When Will Ospreay marched down the ramp to his song “Elevate” at Full Gear to announce to the fans in the Kia Forum and beyond that he was signing with AEW, it felt like a massive loss for Triple H and WWE, who were also pursuing the multi-time IWGP Champion.

Now granted, if there's any promotion that can weather losing out on a free agent, it's WWE, as they have a pipeline of talent that is unmatched in professional wrestling and still pull off huge free agent signings like Jade Cargill on the regular but in the grand scheme of thing, losing out on a 30-year-old who is widely considered one of the best, if not the very best professional wrestler in the world right now had to sting the 14-time Champion-turned-CCO, even if he won't admit it.

Need proof? Well look no further than his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on ESPN, where, in a not-so-vailed shot at the “Aerial Assassin,” he trashed a certain free agent who is still coming up for choosing the easy way out instead of the grind of WWE.

“It's a different world, it's a different world,” Triple H told Pat McAfee and Michael Cole. “If they're not here to be all in on this – like, when I see people that come out of trying to make it, and then they pick the job where they go, ‘Well, they work less, the schedule's lighter.' Alright then, well, I'm glad I didn't get you because if you're not in it for the grind, at that point early in your career, you have no business being here.”

Hmmm, well, considering Kazuchika Okada and Mercedes Mone are both firmly in their wrestling primes and have already put in work on the biggest stages in the world as multi-time world champions, it's safe to say this shot is pointed at one person and one person only. Fortunately, it's hard to imagine Ospreay is too bent up about it, as he's regularly working 5-star matches on television and will be wrestling Bryan Danielson at Dynasty in a few weeks. And the best part? If Ospreay becomes a free agent in the future, Triple H will still line up for a chance to sign him because, again, he's the best darn wrestler in the world today.

Shawn Michaels would happily work with anyone, even ex-AEW stars.

While Triple H appears to still be salty over missing out on Will Ospreay in free agency, Shawn Michaels, his former DX partner and fellow WWE booker, appears far more receptive to bringing in former AEW to work with, as, on the Stand & Deliver media call, he noted that he does watch Tony Khan's product, and has favorite stars he'd like to see on his side of the versus symbol in the future.

“I always go back, I would take darn near anybody. I can't say specifically because I think there is so much talent there. I don't know everybody's situation; the last thing I want to do is get anyone in trouble. A lot of guys that used to be at NXT are up there that I've always loved. I don't get the opportunity to get to watch as much as I would like to, but I know that I love working with young talent, especially when I get to know them, and I understand their passion and desire. Until I know what your desire is in this business, it's hard for me to say whether you're the one I'm going to work really hard for. It's become so personal to me on that level,” Shawn Michaels explained on the Stand & Deliver media call.

RECOMMENDED (Article Continues Below)
Booker T with a text bubble reading, "I would not want to be Will Ospreay when my contract came up" next to Will Ospreay with the AEW logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Seth Rollins on the right side of the screen with the RAW logo and a red background behind him, and Carmelo Hayes on the left side of the screen with the SmackDown logo and a blue background behind him with the WWE Draft logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

Dave Meltzer with a text bubble reading "Those Triple H comments, they aged like milk" with Will Ospreay on his left and Triple H on his right with the AEW Dynasty logo as the background.

Matty Breisch ·

“There are certainly people I see from a talent standpoint that you do, ‘Oh my goodness, they have a great deal of ability, what if we got a chance to work with them? I think we could do something special with them. We got Shawn Spears, he's a guy I worked with a little bit in NXT before he got called up and eventually left, but I always liked him because I always thought he was a formidable, secure, professional dude that could give you anything you ask for. We enjoy working with darn near anybody and trying to make them better than what they were doing before. Whether it's coming out of college or with another promotion. If you give us at NXT an opportunity to work with you, I think we can get you closer to your goals and what you want to accomplish than anybody else. That's what we do and we work hard at doing that. Whether it's AEW, Japan, TNA, go around the globe. I'm excited about NXT having the opportunity to make anybody's career better than what they are currently doing and allow them to have the opportunity to enjoy weekends like we're about to have.”

Now frankly, this shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, as, if you look over the NXT roster past and present, it's loaded with AEW talent, from Gigi Dolin and Blair Davenport, to Lexis King, Dragon Lee, and its newest acquisition, Shawn Spears. Even if Triple H feels a tad salty about losing out on AEW's new Big 3 of 2024, Will Ospreay, Kazuchika Okada, and Mercedes Mone, he can at least take solace in the fact that the man he's likely belting up on Night 2 of WrestleMania is an AEW original and one of the company's founding fathers. That irony can't be lost on “The Game.”