AEW Star Will Ospreay Dealt With Body Dysmorphia During NJPW Run

There's no doubt that AEW World Champion Will Ospreay is one of the most gifted in-ring professional wrestlers in the industry today, but outside of his skill in the squared circle, "The Aerial Assassin" dealt with several challenges regarding his physique.

During a recent interview with "Muscle & Fitness," Ospreay opened up about his battle with body dysmorphia when he was competing for New Japan Pro Wrestling at the age of 24, explaining that he faced many insecurities in the gym along with online criticism about his in-ring shape.

"I first discovered my body dysmorphia, and I won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, in October of 2017," Ospreay revealed. "And I remember one tweet was saying 'he is in the worst shape,' and they were right ... I didn't understand working out, why you do sets, and why you focus on one body part, and macro counting. I would go to the gym, but I really didn't know what I was doing, I'll be honest, and I was so embarrassed to ask the boys, they're all jacked, I felt like such an idiot, to try and (ask) 'could I workout with you?' so I never went to the gym."

During his struggles with body dysmorphia, Ospreay would discover MusclePharm's weekly workouts while he was wrestling in New Zealand and partnered with a personal trainer in order to achieve the physical appearance he was looking for in a healthy way. 

"I just said, alright, I'm gonna do these for the next six weeks," he said. "Within four weeks, I packed on so much muscle mass, and I started to understand how it worked. And then I invested in a personal trainer, his name is Iestyn Ress, and he really broke down macro counting, and how to count my calories, and why I do a push day and a pull day. It was so simple, but I just never had the courage to ask for help. And I always tell people now, the people in the gym, they're fighting the same demons that you're probably fighting."

Nearly a decade later, Ospreay is arguably in the best shape of his entire career and is now the face of the men's division in AEW after defeating Kenny Omega at All In: London last weekend to become world champion. In addition to Ospreay's win, six other title changes occurred at All In, including Mercedes Mone becoming the AEW Women's World Champion, and Darby Allin defeating Kevin Knight for the TNT Title with the help with his former tag team partner, Sting.