During a recent appearance on “The Shaky Experience” podcast, former AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy shared his thoughts on the AEW locker room.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On the AEW locker room: “Right now, the locker room, to me, we all want to do our very best. At AEW, we’re trying to cultivate an idea that we should help each other do our best. It is competitive, but I feel it’s a healthy competition. When I see Will Ospreay have a match with Ricochet, when I see my friend Mark Briscoe go wrestle Kyle Fletcher, and they do incredible things, it helps drive me to do my best as well. It shouldn’t be a, ‘I want to get to the top so I’m going to step on you to get there.’ It should be, ‘I want to go to the top, but we should all help each other climb the ladder to get to the top.’”
On how it can be a daunting experience: “It can be daunting sometimes. You can see a match between Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay or Ospreay and (Konosuke) Takeshita, and they are doing superhuman things. They can do things no one else can do. That’s what makes AEW so special. Everybody brings something unique to them. I try to accentuate that aspect. What separates me from them is the healthy competition of, I want to have the best performance of the night or best match.”
On viewing AEW as a positive place right now: “I feel it’s a positive place right now. We have a ton of young talent, too, that are very fortunate in AEW. It’s the environment we’re trying to make backstage, but the younger roster members are so attentive and they try their best. They take feedback and they want to do their best. What is that thing, pay it forward? That’s what we’re trying to do.”
During a recent interview with “Puroresu Today,” wrestler Mina Shirakawa discussed her upcoming title match against TBS Champion Mercedes Mone at Wrestle Dynasty 2025.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On facing Mercedes Mone: “My match with Mercedes Mone is something I have dreamed about for a long time. I met her as a friend when I was in my previous organization. When she first came to Japan, I attended her through a mutual acquaintance because we could speak English. Since then, she has been a friend of mine and we have become good friends. But when she came to Japan (at the Yokohama Arena), she had the IWGP Women’s Title match, I had a white belt match, and I had a fight with Mariah May at AEW, so we didn’t have much chance to be in the same ring.”
On competing at the Tokyo Dome: “I am so happy to be able to compete on the highest stage, the Tokyo Dome, and for the title. But I think I am in a place where it is not enough to just say that my dream has come true. I used to watch the matches from the audience in the Tokyo Dome, write columns as a reporter, and have the frustrating experience of being second-guessed but not being able to get into the ring. My current goal is to finally win in front of all the Japanese fans at a big venue like the Tokyo Dome.”
