All Elite Wrestling presented one of the most loaded in-ring cards in recent memory Wednesday night, live from Fresno, California, headlined by the continuation of Bryan Danielson’s quest for a world title shot at MJF.

Was The American Dragon able to defeat former Ring of Honor world champion Bandido and take one step closer to getting his hands on the scarf-wearing Salt of the Earth?

On the heels of a grueling victory with Kenny Omega over Death Triangle in Los Angeles a week ago, were The Young Bucks primed for an upset at the hands of the suddenly surging Top Flight?

Those questions and more were answered on the January 18 TBS broadcast.

There are detractors of the comedic side of his character, but Orange Cassidy once again proved at the top of Wednesday’s show that he could have a very good match against wrestlers of all styles, backgrounds and experience as he defended the All-Atlantic Championship against Jay Lethal.

Satnam Singh, Jeff Jarrett and Sonjay Dutt were barred from ringside, with the threat of the latter being fired from the company if they did not heed the ruling from Tony Khan. That did not stop them from “buying tickets,” only for it to be revealed that Best Friends’ Chuck Taylor and Trent Beretta actually had those seats.

Cassidy fought from underneath, as he typically does, firing off a flurry of offense late as he sought to defeat his challenger. He evaded a pinfall off the Lethal Injection, scored an Orange Punch moments after Danhausen broke up attempted interference from the heels and earned the victory.

It was a good, entertaining match with a ton of effort from both competitors. Lethal and Cassidy have done this dance before, and their chemistry with one another remains strong. This is the perfect place for the heel faction rather than the higher-profile feud with Darby Allin and Sting, and it shows.

Fans are more willing to accept Jarrett and Co. in this spot, and they have worked well with the babyfaces to this point. Who knows if the feud will carry on beyond tonight, but there are worse options for all involved.