Will Ospreay heads into All Elite Wrestling’s Double or Nothing with a lot on the line: a one-on-one with Samoa Joe at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York, conversations about reinvention after surgery, and a look back at the figures who shaped his career, including Christopher Daniels and A.J. Styles. This piece follows Ospreay from the kid inspired by a TNA match to the AEW star now juggling alliances with Jon Moxley’s crew and the ghost of United Empire as he prepares for a high-stakes night in Queens and an emotional return to Wembley Stadium.
Ospreay calls this meeting with Samoa Joe a full-circle moment, and he acknowledges how formative a match between A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe, and Christopher Daniels was for him as a 12-year-old. “There was just something about how A.J. moved,” Ospreay said, “I’d never seen anything like that before.” That early spark set a path that brought him through Progress, New Japan, and now a starring role in AEW.
Inside the AEW locker room, Ospreay has watched idols become colleagues: Christopher Daniels moved into a talent role while Samoa Joe stands across the ring as an opponent. The dynamic gets messier with Jon Moxley and the Death Riders courting Ospreay, offering training and a new approach to protect his body as he shifts his style. “The results speak for themself. I can’t argue with them,” Ospreay says of working with The Death Riders and their work on his neck and pacing.
Injuries have forced adaptations. Once celebrated as a top high-flyer, Ospreay admits the body has demanded change: “I need to move a bit slower now,” he says, “but I think it could be a good thing.” He stresses that the decision to train with Moxley wasn’t a dig at Joe but a pragmatic move to plug holes and prolong a career that has already seen neck surgery and persistent back trouble.
There’s an edge to facing a man like Samoa Joe, whose Muscle Buster specifically threatens the neck Ospreay has fought so hard to protect. “It’s a scary drop, yeah. Trying not to really visualize being in that position. Obviously, Joe has the weight advantage, think he has the reach advantage too — so this is going to be a stick and move for me.” That mix of respect and fear colors how Ospreay approaches each exchange in the ring.
Ospreay refuses long-term predictions and treats every match as the only one that matters, mindful a single moment could change everything. Still, he’s openly excited to head back across the Atlantic for AEW All In at Wembley Stadium, a place he compares to childhood dreams of playing football among heroes like David Beckham. “That feeling never goes away,” Ospreay says of stepping into Wembley Stadium, and he remembers the 2024 crowd chanting his mum’s maiden name as one of those career-cementing nights.
He got rolling young, breaking in at 21 with Progress and rising fast through New Japan to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title at 25, a path that left him feeling like an innovator before turning 30. Even with that pedigree, Ospreay wakes up feeling the wear: “Sometimes it feels like I’m past my prime, mate. I wake up and my back hurts, I’ve had neck surgery — but honestly, that is one of the greatest honors you can give me.” The tone is both weary and grateful.
Personal connections still matter. Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis, formerly of United Empire and Ospreay’s housemates in Japan, are now on separate roads with Don Callis in AEW, and Ospreay watches that shift closely. “Kyle and Mark actually lived with me for a year in Japan. We formed a really close bond. Kyle, and I say this through gritted teeth, because I don’t like how he does things — but he’s become one of the best wrestlers in the world. As for Mark, the amount of hard work he’s put in. When Aussie Open broke up, I didn’t know what was going to happen, and he’s just worked so hard to have success with Don Callis.” That history gives their rivalry extra weight.
Looking ahead on the match wish list, Ospreay names a couple of foes he hasn’t properly solved: Anthony Bowens and Kenny Omega top that list. He sees Bowens as a realistic future matchup through the Joe-aligned Opps, and he frames Kenny Omega as the one he wants to settle business with when Omega is fully healthy. “When he’s completely healthy, I want to finish the trilogy.”
- A.J. Styles, for inspiring him with his movement, innovation, and body of work.
- Kazuchika Okada, for the kindness he showed Ospreay in NJPW and his overall ability as a wrestler
- Naomichi Marufuji, for pushing wrestling forward
- Kenny Omega, for being the wrestler Ospreay is always chasing to consider himself the best in the world
Ospreay sits at a strange crossroads: hailed as a generational performer yet navigating the chronic realities of the craft, he’s intent on proving he can be the ace AEW builds around while taking each match as a test of reinvention. Expect him to focus on movement and preservation on Sunday, and to measure success in how he emerges, not just in the win-loss column.
All Elite Wrestling Double or Nothing will air live from Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens, New York on Sunday, May 24 starting at 8:00 p.m. ET on PPV.
