Welcome back to The Superstar Series; it’s been a while, but that’s pretty much my M.O., innit, though? In Volume 1 of The Superstar Series last year, I sat down with Logan Paul, followed by Splinter in Volume 2.
Today, I’m excited for the world to get a chance to better know my guest for Volume 3, the Aerial Assassin, Will Ospreay!
Chris Hyatte: Will, thanks for joining me. We’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s not waste any time.
This month marks one year since your AEW debut at Aftershock 2024—that instant classic with Bryan Danielson.
Since then, you’re 7 and 2, with your only losses coming at the hands of MJF and Hangman Page. You avenged one of them already. And now, on Monday, you face Randy Orton with a shot at headlining Aftershock 2 against the AEW World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Lashley.
That’s a lot in 12 months. What’s your assessment of year one?
Will Ospreay: First off, thanks for having me, Chris. I’ve been a fan of yours since I was a teenager, using my mate’s dial-up internet to read your columns every week.
Will Ospreay
One year in, I honestly feel like I’m still only getting started.
I came in with all the buzz. Megan Mouse-Zayn flew to Japan to sign me. I gave up the IWGP World Title to bet on myself in America, in AEW, because this is where the best are. Since then? I’ve made noise. Headlined Starrcade. Gone toe-to-toe with some of the top names in the game.
And yeah, I’d have loved to walk out of Starrcade as #1 contender. But Hangman and the Bucks had other plans. Doesn’t change the fact: I’ve arrived. And I’m not slowing down.
Chris Hyatte: Let’s stay on Starrcade for a second. Some called it your turning point, a moment where people realized, win or lose, you could carry a company. Do you feel that?
Will Ospreay: I’ve always felt that. Since day one. But I get why it hits different for others.
Main eventing Starrcade in my first year, the biggest show on the calendar for all three promotions felt a bit like validation. I didn’t know it was going to be the main event until the night prior, so I didn’t have much time to obsess and worry about how or if I’d deliver. Those pre-match, big show jitters that we all get. And maybe that was a blessing, because there wasn’t any time to get in my own head about it.
And to a degree, Starrcade was proof that I belong here. Proof that I’m worth the investment. I’m not deaf to the noise. I hear it all. “Ospreay’s a future champ. One of the best alive… but…”
Always a but.
“We don’t know who he is yet.”
That’s fair. I’m not a brand. I’m not slapping my name on cereal boxes or doing TikToks in costume. I’m just a lad from Essex who clawed his way out of nothing to become the best pro wrestler on the planet.
Chris Hyatte: Speaking of Essex, let’s talk childhood. What was life like coming up?
Will Ospreay: Look, mate, I don’t want to give you a sob story, but my childhood was hard.
I grew up in a council estate in Essex. We didn’t didn’t have cable. Mum raised me on her own. No dad in the picture. She worked cleaning jobs, sometimes three at once. Came home exhausted, back out before sunrise. Just so I had a coat in the winter, a packed lunch at school. She was a warrior.
There were nights the power went out ‘cause we couldn’t afford to top up the meter. Nights we slept in jumpers ‘cause the heat was off.
And outside of home, it was hard, too. There’s a lot of anger in those streets in Essex, a lot of people ready to pull you down the moment you stood up. You either fought, or you got swallowed.
Chris Hyatte: So, how did wrestling come into the picture?
Will Ospreay: It was the only escape I had, man.
My mates would bring old wrestling magazines… half-torn, years out of date. Didn’t matter. I didn’t care if it was WWF, ECW, USWA. I loved it all.
In those pages, that’s where I found my heroes. Master Splinter, Krusader, Dragonfly, Metal Head, Slammu, Jesse the Body… these guys were like action heroes to me.
Not the typical magazine a teenage lad spends all their free time thumbing through. [laughs] But, they lit the fire in me. I’d read every word a hundred times. Study the photos. Daydream about walking down that ramp one day. That was the start of it.
My mates and I would backyard wrestle on trampolines, make cardboard championships, the whole works. I think for most of ’em it was just a laugh, a bit of fun, but for me, it felt like an audition of sorts.
I was reckless as hell, but I didn’t care. I just needed something to believe in. Wrestling gave me that.
Chris Hyatte: Do you still carry that with you?
Will Ospreay: Every fuckin’ day, mate.
That hunger’s never left me. That kid from Essex, wearing worn-out trainers, flipping off garage roofs, dreaming about being in those magazines… he’s still in here. Every time I step through that curtain, he walks with me.
When I was sixteen, I told my mum I was gonna be a wrestler. She laughed. Not ‘cause she didn’t believe in me—but because, where I come from, people don’t get out. They don’t chase dreams.
Chris Hyatte: So when ULW Magazine named your Starrcade main event runner-up for Match of the Season, that must’ve hit a nerve.
Will Ospreay: Honestly? I’m a bit embarrassed to tell you how much that nod meant to me.
That was a full circle moment, mate. I used to cut stuff like that out and tape it to my wall. To be named in the debut edition of that magazine? For that match? That’s something 10-year-old me would’ve cried over.
But, as much as that meant to me, and as happy as I am to see magazines return, I’ve gotta to admit that I’m not entirely satisfied.
I’m not here to be second place at anything. I don’t wake up every morning and train to be nearly the best. I want to be the one they write about first.
