AEW star Will Ospreay appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show to discuss various topics, including his success outside of WWE.
Ospreay said, “Yeah, I mean — once again, I’ve never been to WWE, I’ve never been backstage. I’ve had a phone call and that’s about it. But other than that man, I think that’s one of the coolest things about it, just to say there are so many guys who have never performed at Wembley Stadium. that I genuinely thought like, ‘Oh, you guys should have.’ The Rock hasn’t done it, Triple H hasn’t done it, like so many icons of the business have never performed at this iconic stadium. And the fact that two guys who never made their name in WWE are main eventing it, I think speaks volumes about the promotion AEW has done. And just the feeling around it, like people want us to succeed and do well.”
On if he was a WWE fan growing up:
“It wasn’t like I wasn’t. Because when I got introduced to it, it was obviously like, ‘Oh man, this is brilliant. I love the idea of this.’ But I feel like I got into it just as WCW and ECW were about to be bought out. So like I had knowledge of that WWF from my dad. And my dad bought ECW tapes; I used to watch it, but I was like flippin’ 10 watching. ECW, it was sick. But like after that, [WWE] just wasn’t for me. I didn’t like it, I didn’t like the presentation behind it, and I still have those feelings now. But like, I found TNA and I feel that was a style that spoke to me. The X-Division was huge for me. And then seeing that and finding Pro Wrestling NOAH, and Dragon Gate, and New Japan were the things that inspired me and made me want to be a pro wrestler. They’re the things that drove me. And WWE has never really drove me.”
On if WWE spoke with him before he joined AEW:
“Representatives did. They were interested, for sure… Yeah, there was an offer. And a really lovely offer as well, but it involved me moving to the States, and I have no ambition to move over there.”
On if he would have said yes if he didn’t have to move:
“Nah, I don’t know. Because it’s just — I do respect it, I really do. It’ just, I don’t like the way it’s filmed, I don’t like the wrestling behind it. I think it’s very minimalistic. It’s just like — I’ll never say never, because that’s what we do in the industry now. We just want to make sure we keep all our options open for sure. But right now, with the format and how much fun I’m having in AEW and how much freedom I have to be me.”
On what he means by “minimalistic”:
“I just think like, the comparison in our matches and our main event matches is very different. Like, one spear for them will be like, super satisfying. And honestly, I respect it. Man, I wish I could get one spear over, I wish I could. But it’s just not in me. I prefer what we do. I prefer taking people on rides and showing people different ways I can get into a Styles Clash, and like the full contact of it. Like, I’ve been seeing WWE recently, and I saw this one clip and the girl missed her by like flipping miles, like a country mile. But it’s not just the girls, it’s the guys as well. And I do wonder if they’re being told, ‘We’re already making money, you don’t need to kill one another.’ And I’m not saying everyone kills each other in AEW at all, but there’s more contact, and I like that. I like to feel alive when I do pro wrestling. I don’t want people to whiff a strike on me. I’d much rather people hit me than it look bad on TV.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
