Stop me if you've heard this one before, but Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega really don't like each other. Though the duo have seldom crossed paths over the past three years, as Omega has been stateside in AEW while Ospreay has thrived in New Japan Pro Wrestling as one of the promotion's top gaijin stars, their feud has remained as potent as ever, even if it's largely been relegated to the digital realm.
Do you want subtweeting of the subtle and not-so-subtle variety? This feud has it. How about comedy spots where performers mockingly attempt the other's moves in an attempt to weaken it? That's happened too, with Ospreay notoriously hitting one of the least-believable One-Winged Angels of all time. Heck, this feud has even taken a litigious turn from time to time, with AEW sending a cease and desist to Ospreay's camp for selling a shirt that referenced Omega's āBest Bout Machineā nickname, which is trademarked.
Both performers have taken shots at the other in interviews, with Omega asserting that no one remembers a single one of his rival's five-star matches and Ospreay firing back, calling the one-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion an over-the-hill old man in an expletive-laced exchange you can read here.
So naturally, when Tony Khan threw together a tournament to decide on the inaugural winners of the AEW World Trios Championship and placed the United Empire team of Ospreay and Aussie Open on one side and the Young Bucks and a mystery opponent on the other, it generated a massive pop from fans that grew exponentially more exciting when it was revealed that Omega was back and ready for action. Finally, after literal years of anticipation, Omega and Ospreay would share the ring, even if it's in a trios match, for the first time since December of 2018. They'd get to toe-to-toe, bounce back and forth in a test of athletic fluidity, and, with any luck, one would pin the other to give the fans at home the next best thing to a one-on-one match between the two NJPW legends.
For the most part, the match delivered; there was great storytelling, the supporting cast of Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson, Kyle Fletcher, and Mark Davis delivered the goods when they were in the ring, and fans were afforded a good bit of in-ring action between the two ex-IWGP champions, even if Ospreay didn't ultimately eat the pin to bring the match to an end.
Though Ospreay has since stated that his commitment to AEW for the foreseeable future is over, as he will now turn his attention fully to NJPW business, fans have continued to clamor for another in-ring confrontation between the two, especially one without additional performers in the ring. Book it for Forbidden Door II, book it for Full Gear, wherever TK books it, fans will watch, and Dave Meltzer to break his scale with another five-plus star affair.
Fortunately, if Omega is re-instated in AEW or has to return to NJPW following a full-blown falling out, Ospreay is down for a one-on-one match, as even if he hates the player, he knows the game would be dynamite.
Will Ospreay wants a solo go at the ex-AEW World Champion.
Sitting down with James Carlin of Monthly Puroreso, Ospreay was asked if he'd want to return to the ring against Omega once more, as detailed by Jeremy Lambert of Fightful:
He knows one on one it would be a fantastic bout and I canāt tell you enough how much Iād enjoy battering him after everything. The two sides of me are saying: I got the last laugh leaving him and The Young Bucks laying in AEW, so I donāt really care. But the other side says we are both still able to put on those amazing matches still. Itāll almost be stupid of me not to want to face him. See which one of us has the drive to pick up the win.
Even if Ospreay and Omega don't particularly like each other outside of the ring, it's undeniable that the duo are two of the best in-ring performers of this generation, with flashy, āextraā styles that complement and contrast each other like peanut butter and jelly. Give them 20-plus minutes to go at each other without commercial breaks or any sort of restriction, and the prospect of a hard-hitting, high-flying bout between two performers trying to one-up each other at every turn is almost a guarantee.
If Khan can clear Omega to return to AEW, a singles bout between āThe Cleanerā and āThe Billy Goatā has the potential to go down as one of the best bouts in the promotion's history. And if not? If AEW is off the table for Omega? Well, it's hard to imagine a promotion that wouldn't pay up to put on that match in their ring.
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