Swerve Strickland Getting One-On-One Shot At Orange Cassidy's AEW International Title

Orange Cassidy has defended his AEW International Championship on eight occasions in 2023, with his most recent title defense coming against 20 other men in a battle royal at Double or Nothing. Despite taking on all comers, Cassidy could be facing the toughest challenge of his title reign on next week's "AEW Dynamite" in a one-on-one match against Swerve Strickland.

The match was announced by AEW CEO Tony Khan following this week's "AEW Dynamite," where Strickland defeated Big Bill and Trent Beretta in a three-way match, establishing himself as a top title challenger for Cassidy. Incidentally, Strickland was the last person eliminated by Cassidy during Sunday's battle royal, meaning there's a built-in storyline for next week's title match, which could potentially end with Strickland winning a singles title for the first time in his AEW career. 

In fact, the match would mark the first instance of Strickland receiving a singles title shot in AEW since he challenged for Ricky Starks' FTW Championship way back in March 2022. 

Cassidy, meanwhile, has defended his title against the likes of Kyle Fletcher, Daniel Garcia, Bandido, Buddy Matthews, and The Butcher, but has yet to square off against someone like Strickland, who has been positioned as a top-tier star in AEW. As such, fans on social media believe Cassidy's dominant reign could be drawing to an end next week. 

Besides Cassidy vs. Strickland, the confirmed lineup for next week's "Dynamite" includes a singles match between bitter rivals Ricky Starks and Jay White. The show is also expected to feature the fallout from Adam Cole and Britt Baker's victory over Chris Jericho and Saraya, and potentially include more appearances from NJPW wrestlers as AEW and NJPW build towards their upcoming crossover pay-per-view event, Forbidden Door 2.