AEW's Will Ospreay Opens Up About Dealing With Imposter Syndrome

In the present day, Will Ospreay is a confident, decorated champion, now on track to potentially becoming AEW World Champion next. Rewind to 2015, however, and he'd paint a different picture of himself.

"I was a 22-year-old boy who was working at a mastic firm," Ospreay recently told "Q101." "If you don't know what mastic is, it's the rubber seals by your bathrooms and your windows. I would do that Monday to Friday, and then from Friday to Sunday, I'd be a professional wrestler. I didn't have enough money to even afford a gym membership. I struggled so hard with imposter syndrome because a lot of the times, I would be the chosen guy to wrestle a lot of these imports [in RevPro]. I wrestled Matt Sydal and AJ Styles, and I struggled understanding who I was."

While he may have been doubting his own success and abilities at the time, important figures saw potential in him, so much so that New Japan Pro-Wrestling officials ultimately invited him to join their 2016 Best of the Super Juniors tournament. This offer came after Ospreay put up a valiant effort against Kazuchika Okada, the then-IWGP Heavyweight Champion, at RevPro Global Wars UK in October 2015.

"And as soon as that match was done, I had the New Japan guys and the office all come up to me and said 'We're going to bring you in for the Super Juniors.' I always wanted to do the Super Juniors. It was like a mad crazy thing," Ospreay said.

Ospreay's tenure in NJPW eventually extended when he inked a format contract with the promotion. He'd stay there until the early months of 2024, when he left for All Elite Wrestling.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Q101" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.