6 Ups & 2 Downs From AEW Dynamite (28 February - Results & Review)

3. Will Ospreay Stakes His Claim

Will Ospreay made his debut as a full-time member of the roster in a promo segment. Now, Will Ospreay is not a particularly cool guy. Nor is he especially funny.

When he compared himself in his green tracksuit to "Kermit the frog on leg day", he might as well have welcomed you all to Monday Night Raw. In 2019.

But!

AEW was mired in a lot of bullsh*t in 2023. The vibe was gone. More than one wrestler indicated, on socials, that they'd rather be elsewhere. More than one wrestler felt like they'd been dragged into work to cover a shift on their day off. More than one wrestler looked checked-out altogether.

Will Ospreay wants this more than anyone, whether you think he's the very best wrestler in the world or whether you think he cynically works 40 minute plus matches purely for the asterisks. You can see the enthusiasm beaming from him, and the audience can feel it. AEW needs a top guy to love it, to lead it, to set a standard. AEW in 2024 needs a mascot like Ospreay.

He was interrupted by the Don Callis Family. Callis arrived at the best analogy yet for a match, at Revolution, that only really exists for its potential quality and as a means of driving Ospreay away from the heel side. Callis said it was like when Jordan and Pippen would maul each other in practise to sharpen their claws. That will probably do.

Ospreay can't not be a babyface. This is a vehicle to achieve that, as indicated by the not exactly friendly handshake between Ospreay and Konosuke Takeshita. It was hard for Ospreay to feel like a superstar in front of another piss-weak gate, but everybody who wants that top spot should take notice.

Ospreay is an animal who treats every day on the job like it's his first.