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All Elite Wrestling is home to some of the most exciting and talented wrestlers in the industry today, and in the eyes of many fans, Will Ospreay is near or at the top of the list.
The former New Japan Pro-Wrestling standout signed with AEW in November of 2023 and since that day, he has been one of the most consistent and beloved stars on the roster.
He has already had two International Championship reigns, but now he has his sights focused on the biggest prize in the company, the World Heavyweight Championship.
This Sunday, the London native will step into the ring with "Hangman" Adam Page for the finals of the men's Owen Hart Cup, with the winner earning a future shot at the AEW title currently held by Jon Moxley.
We spoke to Ospreay about competing in the Owen and facing Page in what will be their first-ever singles match as well as a variety of other topics.
Owen Hart Cup
This Sunday at Double or Nothing, Ospreay will battle "Hangman" Adam Page in the finals of the 2025 Owen Hart Cup tournament. Both men have been clamoring to get a shot at Jon Moxley's world title and this is a guaranteed way for one of them to do it."I think this is going to be one where you can't really call which one is a favorite right now," Ospreay said. "I think we both have momentum on our sides and both have valid reasons for wanting to be in the main event spot of All In Texas.
"I think it's gonna be definitely one of those can't-miss matches that I want everybody to come to the Desert Diamond Arena on the 25th of May and enjoy the best professional wrestling out there."
Hart passed away in 1999 when Ospreay was just six years old, so he didn't have a chance to see the late legend much during his prime. However, Ospreay has watched a lot of his work, especially in New Japan Pro-Wrestling prior to Hart's time in WWE.
"Of course I have [watched Hart's work], but I'll be honest with you, I've watched more of his New Japan stuff because when I won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, the best thing about that belt is all the side plates have the names of the wrestlers who held if beforehand, and Owen Hart's name is on there, man.
"It was such an honor to have even that small connection to Owen Hart, and even now, we share a birthday. I found that out and thought that was really cool, and the fact that we're going to be in the finals feels so cool."
Dealing with pain
Ospreay works a very physically demanding style, so naturally that is going to come with its fair share of painful moments. When asked how he manages his pain, Ospreay credited the medical team at AEW for taking good care of him."I come home to England, I get the wife to put some baby oil over me and just rub me down, just like what any other normal boy wants out of life," Ospreay joked.
"We've got a great medical team backstage at AEW. I do feel like they put me on priority quite a lot because they do realize that my travel scheduled is quite insane.
"They get angry when I don't show in the trainer's room. I appreciate every single one of them that looks after me."
The United States
With AEW doing the vast majority of its business in the United States, it makes sense that a lot of international talents who have signed with the company have made the move to the U.S., but Ospreay has continued to live in England and has no plans to leave anytime soon."There's nothing in my being that makes me want to move to the United States," Ospreay said. "I respect it and understand why people do it, but I have such a lovely life here and my son's doing really well in school. I am very happy here. I don't have any aspirations to want to move."
When he does come to the U.S., the options for food are vastly different. We asked about some of his favorite places and he made sure to single out his favorite burger joint.
"Every time we're on the west coast, I have to get an In-N-Out burger. I love that place. It's phenomenal," he said.
"I've been to a few really crazy steak restaurants. There was one just before we went to the Jericho cruise and I can't remember the name of it for the life of me, but it was one of the greatest steakhouses I've ever eaten at.
"One thing I do enjoy doing when I'm over in America, especially for the PPVs, me and a bunch of guys will source out really nice restaurants. I remember when I was doing the Las Vegas loop, I had the Mrs. with me and we just went out and just tried a bunch of restaurants.
"Las Vegas is one of the craziest places where you can go get some incredible food. So we do go out and source out some good food options.
"I eat food. If it's in front of me, I'll eat. I don't have a preference, do you know what I mean? I love Mexican food. I love Indian food. I love Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, I love all their food. I'm on a see-food diet, mate. I see food and I eat it."
Winning the World Title
Whoever wins the Owen Hart Cup will be in line for a world title opportunity, so there is a lot on the line at Double or Nothing. When asked how holding the title would feel, Ospreay made it clear that the quality of AEW's roster is why it would be such an honor to become the world champion."I think it would be hard work paying off," Ospreay said. "I think it would be an honor and it would be overwhelming.
"Because I do look at the roster we have, and I look at the veterans we have like [Adam Copeland] Cope and [Christian] Cage. I look at the ring generals we've got like Dax [Harwood], Bryan Danielson and Kenny Omega.
"I look at people that I think are solid professional wrestlers like Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly, and I can't believe I would even be talked about in that category because I've actually grown up watching a lot of those guys and have the highest amount of respect for every single person on our roster.
"To hold that belt would almost feel like the ushering in of a new captain, and to have that responsibility to the locker room, it would be truly an honor."
Stars Who Deserve Attention
The Billy Goat has had many opportunities to work around the world for various promotions, so he has crossed paths with countless wrestlers. When asked who he thinks is primed for an opportunity to break out, he first mentioned some of the women he has been working with over in Europe."There's loads," Ospreay said. "I've been doing a lot of producing work over in the UK for an all-women's promotion called Pro Wrestling Eve.
