10 Wrestlers Who Improved At Something They Were Terrible At
9. Will Ospreay - Selling
Will Ospreay, when first making waves on the BritWres scene, wasn't particularly great at selling or, at the very least, wasn't particularly arsed about showcasing it. He raced through matches that were exhilarating but, without the pretence of real pain, something of an unmemorable sugar rush. Even as he made his name internationally, in that match with Ricochet, Ospreay was slightly too quick to recover from ostensibly major punishment.
Since 2017, the Assassin has improved considerably, reacting with pure fright and agony to moves delivered to his shredded neck as if angrily channelling the mentions to his "When is it International Men's Day?" tweet. An Ospreay match is something genuinely special, moving even, in 2018. His best matches are driven by pathos as well as adrenaline, in which he draws upon (and sells immaculately) his very real neck troubles to elicit emotion from his audience.
Ospreay has also improved his psychology game in general. He once courted those already in thrall to his awesome athleticism by fluttering his eyelashes. During the classic 3 September 2016 PWG six-man, he capped off a stunning sequence by offering the crowd a very bizarre thumbs up with a deranged, cross-eyed accompaniment. Chuck Taylor, hilariously, referred to him as a "d*ckhead" on commentary.
Ospreay was playing babyface.
But Ospreay is a far cooler, more arrogant performer two years later. Mercifully, his d*ckheadedness is limited to his character.