"I Just Don't Enjoy WWE... I Think We're Better Than All Of Them" - Will Ospreay (AEW News)
"Honestly on my worst day, I’m better than a lot of the guys in-ring" - Will Ospreay on WWE roster
Will Ospreay has spoken candidly about his lack of enthusiasm for WWE's output in contrast to AEW.
Discussing what he believes to be the key differences between the market leader and All Elite Wrestling, Ospreay revealed that the market leader just isn't for him, and especially not when held up against the best of his own promotion.
Speaking to The Daily Star as part of the promotion for Forbidden Door 2025, Ospreay said “WWE is on fire right now, but I just don’t enjoy it, not as a viewer, and certainly not as a wrestler." On WrestleMania 41, he added, “What I’ve heard is it wasn’t the best Mania. Maybe like IYO [SKY], Rhea [Ripley], and Bianca [Belair] was the only sick match on there — which, the three of them are sick, three of the best wrestlers period. But for me, I just never was a WWE guy. I respect it and I respect the guys doing it. That schedule is like crazy, and I commend them all for doing it. I just didn’t like it. I don’t like the show, I don’t like the style of wrestling, I don’t like the presentation. It’s gotten better, I love the one-shots that they’ve been doing. But I’ve just — I’ve never been a big fan of it. So that’s why when like AEW came along and they went with more like the sports-based style of it, it was something that I could sink my teeth into".
Ospreay's future was the subject of much discussion in 2024 when it became apparent that he would be switching his life as a NJPW headliner for life as a full-timer with one of the American majors. Upon landing in All Elite Wrestling, he was subject to further discussion when Paul Levesque made comments regarding wrestlers not wanting the "grind" the market leader requires. Ospreay fired back live on a subsequent edition of Dynamite, leaving many to assume there was heat between the 'Aerial Assassin' and 'The Game', but the former IWGP Champion was keen to note that the rivalry was strictly rooted in professional differences.
He said; “Of course like I respect WWE. And I admire everyone there. A lot of people think I hate Triple H, and I really don’t. I’ve never met the guy before in my life...But for me, there’s always this little bit of rivalry where I’ll just be like, ‘Yeah, you guys are the biggest. Yeah, you guys are drawing the bigger houses. Yeah, you guys have got the bigger deals.’ But the moment the bell rings, I think we’re better than all of them. Like, I think honestly on my worst day, I’m better than a lot of the guys in-ring. In-ring. Promos, you guys have got a bunch of guys. Punk’s sick. [Roman] Reigns is sick. There’s still things that I need to catch up on. But in-ring, I generally don’t think there’s anyone from that side that like matches any of our guys.”
Ospreay is set to face Hangman Page in the finals of the men’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament at AEW's Double or Nothing on May 25th. The winner will earn an AEW World Championship shot at All In this July. He’s also eyeing potential matchups at Forbidden Door in London this August - his first match in the capital for the company since defeating MJF at Wembley Stadium's All In 2024 last August.