by using the Orange Cassidy ring name. Despite having wrestled under the ring name since 2007,[21] this version of the character was a precursor to his current look inAll Elite Wrestling (AEW). The same year,Chuck Taylor formed The Gentlemen's Club, which consisted of Taylor, Cassidy,Drew Gulak and the Swamp Monster.[22] Cassidy made his debut at Live At Road To Ruin Fest, where he was swiftly defeated by Grizzly Redwood.[23] He returned two years later atKing of Trios, where the Gentleman's Club were defeated by the Submission Squad.[24] During 2015, the Gentlemen's Club were announced as being part of the Challenge of the Immortals tournament. Cassidy was used in tag team and six-man matches,[25][26] as the stable won six points, failing to advance to the finals.[27] In 2016, Taylor was involved in a storyline where he kept changing his ring name after matches, in what was part of a larger legal battle with the new owner of the "Chuck Taylor" name,Chuck Taylor™. This culminated at Aniversario: The Lost World inGlasgow, where Taylor (as "Howie Dewitt") defeated Cassidy, who was seconded by Taylor™.[28] AtKing of Trios, Cassidy and Gulak participated in a tag team gauntlet match, eliminating The Closers andTeam Sea Stars, before being eliminated by Cornelius Crummels and Sonny Defarge.[29] At Judgment Day, Team Sea Stars defeated Cassidy and the Swamp Monster, marking the final time that Cipperly would appear in the promotion as Orange Cassidy.[30]
Cassidy started his first rivalry in AEW withPac in February 2020, after Cassidy interrupted Pac while he was being interviewed.[36] On February 29, atRevolution, Cassidy was defeated by Pac.[37] Cassidy's performance in the match was praised by critics.[38][39] On May 23, atDouble or Nothing, Cassidy participated in theCasino Ladder Match, but the match was won byBrian Cage.[40] Cassidy next began a feud withChris Jericho,[41] and was defeated by Jericho during the second night ofFyter Fest on July 8.[42] Cassidy won a rematch on the August 12 episode ofDynamite,[43] and was challenged by Jericho to aMimosa Mayhem match forAll Out, which Cassidy also won.[44] Across September and October, Cassidy challenged for theAEW TNT Championship, but was unsuccessful on each occasion.[45][46][47] On November 7, atFull Gear, Cassidy defeatedJohn Silver.[48]
Going into 2021, Cassidy and Best Friends started a feud withKip Sabian andMiro.[49] On March 7, atRevolution, Cassidy and Chuck Taylor were defeated by Sabian and Miro,[50] but Cassidy and Taylor defeated the team in anArcade Anarchy match on the March 31 episode ofDynamite.[51] In May, Cassidy received an opportunity for theAEW World Championship.[52] He competed for the championship atDouble or Nothing in athree-way match against championKenny Omega and Pac, but Omega ended up winning.[53] On September 5, atAll Out, Cassidy was on the winning side as Best Friends and Jurassic Express defeated the Hardy Family Office. Afterwards, he was attacked by the returningButcher, and almost had his head shaved, before the other babyfaces came out to make the save.[54] Later in the night, he accompaniedKris Statlander in her match againstBritt Baker. This was notable for a spot where Cassidy broke character, to urge Statlander to beat the count and get back in the ring.[55] On the October 6 episode ofDynamite, Cassidy participated in the seven-man Casino Ladder match for a future shot at the AEW World Championship. The match ended up being won byAdam Page.[56] Cassidy was then put into the AEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament and defeatedPowerhouse Hobbs in the first round.[57] He was scheduled to faceJon Moxley in the semi-finals, but Moxley was removed from the tournament due to going into rehabilitation for alcoholism. Moxley was replaced by Miro, who defeated Cassidy.[58]
In November, Cassidy and the rest of the Best Friends stable, began a feud withThe Elite, specifically Cassidy withAdam Cole.[59] On theDecember 22 episode ofDynamite, Cole defeated Cassidy after an interference from the debutingKyle O'Reilly.[60] On theDecember 29 episode ofDynamite, Cassidy and Best Friends were defeated by Cole andReDRagon.[61] On the January 19 episode ofDynamite, Cole and Baker defeated Cassidy and Statlander in a mixed tag team match, with Cole scoring another victory on Cassidy.[62] On theJanuary 26 episode ofDynamite, Cassidy defeated Cole in anUnsanctionedLights Out match that involved appearances from Best Friends, The Young Bucks, Bobby Fish and the debutingDanhausen.[63] Cassidy would qualify for the "Face of the Revolution"ladder match by defeatingAnthony Bowens,[64] but would fail to win the match atRevolution.[65] Days later, it was reported that Cassidy had suffered a shoulder injury during the match, leaving him out of action for months.[66]
Cassidy would then team with Best Friends to participate in a tournament for the newAEW World Trios Championship, defeating The Trustbusters (Ari Daivari,Parker Boudreaux and Slim J) in the first round, but lost toAdam Page andThe Dark Order (Alex Reynolds andJohn Silver) in the semifinal. On the September 7 episode ofDynamite, Cassidy and Best Friends facedDeath Triangle (Pac,Rey Fénix andPenta El Zero Miedo) for the vacant World Trios Championship in a losing effort. The following week, onDynamite, Cassidy attacked longtime rival Pac, setting up a title match between the two for Pac'sAll-Atlantic Championship atGrand Slam, which Cassidy lost after Pac hit him with a hammer. Cassidy finally defeated Pac in a rematch to win the All-Atlantic Championship on the October 12 episode ofDynamite.[70] This marked his first championship in All Elite Wrestling. On the October 21 episode ofRampage, Cassidy successfully defended his title in his first title defense againstRush andTen in atriple threat match.