Chris Hyatte: Switching gears, let’s talk Monday night. You’ve got Randy Orton, the former ULW and EWA Champion, a name that’s been top-tier since you were in school. What are your thoughts heading into that match?
Will Ospreay: Look, Chris, Randy’s a measuring stick.
You don’t last 20 years at the top without being dangerous. He’s smart. He’s surgical. He’s one of the many reasons I even got into this sport. Guys like him, Metal Head, Dragonfly, AJ Styles, they made me believe in this business.
But the game’s changed. The ring’s faster now. The pressure’s heavier. And with respect, I’ve been around the world. Japan. Europe. Australia. I’ve headlined in bingo halls and domes. I’m not walking into Dynamite as Randy’s fan, I’m walking in as Randy’s equal. And I’ve leaving as the better man.
Chris Hyatte: If you beat Orton Monday, you’ll head to the main event of Aftershock 2 to challenge Bobby Lashley in your first AEW World Heavyweight Championship match. Are you looking past Orton to Lashley?
Will Ospreay: Not a chance. Randy Orton is a legend. I’ve studied him, and if he’s as smart as I think he is, he’s been studying me, too.
But Randy’s going to learn something Monday night. He’s going to learn that I’m not the type of guy you can study for. I evolve in real time. I change pace on instinct. You think you’ve got me scouted? That’s when I break the script.
I’m looking forward to burnin’ the proverbial barn to the ground Monday night with Orton, and after that, that’s when I’ll look to Lashley.
Chris Hyatte: When Sami Zayn announced your signing last July on the season three premiere of Dynamite, he called you a mix of Dragonfly, Krusader, and Sunfire’s aerial talents and Splinter and Kurt Angle’s technical talents. What’d that mean to you?
Will Ospreay: That blew my mind, bruv.
That hole experience was wild. I was sitting in my cheap hotel room in Tokyo when that aired. I’d just met with Megan Mouse, who flew half way ’round the world to sign me. I had my IWGP World Championship on the bed with me, and my phone blew up. My mates couldn’t wait to congratulate me.
That belt, by the way, gave me the chance to work with guys like Dragon Lee, Danielson, AJ Styles, Marty Scrull, and others who’d work in Japan during the in-between phases of the WOW eras. Working with them was a taste of what it’d be like to come to America, and I’d get to pick their brains about it.
I worked for years to get that call from the World of Wrestling about coming to America. It’s funny, cause it felt like it took a lifetime but then it all happened so fast. One moment you’re wrestling for 200 bucks in front of a small but loyal crowd, and the next you’re a millionaire with your name in the same sentence as the biggest legends of the sport.
When someone compares you to those legends, it follows you. The pressure is immense, because those names are icons of the sport. The industry was built on the back of guys like them. And while I appreciated the hype, and I truly believe when it’s all said and down that my name will be mentioned like that, I just don’t think I’ve earned yet. Every time I step through the ropes, I. treat it like a trial because I’m still proving to myself that my name belongs in that sentence.
Chris Hyatte: One rumor that’s floated around the IWC since last fall is that BWM Inc. was working to bring Sunfire in for a program with you. Is there any truth to that?
Will Ospreay: Yeah, last fall, they told me they were in talks to line something up with him. And I won’t lie, I’m super disappointed that it didn’t happen
It would’ve been massive for me. His style, his innovation, it shaped a whole generation. Obviously it didn’t happen, but I’m happy to see him in ULW, happy to see he’s still in the business.
I remember seeing his finisher for the first time and running straight to my mate’s trampoline trying to copy it ‘til my neck gave out.
That’s how much he meant to us.
Chris Hyatte: So, if you could wrestle anyone in the business, who would it be?
Will Ospreay: It’s gonna sound cliche, because everyone has the same answer to this question, but Dragonfly. That’s the dream match I’ll probably never get. I’ve watched his matches more times than I can count. Studied him. Learned from him. He was the guy that made me believe wrestling could be art.
Chris Hyatte: Last question. What would you say to those outside the AEW fanbase—fans of wrestling who still say, “Ospreay’s got all the tools… but he hasn’t connected yet. He’s not quite there as a character.”
Will Ospreay: I’d say to some degree, they’re right.
That’s a hard pill to swallow for me, because I’ve given my all this past year, but it’s the truth. You can be flawless at what you do and still not be loved, or understood.
That’s on me, though. That’s my job. It’s why only a handful of people make it to the top and stay there in this industry, because you’ve got to connect with the fans. It’s up to me to close that gap, and I’m not bitter about it. That’s the climb, innit?
But, I’m not delusional. I’m not one of those guys who expects the crowd to love me straight away. That’s not how this works. That’s not real. What’s real is showing up. Bleeding for it. Losing. Winning. Clawing for every inch. And doing it again the next night. That’s how you connect. That’s how you make them feel something.
Inside that ring is the only place in the world where I feel completely alive. I’m not a legacy. I’m not a second generation prodigy. I’m just a guy chasing a dream to. be the best in the world, and every bruise, every time my blood spills onto that canvas, or I’ve got to tape up my ribs just to get to the ring? That’s me, still building my legacy.
AEW is where the best in the world are. If I want to be the best? I have to prove it here. And I promise you—if you keep watching, if you give me the time—I will earn that connection. I will make them believe. Because I’m not going anywhere until they do.
World Of Wrestling: Murrey Universe 