Will Ospreay officially joined AEW last year at Full Gear. His commitments to New Japan Pro Wrestling concluded in February, making him one of the highest profile free agents in the business prior to being scooped up by Tony Khan.
On the latest episode of Talk Is Jericho, Ospreay explained his decision in choosing AEW over WWE. Staying in his native United Kingdom and near his family proved to be a main factor.
“Main thing was, I wanted to be in the UK,” he said. “I know I’m not going to be exactly comfortable moving to another country. I moved to Japan in 2019, as much as I loved it, it wasn’t home. I entered a new relationship with my new Mrs. who wrestles under the name Alex Windsor, I have a stepson now, she just started school. If you know her story and everything she’s been through, the UK scene kind of knows it, but she lost her husband, and having to pick herself up from that and having to be a mom, a single mom, to losing her husband, it’s going to have some tolls on you, so she needs to be around family and friends in her social circle. I couldn’t bear the thought of moving her away from all of that and having her own on her own again. For me, the main priority was to stay in the UK, but also wanting to up the wrestling because I had done everything in New Japan. I completed it.”
Ospreay also credited the environment at AEW as a key reason for his decision. ”The viable option was where was I happy and what was I doing? Every time I came (to AEW), Tony [Tony Khan] has given me nothing but trust and respect the moment I came in here. It was the right decision for me at this time. I’m happy here and looking forward to the challenges. It’s the right decision.”
Ospreay went on to say the offer from AEW was “way better.” “It was night and day,” he said. “Even in differences of what they were offering and what AEW was offering, AEW was way better. The scheduling, everything about AEW was completely the right option for me. It was always, you can go be a superstar in WWE and famous, but it’s not as good of pay, and it’s not as kind of a schedule. I respect everyone there doing it, but it’s not for me.”
Listen to the entire episode of Talk Is Jericho here.
