Exclusive: Will Ospreay on Carlos Silva scrapping TNA vs AEW matches: ‘It is a shame’

Both All Elite Wrestling and TNA have been trending for the past few days. Following some banter on social media, former TNA World Champion Nic Nemeth and AEW’s MJF were scheduled to face each other at Create-A-Pro Wrestling. However, just days before the match, TNA President Carlos Silva decided to scrap the TNA wrestlers vs. AEW wrestlers concept.

Nemeth will now face TNA’s own Bear Bronson, while MJF will compete in an open challenge. Speaking to ClutchPoints in an exclusive, All Elite Wrestling star Will Ospreay shared his thoughts on the matter.

“I’ve already spoken on it a little bit, but I do think it is a shame that he sees his talent as less than with the AEW talent because, like, you know, he’s gotta try and like build up your guys and just allow them to be wrestling other people because that’s how you’re gonna influence a new generation,” Ospreay said.

The former AEW International Champion further decided to share his own example to justify how wrestlers from two promotions fighting each other is important for the pro wrestling business.

“So, for example, I was the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, and I wrestled with Pete Dunne, who was the WWE UK champion at the time, we still managed to give the fans what they wanted. I think that’s the thing that annoys me the most about it.

“It was all approved, as far as my knowledge is concerned. It was all approved, and everybody knew in advance of who was gonna be wrestling whom and what was gonna be happening for them to pull it. And then you’d hear about WWE, and maybe they didn’t care enough about the UK title, but it was just a case of we’d like to not only protect me as the IWGP Junior Champ, but we need to protect our WWE champ. And we were able to work together to ensure that both of us came out smelling of roses,” he finished.

AEW’s Will Ospreay names his inspirations growing up

During the same interview, Ospreay also shared that TNA Hall of Famer AJ Styles significantly inspired him to pursue wrestling.

“I mean, AJ Styles, when he was in TNA. I saw him versus Christopher Dames or Samoa Joe, and I was blown away by it. I knew exactly right then and there, ‌as a 14-year-old watching that, that’s exactly what I wanna be doing,” Ospreay claimed.

While Ospreay was growing up, pro wrestling was yet to reach its peak in the UK. Still a growing territory, Ospreay shared how hard it was for him to make it in the industry.

“It was a lot of long journeys, like trying to find schools that would understand what I wanted to put across, because a lot of British wrestling schools at the time would just teach chain wrestling. There was a place called Drop Kicks that I went to, and I got kicked out of.”

The Knight family, well-known in the UK, is the family of former AEW and WWE star Saraya, for those unfamiliar. Despite their influence in the British wrestling scene, they were not fond of Ospreay’s backyard wrestling background. “The Aerial Assassin” shared how he found his spot in the London School of Lucha Libre and paid his gratitude to Greg Burridge and Garry Vanderhorne.

Alex Windsor’s personal message was enough for Will Ospreay to head into war

Last year at AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door 2025 in London, Will Ospreay received a special, heartfelt narration from fiancee Alex Windsor. An extremely special moment in front of his home crowd, Ospreay revealed the emotion behind that message.

“I didn’t know it was happening, quite frankly. Like, Al[Alex Windsor] put something together. She, I guess, she knew I was going through something that was very scary for me, and something that I generally feel like I dunno what I’m gonna look like on the other side of this injury. And to have her say the words, what did she say? She said, ‘If you’re not afraid of what’s next, neither am I,’ that’s enough to send any man into war. So, I’ll never forget how special and important that day was for me,” he smiled.

Will Ospreay’s Mount Rushmore of wrestling is not quite common

While the majority of pro wrestling stars’ Mount Rushmore of wrestling contains names like Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, The Undertaker, John Cena, and several such mainstream legends, Ospreay’s list was an homage to his upbringing and tradition. A New Japan Pro Wrestling veteran, Ospreay included several NJPW and Japanese wrestling veterans in his list.

“If it’s just me personally on what my personal choice of the foundations I follow is probably guys like AJ Styles, Amazing Red, Naomichi Marufuji, and Hayabusa,” Ospreay stated. “I do get probably no one in WWE has ever heard of Amazing Red, but you look at the influence that he’s had, you see people busting out Code Reds, that was him. You see, anyone, like in some busting out that like Twisting Paradise Kick, that was him. You see him do a tornado flatliner, that was him. And guys like AJ, I think, were the personification of X-division. And I think X-division at one point was his own style.

“And then when you look over to Japan in the junior heavyweight class, Naomichi Marufuji was doing some of the greatest junior work in NOAH. And then having someone like Hayabusa who had this extreme style to go along with these beautiful acrobatics. It was art. It was beautiful to watch. So to have all four of them, and I have a connection with all four guys now, is the coolest thing I can say in my career,” Ospreay concluded.

Will Ospreay names the wrestler he would like to face one day

Despite his career spanning across several years and promotions, Will Ospreay still has to face the following opponents in singles action. When asked about the wrestlers he would like to get in the ring one day, Ospreay named TNA’s Steve Maclin, AEW’s Samoa Joe, Cope, and Christian Cage.

“Steve Maclin is one of them from TNA, which would be good. I’ve never wrestled Samoa Joe. Samoa Joe’s a real thing that I’d like to do. Cope is another one that I’d like to do. Christian Cage is another one I’d like to do. Christian Cage was a part of a lot, one of my favorite eras in TNA, and both Cope and Cage have been so supportive of me throughout this neck injury. So to be able to get in the ring with them at least once in one singles match.”

When hinted that Tony Khan could be reading this interview and coming up with ideas for Ospreay vs Cope, Cage, and Joe, the British wrestler just smiled and nodded.

The Ospreay vs. Maclin match still seems far-fetched given how Carlos Silva recently reacted to the TNA vs AEW stars prospect. However, with all the other names already present in AEW, Tony Khan can gear up and fulfill Ospreay’s wishes.

Keeping these aside, Ospreay currently has a bigger task on his shoulder, with him scheduled to face Continental Champion Jon Moxley at AEW Dynasty on Apr. 12, 2026.

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