Will Ospreay: AEW Offer "Was Way Better" Than WWE
Will Ospreay opens up about his WWE talks and why he chose to sign with AEW.
Having joined AEW after his New Japan Pro-Wrestling contract expired earlier this year, Will Ospreay has revealed that, while he did have talks with WWE, the offer to join AEW was simply a "way better" one than what was presented by the market leader.
This topic, amongst several others, came up during the Aerial Assassin's recent appearance on Talk Is Jericho (via Fightful).
On the driving force behind his decision to join AEW, Ospreay noted how being able to still live in the UK to be there for his partner played a big part.
"Main thing is, I wanted to be in the UK. I know I'm not going to be exactly comfortable moving to another country. I moved to Japan in 2019. As much as I loved it, it wasn't home. I entered a new relationship with my new missus, who wrestles under the name Alex Windsor. I have a stepson now, she just started school. If you know her story and everything she's been through. The UK scene kind of knows it, but she lost her husband, and having to pick herself up from that and having to me a mum, a single mum, to losing her husband, it's going to have some tolls on you, so she needs to be around family and friends in her social circle. I couldn't bear the thought of moving her away from all of that and having her on her own again. For me, the main priority was to stay in the UK, but also wanting to up the wrestling, because I had done everything in New Japan; I completed it. The viable option was, where was I happy and what was I doing? Every time I came [to AEW], Tony [Khan] has given me nothing but trust and respect [from] the moment I came in here. It was the right decision for me at this time. I'm happy here and looking forward to the challenges. It's the right decision."
As alluded to, Alex Windsor was previously married to independent wrestler Ryan Smile. Smile sadly passed away in 2020 after battling mental health issues for several years.
When Ospreay was asked specifically about WWE interest, the United Empire man added:
"Yeah, of course, but it was night and day. Even in differences of what they were offering and what AEW was offering, AEW was way better. The scheduling, everything about AEW was completely the right option for me. It was always, you can go be a superstar in WWE and famous, but it's not as good of pay and it's not as kind of a schedule. I respect everyone there doing it, but it's not for me."
As alluded to by Ospreay there, the AEW schedule is a far kinder one than WWE's. In WWE, talent usually compete several times a week at TV and live events, whilst AEW simply does not run house shows bar the occasional House Rules event. On the other side of that, WWE does traditionally work a safer style that's friendlier to the body than some of the action seen in AEW.
Away from the schedule, AEW also allows its talent to work outside dates and has working relationships with promotions such as NJPW and CMLL. While one can question letting your stars wrestle elsewhere and risk injury, the obvious freedom that comes with that is clearly appealing.
Up next for Will Ospreay, he has a mouth-watering contest against Bryan Danielson at AEW Dynasty on the horizon next month.