When Will Ospreay hit Bryan Danielson with the Tiger Driver 91 at AEW Dynasty, it forever changed the career trajectory of the “Aeriel Assassin,” helping him to defeat the “American Dragon” in one of the greatest matches in professional wrestling history but creating a feeling in the future International Champion that he could genuinely end careers with the incredibly dangerous maneuver.

Since that fateful day in April, Ospreay has vowed to retire the maneuver, and while his semi-manager Don Callis has tried to reverse that call, so far, he's held true to his word as he continues to rise the ranks in AEW as one of the promotion's top babyfaces.

So, when Ospreay saw a social media post from Cameren Lee discussing the origin of the maneuver, he decided to retweet it and share his opinion of putting the maneuver out to pasture.

“I think the same amount of times Misawa used the TD91 in his entire career, I've either hit the same amount or about to approach. It's such a dangerous move that I was just spamming it, and that's when something can go wrong,” Will Ospreay explained on social media.

“Bryan got extremely lucky that he got clear within 2-3 weeks, but in those minutes during Dynasty, I've never felt more sick in my entire life that I hurt someone I really look up to. In comparison to the Hidden Blade, it's a strike. You can protect yourself if the opponent is able to cover up, but with the TD91, there is no way to protect yourself, which is why it's been banned in American TV wrestling since its inception. Wrestling is wrestling, aye, it's a full contact, but I just don't feel right tempting this move anymore. Other lads can do it, but just through my eyes, I don't wanna put anyone through that again.”

Fortunately for Ospreay, few other performers actually use the maneuver, as a result the safety of the AEW Galaxy should in good order… for now. When Ospreay decides to use the move once more, however, it will be the ultimate heel-turning maneuver, as it will truly be the “Billy Goat” compromising his integrity in the pursuit of power.

Check out the post Will Ospreay was reacting to.

If you read Ospreay's response and genuinely wondered about the origins of the Tiger Driver 91, you are in luck, as on the Pro Wrestling Only Forum, Cameren Lee explained how the maneuver came together and why he feels its story is often misrepresented by fans out of the know.

“I've never talked about this here, but I have elsewhere online. I am convinced that the way Taue took the Tiger Driver '91, which would become the standard for the move, was not the original intention. On April 5, Misawa used the move again on a Carnival match against Kobashi in Takamatsu. As seen in a camcorder recording, Kobashi lands on his shoulder blades,” Cameren Lee wrote on the Pro Wrestling Only Forum.

“I believe that the Tiger Driver '91 was originally conceived as a follow-up to the standard Tiger Driver, where Misawa drove his opponent down rather than flip them into a stout pin. Nothing more, nothing less. This era of All Japan is marked by sequences of similar but distinct maneuvers that trade on the aesthetic benefits of repetition. Think of Misawa's multiple-suplex finishes in the early big Kawada matches. It is used in the Kobashi match in the same way, as a followup to a Tiger Driver near fall.

“Misawa might be a d**k here, but him going “f**k your neck, Taue” on a trial series match is out of character and out of step with the broader product. This is not 6/3/94. Perhaps the height difference between Misawa and Tsuruta/Taue led him to decide to put the move on ice. I suspect it was shelved to put over the stepover facelock as Misawa's new finish instead. But by 1994, when the nightmare bump arms race was on, I believe the move was retconned to have always been intended the way that Taue took it. (Weekly Pro coverage of the Kobashi match [special issue #432 (May 5, 1991)] did not contain a photograph of the finish, which likely obscured the contrary evidence.) I cannot confirm any of this, but it feels much more plausible to me than the notion that this super finisher was busted out three years before it came back again. Baba, Fuchi et al. were good, d**n good, but they were booking a wrestling promotion, not writing Babylon 5.”

While All Japan certainly had some interesting wrestling ideas back in the day, if Lee is correct, it's hard to imagine the maneuver was brought back after multiple years in order to injure other members of the roster as some sort of ridiculous call-back blast from the past. No, in the end, the maneuver was likely moved away from to get over the Stepover Facelock, and was brought back when that maneuver fell out of fashion, much like how Ospreay has been finishing more matches with the Strom Driver instead of the Hidden Blade.