Pour Me a Cold Draft and Hear Me Out on Will Ospreay

Bartender, pour me a cold domestic draft and leave the pitcher. We need to talk about Will Ospreay, a guy who can fly like a superhero but still thinks like a teenager who just got his first Playstation. His favorite AEW moments are the ultimate Rorschach test for fans: his masterpiece against Bryan Danielson at Dynasty, and his Assassin's Creed entrance at Wembley.

One is a historic fight that belongs in a museum; the other is a high-priced marketing gimmick. This duality explains everything about the best wrestler in the world.

Ospreay is a weird mix of athletic god and absolute dork. He can hit a shooting star press to the outside of the ring with the grace of an Olympic diver, then immediately cut a promo that sounds like a guy ordering a kebab after closing time.

When he talks about wrestling Bryan Danielson, you hear the voice of a kid who finally got to play against his hero. But when he talks about wearing a hood and having a Ubisoft budget, he sounds like a nerd who is just happy his favorite video game publisher knows his name.

The Night Wrestling Stood Still at Dynasty

Let's start with the good stuff because the match at Dynasty was a spiritual experience. For years, we thought Ospreay against Danielson was a fantasy match that would never happen. Danielson's neck was held together by tape and prayers, and WWE doctors had kept him on the shelf for years.

Then Tony Khan opened his checkbook, Ospreay crossed the Pacific, and they met on April 21, 2024. The match was a 32-minute masterpiece of pacing, tension, and pure violence. Danielson tried to dissect Ospreay's neck, while Ospreay relied on his speed to stay alive.

At the twenty-minute mark, Danielson countered an Oscutter out of mid-air into a LeBell Lock that had everyone screaming. It was the kind of match that makes you remember why you fell in love with this business. Ospreay himself admitted he never expected it to happen.

"When I wrestled Bryan Danielson at Dynasty, I couldn't even imagine that match was going to happen because he got medically disqualified. I genuinely thought I'd never wrestle him, so when he showed up to AEW, I was like, 'Aha, there's a chance.'"

That match lived up to a year of internet hype and actually surpassed it. Dave Meltzer wanted to give it eight stars, and for once, nobody argued. It proved that Ospreay was not just an acrobat, but a ring general who could work a technical classic.

It was two men at the peak of their powers, pushing each other to the limit without silly gimmicks. There were no run-ins, no weapons, and no corporate sponsors. It was just pure, unadulterated storytelling in the ring.

The Wembley Cosplay That Went Too Far

But then we have his other favorite moment, and this is where I need a long sip of my beer. At All In 2024 at Wembley, Ospreay wrestled MJF. Instead of walking down the ramp focused on his championship, he did a sponsored entrance for Assassin's Creed that featured Ezio Auditore.

It was the kind of self-indulgence that makes you roll your eyes. Ospreay talked about this entrance like it was the peak of his professional life.

"We had a collaboration deal with Assassin's Creed and I got to do an entrance that featured Ezio... He got to do a voiceover for me. I essentially got inducted into the brotherhood... Assassin's Creed was a way to portray the character that I wanted to do in wrestling. So then to finally have them pay me money to do an entrance, this is a dream come true."

This was a glorified commercial for a video game that had nothing to do with MJF. While MJF played the arrogant heel, Ospreay played video game enthusiast. It took the wind out of the match's sails before the bell rang.

This always ages like milk left in the sun. Remember when Triple H came out at WrestleMania with Terminator robots to promote a movie? It was goofy then, and it was goofy at Wembley.

In your home country, you should look like a fighter, not a paid influencer. The fans want to see an elite competitor battling for pride. They do not want to watch a commercial on the stage.

The entrance distracted from the actual story in the ring. It felt like Ospreay was more interested in being a gaming mascot than a top wrestler. That is the kind of indie-minded thinking that keeps AEW from growing.

The Booking Flaws and Rushed Decisions

This brings us to the biggest issue with Ospreay's booking. The Wembley match against MJF was supposed to be a historic victory but was bogged down by bad decisions. The finish saw Daniel Garcia interfere to help Ospreay win, which made the top babyface look weak in front of fifty thousand fans.

It deflated what should have been a clean, triumphant moment. Even worse was the handling of the Tiger Driver '91 storyline where Ospreay vowed to stop using the move after injuring Danielson's neck. That was a great storyline showing Ospreay had a conscience.

But he immediately brought the move back to defeat MJF at Wembley. Rushing the payoff felt incredibly cheap and took away the emotional weight of his previous matches. It showed a lack of patience in the booking room.

We saw the consequences of this short-term thinking in late 2025. Ospreay's high-risk style caught up with him, resulting in a herniated disc and a painful double-fusion neck surgery. He was sidelined for nine months, leaving AEW's ratings to tank without their biggest star.

You do not rush him back into high-spot matches the second he returns to action. Yet, that is exactly what AEW did. They put him right back into the fire, risking his long-term health for short-term television ratings.

A Path Forward to Wembley in 2026

Ospreay returned in March 2026, and his path has been a rollercoaster. He won the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament by defeating Swerve Strickland at Forbidden Door on June 28, 2026. That win sets him up for a world title match at Wembley Stadium this coming August, forcing AEW to make a decision.

He cannot just be the guy who puts on five-star matches for internet praise while wearing sponsored video game gear. Wrestling needs stars who feel larger than life, not stars who feel like they are happy to be here.

Ospreay has the talent to be the face of the entire industry for the next decade. He is a better athlete than Shawn Michaels and has the raw charisma of a young AJ Styles.

But to reach that next level, he has to stop treating wrestling like a sandbox for his personal hobbies. The fans want to see a champion, not a cosplayer who is excited about a Ubisoft check. When Ospreay walks down the ramp at Wembley in August, he needs to leave the video game hoods at home.

He needs to walk down that ramp with one goal: proving he is the undisputed king of this business. If he does that, he won't need to look back at video game partnerships as his standout moments. Now bartender, bring me that next draft, because we have a long road to Wembley and Ospreay has a lot to prove.