Will Ospreay Looks Back On Call He Received From AEW Colleague Chris Jericho
AEW star Will Ospreay has already exceeded the expectations of many fans around the world in the brief time he's been a full-time member of the roster, but there was a time when Ospreay's moveset was even more outrageous than what it is today. The "Aerial Assassin" got his nickname for being predominantly a high-flyer in the UK indies and Japan, while also taking bumps that had people questioning if he was going to be able to walk by the time he was 40.
On "Talk Is Jericho," Ospreay recalled Jericho calling him out of the blue to offer advice that would ultimately change Ospreay's career for the better. "I appreciated that so much, you have no idea," Ospreay said. "I was sat in my room in my parents house, you called me up and went 'do you mind if we have a chat?' I was like 'yeah go for it' and you went 'listen man, I've just watched you take a DDT off the apron. You've got to stop doing, you've got to be calm about this,' and I really did appreciate it because even though I'm in control of what I'm doing, but deep down I was like 'you give a s**t. You care too much to be like you've got a long career, you can be bigger than this but you've got to wind your neck in on these things.'"
Ospreay admitted he was grateful for Jericho being honest with him as he didn't owe him anything, and even though Ospreay believes he hasn't done anything too stupid or dangerous in recent years, Jericho caring enough to call him and tell him to tone things down for the benefit of his health meant a lot to him.
Will Ospreay Put This Advice Into Practice At AEW All In
As Jericho's advice sank in and Ospreay graduated to the NJPW heavyweight division, his style became more physical. While he was still able to perform high-flying moves, things like the "Stormbreaker" and the "Hidden Blade" become more important for the Englishman. Once all this came together, Ospreay believes his bond with the former AEW World Champion and the advice he received was the perfect motivation for him going into the match they had during All In at Wembley Stadium.
"I feel like that was the perfect fuel for what we needed for Wembley," Ospreay said. "When it got announced for Wembley, a lot of people were like 'huh? Why? What's the story?' Everyone's impatient man, they don't want to play it out, but I was dead proud of that promo that we had because it was kind of like why am I facing you? Dude, you're the biggest f**king star here, it's Wembley Stadium, there isn't anything bigger in the UK. So for me, as [NJPW] star is running out and I'm facing the biggest star in the biggest show that has ever happened, why wouldn't I want to win this match? This is going to set me up for life."
Ospreay came out victorious in front of his fellow countrymen, adding Jericho to an already impressive resume of Dax Harwood, Orange Cassidy, and Kenny Omega of people he has defeated one-on-one in AEW. That singles record has since extended to include Konosuke Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher, and at AEW Dynasty on April 21, Ospreay has the chance to add Bryan Danielson to his list of fallen foes.
Please credit "Talk Is Jericho" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.