Streets of Rage games aren’t strangers to grapple holds and suplexes, so a wrestling crossover makes sense.

And it’s entirely possible that the latest installment in the franchise has one of the most unexpected homages yet.

Orange Cassidy is one of the breakout stars in AEW right now, the new wrestling promotion owned by Shahid and Tony Khan.

Cassidy is a very polarising character, wrestling in sunglasses, putting in the bare amount of effort. Most of the time, he’s just slouching around the ring with hands stuck in his pockets.

And the crowd love it! They even cheer the guy when he throws a half hearted kick at his opponent’s shins. Seriously, take a look at him in the ring with extreme icon, Tommy Dreamer.

After an awesome recent match with Pac, it’s no extreme to say he might just be the most popular wrestler in the company.

But what’s this got to do with Streets of Rage 4 you ask? Well, one of the newer thugs you come across in Lizardcube’s reimagining has the exact same schtick.

Sunglasses and shirtless. They’ve got a nonchalant attitude, hands in pockets, and even pull off that ‘devastating’ kick to start their offense which takes a decent dent of damage.

Then they’ll end up surprising you with a devastating spin kick which hurts even more.

Take a peek at 0.33 of this video in the top left to get a glimpse.

There’s no evidence to suggest OC is involved in the project – it seems unlikely. The thug names don’t even seem to link – they’re called Dylan and Kevin.

There’s nothing obviously linking the parties but I still spent most of my playthrough comparing the two together for fun.

Either way, I love the new thug type – it works well in context of the game. And in the immortal words of the man himself, whether it’s supposed to be him or it isn’t … whatever.