"Obviously, she's my mrs. and I'm not really allowed to say it, but like screw it I'm going to say it anyway. I think she's amazing. Bell to bell, she has come on leaps and bounds, so I would say Alex Windsor.
"I would say Nina Samuels. Leon Slater, I know he's with TNA right now, but honestly, in a heartbeat I would love to have him. Callum Newman is another one of my guys. Henare, he's on the injured list right now but I would have him in a heartbeat.
"There's so many. There's one person I've never faced in my time, especially in New Japan, and I can't believe it that we've never wrestlers each other one on one, is the current IWGP world heavyweight champion, Goto. We've been in a faction together but we've never wrestled one on one.
"Forbidden Door is coming up and if he wants a challenge, I would love nothing more than to try to regain my championship."
Ospreay also spoke about his admiration of recent AEW signing, Kevin Knight. The two have had the opportunity to work together several times before meeting up again in AEW, and Ospreay sees him as a star waiting to break out.
"There's just something about him, isn't it?" Ospreay said. "The moment he walks into a room, he's beautiful to look at to start with. He's got a body like a god. He moves so well but he doesn't do like overcomplicated stuff. What he does is very explosive and direct and I think that's what a lot of people like about him.
"I see him as a three-year project. Within three years, I want to see him mixing it up with the top line spots. I want to see him in regular main events. I think if you asked him where he would want to be in three year's time, he would say the exact same thing. I honestly think we have a star on our hands."
A Stable in AEW
As a former member of United Empire and The Don Callis Family, Ospreay is no stranger to stables. He has also formed several loose alliances in AEW, but forming a group around him is not at the top of his list of priorities right now."A group is a lot of responsibility," Ospreay said. "A lot of people looked at my time over in New Japan as part of United Empire and they said I was the leader, but like, I wasn't.
"If anyone was the leader, it was The Great O-Khan because he was the guy helping us with our marketing, he was the guy pushing is in the right direction when it came to sponsorships.
"In football terms, I was the guy that they brought in to score the goals, but to me, O-Khan was the guy who put all the pieces in place to score those goals. It's a lot of responsibility. I don't know if I'm ready for that right now.
"I'll be honest with you, if I do any kind of group, I have such a loyalty to my boys in The United Empire that I think I would just general say 'When you guys are done in Japan, come over and lets get the band back together.'"
Kyle Fletcher
Since arriving in AEW, Ospreay has had a chance to mix it up with a wide variety of stars, but his most bitter rivalry has been with his former stablemate and friend, Kyle Fletcher. That didn't stop The Billy Goat from putting him over as a future main-event player."You can see he's put in the work," Ospreay said. "If you ever see any of our roster whining or complaining, you just have to look at what Kyle Fletcher has done. Everything he's been given, he's taken on the chin.
"Every single piece of advice he's been given, he's grown and developed. He's changed his body to fit the image that is required of him. He's work ethic is absolutely insane.
"Witnessing it from opposite corners has been a trip, but also it's been great for AEW. I'm just happy that he's a part of our roster and going forward, if anybody enjoys seeing his growth, he's probably five years away from his prime, and I think that's a scary thing to say when he's that good already.
"To see the growth that he is going to be doing for the next five years here, it will be nothing short of witnessing a legend in the making."
Movie Review: Minecraft
We always end our AEW interviews with a movie review, and Ospreay chose to talk about a newer film that is still in Theaters at the time this article is published."My kid dragged me, not dragged me, I went with him because he loves it and as a parent I want to support him," Ospreay said. "He dragged me to that Minecraft Movie.
"I'll be honest with you. I ain't got a freaking clue about Minecraft. He puts it on the TV. He doesn't actually play it. He watches it on YouTube. He watches streamers.
"And I'm sat next to him watching these terrible storylines play out in front of me with these terrible accents, and the Mrs. even gets mad because he started talking a little bit with an American twang. So we've to try to tone that down.
"Honestly, there is a section in that film with like a lava chicken song. He's obsessed with it. It's a 30-second song and every single day when we drop him off at school, he asks to play that song. We have no idea, it's just noise.
"Jack Black has been employed to basically torture parents. The best bit about that film for me was, there was a moment in this film and like, a zombie lands on a chicken. And the whole cinema just stands up and just goes 'CHICKEN JOCKEY!'
"I look at my Mrs. and we both have no idea what any of this means, but we looked at one another and were like 'I guess that's there Avengers Assemble.' This is a weird film. I don't get it. One of the parents at school have played that song to my child over and over again to the point that he knows the lyrics by heart.
"So now I have to put up with that until the next phase. I'm just hoping that Sonic 4 or The Super Mario Brothers comes out and he gets into that again because that's the pattern. He sees a new movie and goes 'This is the best movie ever.'
"So I'm just praying that there's a decent film that comes out and he forgets about Minecraft for a bit. But once again, love him, support him. I'm going to go take him to that Minecraft exhibition, but my god that was a very, very strange film."
