Will Ospreay elaborated on his previously stated views comparing AEW and WWE, reiterating his respect for WWE’s success and talent but doubling down on his personal lack of enjoyment for their product, which he finds “lame” and “recycled.”
“I think deep down, we know that WWE is like, it’s a machine… they’re in giant stadiums, and they’re doing so good,” Ospreay acknowledged. “But like, a lot of people look at us [AEW] and just go, like, we’re doing it wrong because WWE are doing this, and it’s just like, No, there’s just different ways of doing it.”
He recalled his changing view of WWE: “Yeah, I got into WWE when I was a kid, but like, when I became like a teenager, I just thought it was LAME… This is so pantomime… it’s the same stuff, it’s recycled.” He cited exceptions like Eddie Guerrero, Edge, Randy Orton, and CM Punk’s pipebomb promo.
“WWE are on fire now,” he conceded, “But I still… not only just as a viewer, but as a wrestler, I just don’t enjoy it… I don’t like the show, I don’t like the style of wrestling, I don’t like the presentation.” He praised AEW’s “sports-based style,” storytelling like Hangman Page and Dark Order, and risk-taking like the exploding barbed wire death match, offering to be the “next guinea pig” for such a bout.
Ospreay also discussed his belief that nobody in WWE can match anyone on the AEW roster in terms of in-ring talent.
But, of course, I respect WWE, and I admire everyone there. A lot of people think I hate Triple H, and I really don’t. I’ve never met the guy before in my life.But for me, there’s always this little bit of rivalry where I would just think, ‘Yeah, you guys are the biggest. Yeah, you guys are drawing the bigger houses. Yeah, you guys have the bigger deals.’ But the moment the bell rings, I think we’re better than all of them.
I think honestly, on my worst day, I’m better than a lot of the guys in-ring. In-ring? [Okay]. Promo-wise? You guys have got a bunch of guys. Punk’s sick. Reigns is sick. There’s still things that I need to catch up on. But in-ring, I generally don’t think there is anyone from that side that matches any of our guys.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit Daily Star with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
