10 Things We Learned From Will Ospreay & Bea Priestley On Talk Is Jericho
Find out why Ospreay turned down WWE...
The first few moments of Chris Jericho's chat with Will Ospreay and Bea Priestley were a tad awkward. It was glaringly obvious that Jericho didn't know much about Bea, and his knowledge about Ospreay's career boiled down to one solitary match against Ricochet in 2016.
That doesn't stop the podcast from being a fascinating one. In fact, Y2J's lack of knowledge helps.
A lot of Jericho's more casual listeners may only know Ospreay and Priestley in passing, so this Talk Is Jericho episode acts as a brilliant entry point to their careers. It doesn't quite dive into Bea's story (a traumatic brain surgery before she moved to England should have been here), but there are enough tales about the couple's relationship, Will's controversial in-ring style and his WWE links to keep things going.
Also, finding out about a match that almost happened in New Japan is compelling stuff. Ricochet and Ospreay were very nearly joined by somebody else in the ring, and you won't believe who...
10. Will's Teachers Told His Parents He'd Never Be A Wrestler
Ready to feel old?
Will Ospreay was born in May 1993, meaning he wasn't around for Hulkamania, The Ultimate Warrior or even Bret Hart's crowning as WWF Champion. As a child of the 90s, he would have been barely five years old when the Attitude Era kicked off too. Still, Ospreay grew to love wrestling and would watch Raw every week with his dad.
When asked at school what he wanted to be as an adult, Will would excitedly answer that he longed to be a pro wrestler. Teachers were concerned that Ospreay's dreams would delude him, so much so that they sought out his parents and warned them that their son could never make them a reality.
Their main reason for doubting Will? He was English, and that's something Ospreay finds hilarious to this day. Those stuffy teachers had obviously never heard of The British Bulldog. We bet they'd feel foolish now if they knew little William went on to travel the world.