Backstage Update On Will Ospreay's Forbidden Door Status, Some In AEW Hoping He Sits Out
Fans around the world will be watching the upcoming Lights Out Unsanctioned Steel Cage match at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door through their hands, not just because of the potentially brutality of the bout, but because Will Ospreay is involved when a lot of people think he should be resting. Ospreay recently revealed that he has two herniated discs in his neck and will potentially need surgery in the near future, but didn't want to miss the big event in London, England, leading to many people, naturally, being concerned for the "Aerial Assassin" as there is a very real possibility he could get seriously hurt this Sunday.
Some of those concerned individuals are actually some of Ospreay's colleagues on the AEW roster, as a new report from Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select has claimed that some members of the AEW roster were hopeful that Ospreay wouldn't wrestle at Forbidden Door out of concerns for his health. However, Ospreay has made it very clear that working the show in his home country means a lot to him, despite knowing how much of a risk it will be. Despite his condition, Ospreay actually revealed in a recent interview with Sports Illustrated that his condition physically can't get any worse, meaning that while he is taking a risk by working Forbidden Door, his neck can't be damaged any more than it already is.
While he hasn't explicitly said that he would be going under the knife, Ospreay has heavily implied that he will end up getting surgery on his neck, and that people within AEW have been explicitly told that Ospreay is getting surgery and will be gone from the company for an unknown amount of time after Forbidden Door. Ospreay was actually meant to take time off after All In Texas, and went in to that show knowing he'd need to rehab his neck, but didn't know the severity of the injury at the time. This naturally changed plans dramatically as AEW didn't know how long Ospreay would be out for.
As far as what Ospreay has said about his condition on TV, the line about him not being medically cleared has been confirmed to be false, but Ospreay wasn't originally supposed to mention his injury until the last minute. Ospreay's promo on the July 23 episode of "AEW Dynamite" where he revealed his condition was added to the show on that day due to a number of changes to the show being made because of other wrestlers not being medically cleared to compete.