REAL Reason Ospreay Vs. Swerve Happened At Forbidden Door

Why Will Ospreay vs. Swerve Strickland happened at Forbidden Door rather than All In.

by Andrew Pollard
Swerve Strickland Will Ospreay
AEW

With many fans expecting Will Ospreay to challenge Swerve Strickland for the AEW World Championship at All In next month, some of those same fans were left a little surprised that AEW instead opted to do this match at Forbidden Door. And now, there's somewhat of an update on all of this.

As per Fightful Select, Ospreay vs. Swerve at All In was never planned, with both men lined up internally with different opponents at Wembley Stadium.

Interestingly, the idea for the Aerial Assassin to lose to Strickland at Forbidden Door was Will Ospreay's idea. A long-standing close friend of Swerve's, Ospreay was reportedly tired of some viewing Swerve as a "placeholder" for Will to win the World Title from at All In. As such, the Essex native approached AEW higher-ups and expressed a desire to lose to Strickland at Forbidden Door to stop such chatter and to set an example that AEW needs to be a team effort for the promotion to succeed.

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Fightful adds that Ospreay made this suggestion after winning the International Championship from Roderick Strong, with the 31-year-old Enlighsman wanting to show that nobody is above losing to the company's World Champion. Certain sources within AEW told Fightful that Forbidden Door was very much this "point was being proven". AEW sources also added that Will Ospreay has been great to deal with since joining the promotion earlier this year, often helping out when needed, including helping those looking for advice with putting their matches together.

As for All In, the winner of the men's Owen Hart Cup Tournament gets a shot at Swerve Stickland's AEW World Title at Wembley Stadium, with many fans speculating that a returning 'Hangman' Adam Page will be the tournament's Elite-selected Wild Card and will end up renewing his rivalry with Swerve. Where Ospreay is concerned, AEW programming is teasing the possibility of Ospreay vs. MJF at Wembley, potentially with Daniel Garcia also having a role to play.

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AEW All In takes place on Sunday 25 August.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.