When it comes to professional wrestling, there's Will Ospreay, and really, there's everyone else.
Sure, some fans may suggest Roman Reigns is a bigger draw, Eddie Kingston is a bigger draw, Logan Paul is more culturally relevant, or someone like Kazuchika Okada has the greater pedigree, but frankly, when it comes to putting in work between the ropes, the “Aerial Assassin” is in a league of his own, consistently working five-star matches around the world to the point where he has collected more perfect scores from Dave Meltzer than any other wrestler in history.
What? Still not convinced? Well why not take the word of Ric Flair, who, by Ospreay's admission at AEW Revolution media scrum, complemented the 30-year-old for putting on an incredible bout against Konosuke Takeshita that was so impressive it put him in the conversation for best wrestler in the world.
“I hope I'm allowed to say it. I was like, ‘Ow, ow,' backstage, and the doctor was like, ‘Right, [get] on the table, we'll just put some ice on your butt.' I was laying on the table, ‘Ow,' and then Ric Flair walked in,” Will Ospreay revealed via Wrestling Inc “And I was like, ‘Ahh' and stood up. And he said, ‘You are everything I've heard of and more. You are one of the best wrestlers in the world.' And that, coming from him, is like, ‘Thank you, Mr. Ric Flair. Thank you very much.' He's the standard. I know sometimes it gets forgotten now, but every little bit of wrestling has some inspiration from Ric Flair, man. The fact that he was able to come over and just go, ‘You're the f**king man,' is mad, amazing. Brilliant stuff.”
As crazy as it may sound, Ospreay has only worked 86 matches on American soil, or eight percent of his total career output, leaving the “Commonwealth Kingpin” as one of the true underground hipster stars of the professional wrestling world. Fortunately, with his first official Dynamite match as a member of the AEW roster set for Duluth, Georgia, against Kyle Fletcher, it's safe to say the USA audience who aren't as eager to stay up late to watch NJPW matches will finally get to see what the “Billy Goat” is all about.
Will Ospreay confirms that he's going to be full-time in AEW.
Elsewhere in his Revolution media scrum, Will Ospreay was asked what fans should expect from his new run in AEW now that his commitments with New Japan Pro Wrestling have come to an end.
While Ospreay still lives in England, where he lives with fellow wrestler Alex Windsor and her son, Ospreay fully intends to work full-time for his new promotion, as he wants nothing more than to prove he truly is the best ever in front of a new, much larger audience.
“What's the question, what's your schedule looking like? I'm in a relationship with another professional wrestler, Alex Windsor. She's great, and now I'm in a position where I'm a a parent. The first time I told people, everyone went, ‘You?' [Laughs] I can't tell you enough what the girl and that kid have done for me. I wish I could be so open about what those two mean to me. They've gone through a lot for me, and I could not ask them to uproot their life, their school life. If you know my missus and you know her story, she's gone through so much. She's a genuine warrior. I could not have asked for a better partner to go through this whole thing,” Will Ospreay said via Wrestle Zone.
“For her, I couldn't have asked to do that. The majority of the travel, it's so much less than Japan. Japan was like 15 hours at one point because there's bloody going on in Russia and the Ukraine. We weren't allowed to go through their airspace, we had to go underneath. It was horrible. So coming over here, it's not actually as bad. I don't mind it. My schedule is full-time, dude. I want to be here every single week, delivering the best matches that I physically can.”
Despite having just completed a generational run in New Japan Pro Wrestling, Ospreay really hasn't had to work traditional television wrestling up to this point in his career, focusing on making his marks, hitting time cues, and most importantly of all, no swearing every time a microphone comes near his person. If Ospreay can round out his career with television proficiency, showing fans the emotional side of his character instead of simply working incredible matches, there really is no ceiling on Ospreay's potential as a wrestler in AEW.
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