AtWrestleDream, Cassidy teamed withHook in a four way tag team match againstThe Young Bucks,Lucha Brothers, andthe Gunns for a future AEW World Tag Team Championship match in which they were unsuccessful. AtTitle Tuesday, Cassidy regained the International Championship by defeating Rey Fénix, becoming the title's first two-time holder.[72] On March 3, 2024 atRevolution, Cassidy lost the International Championship toRoderick Strong, ending his reign at 145 days.[73]
On the April 3 episode ofDynamite, Cassidy was hit with a knee strike by Beretta after the duo lost a match to the Young Bucks in theAEW World Tag Team Championship Tournament.[74] On the May 8 episode ofDynamite, Cassidy defeated Berretta.[75] A rematch was scheduled forDouble or Nothing, where Cassidy was once again victorious.[76] During this time, Cassidy was being scouted byDon Callis to join his eponymously named stable,The Don Callis Family. On the May 29 episode ofDynamite, Cassidy would reject the offer only to find that Beretta was actually the one being scouted.[77] On the June 6 episode ofDynamite, Statlander would attack Cassidy during an exchange between him and Beretta.[78]
On the February 19, 2025 episode ofDynamite, Cassidy defeated Strong to earn a shot at the International Championship againstKonosuke Takeshita, but failed to win the title the following week.[84][85] In April 2025, it was reported that Cassidy suffered a possible torn pectoral, putting him out of action for an undisclosed amount of time.[86] Cassidy returned from injury on the September 24 episode ofDynamite, teaming with stablemates Mark Briscoe andHologram to defeat the Don Callis Family (Hechicero, Kazuchika Okada, and Konosuke Takeshita).[87] On November 12 atBlood & Guts, Cassidy teamed withDarby Allin, Mark Briscoe, Kyle O'Reilly, and Roderick Strong in aBlood and Guts match, where they defeated theDeath Riders (Jon Moxley,Claudio Castagnoli,Wheeler Yuta,Daniel Garcia, andPac).[88] On November 24, Cassidy was announced as a participant in the2025 Continental Classic, where he was placed in the Blue League.[89] Cassidy finished the tournament with 6 points but failed to advance to the semi-finals.[90]
Orange Cassidy hitting one of his signature "Kicks of Doom" on Dan the Dad
Having wrestled for over a decade and taking his current ring name around 2007, Cipperly's "Orange Cassidy" gimmick is based upon a single scene inWet Hot American Summer, involving the character portrayed byPaul Rudd.[91] In addition, hisentrance music on theindependent circuit (and later inAll Elite Wrestling), is "Jane" byJefferson Starship which was the song used in the opening credits of the aforementioned film.[92] He has also been compared to the unnamed character portrayed byRyan Gosling inDrive.[93] Cipperly stated that he created the gimmick to differentiate himself from other wrestlers better than him,[94] as well as a "middle finger to professional wrestling". He explained his character's motivations as "If I have to wrestle, I'll wrestle. [...] It's like one of those things, you have a job, you're good at it, but you know, do you really wanna?"[95]
He is commonly referred to as "The King of Sloth Style"[96] due to his slow movement and lackadaisical attacks. One of his signature moves is very light taps to the opponent's shins, sometimes dubbed the "Slow Motion Kick" or the "Kicks of Doom".[97][98] He is also known for hisnon sequitur promos, such as winning a debate withChris Jericho by discussing his knowledge ofclimate change instead of wrestling.[99]
After his debut for All Elite Wrestling in 2019, he has been referred to as "the most popular wrestler in AEW" by some wrestling writers.[100] AEW founder and co-ownerTony Khan said that theWarnerMedia executives (the parent company ofTBS andTNT, the networks on which AEW's programming airs) love his character.[101]ESPN named him "wrestling's male breakout star of 2020."[102]
^He originally won the title as the AEW All-Atlantic Championship, but during his reign on March 15, 2023, it was renamed to AEW International Championship. AEW originally considered this the start of a new reign for a new title, but in May 2023, the title history was amended to show that it is all the same championship.
^When Cassidy won the title on October 12, 2022, the title was named the AEW All-Atlantic Championship. On March 15, 2023, the title was rebranded the AEW International Championship
^Craig, Kyle (October 15, 2021)."Orange Cassidy: The Phillipsburg grad who found pro wrestling stardom his own way".The Express-Times. RetrievedMarch 14, 2022.The gift is a sign of the connection Cassidy has made with the pro wrestling audience and how far his career has come, which is a long way from the grueling independent circuits – and an even greater distance from Phillipsburg High School, where Cassidy graduated in 2002 back when he was known as James Cipperly.
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