AEW star Chris Jericho recently discussed his match with Will Ospreay that took place at AEW All In London at Wembley and their real-life friendship on a recent edition of Jericho’s own podcast, Talk Is Jericho. Jericho is a wrestling legend who is still putting on high-level matches with top talent. He had just such a match at the biggest wrestling pay-per-view event of the year, All Elite Wrestling’s All In London, at Wembley Stadium, which took place on Sunday, Aug. 27. He faced one of the hottest wrestlers in the world in Ospreay.
CHRIS JERICHO ON HIS AEW ALL IN LONDON BOUT WITH THE UK’S OWN WILL OSPREAY
Jericho and Ospreay had a banger of a match with British native Ospreay coming out the victor. Despite the two men having a very tough and competitive match they have a lot of respect and a friendship which transcends the ring. On a recent episode of Talk Is Jericho, Chris Jericho spoke about their friendship and how a lot of truth snuck into his promo about Ospreay. He stated the following on Ospreay:
“That story I told about cold calling Will to tell him to tone things down so he would have some longevity, like me, that was real. Will and I have always had a great relationship. He actually called me a few times to get advice on how to be a heel … When he was stuck in Japan, during the lockdown, he called me.”
“So Will and I have always had that friendship. So it was actually 100 percent legit, what I said in my promo, and 100 percent legit what he said about this being a huge year for him, and Wembley really putting the icing on the cake for the Will Ospreay story when his contract is up in a few months. He does have millions of dollars coming to him, no matter who he signs with.”
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
JERICHO REVEALS HIS AND OSPREAY’S MUTUAL TRUST
Building a relationship with your opponent always helps the match. It builds trust between the two wrestlers, and that trust allows for more improvisation in the match and a willingness to take chances. Jericho and Ospreay have that kind of trust, enough for Ospreay to ask a legend and veteran like Chris Jericho for advice.
The trust between Jericho and Ospreay goes both ways as Jericho put a great deal of trust in Ospreay when they were laying out their match together. While Jericho and AEW agent and coach Jerry Lynn put the match together, Jericho revealed that he left a lot of it up to Ospreay as a test of sorts.
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Also, Chris Jericho said he usually does a lot of the work of putting together the match, which included searching for “The Top Moves of Will Ospreay.” This time he wanted to take some of that burden off himself. Jericho continued on his match with Ospreay:
“Then I watched the match he had against Kenny (Omega) and the match he just had against Naito. Both were excellent, he knocked Naito the f*** out. He carried him through the finish, even though he was knocked out. I just came in there with a clean slate, just to see kind of what would happen.”
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
Outside of AEW, Ospreay is most well-known for his work in NJPW. He has been with the promotion since 2016. He spent much of his early years in the Junior Heavyweight division before moving into the Heavyweight division much like Kenny Omega. Ospreay’s style has often been compared to that of his former rival, Ricochet.
Eventually, Ospreay made it to the top of the NJPW promotion, becoming the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion in April 2021. His run in the company has included high-profile matches with such world-renowned stars as Jon Moxley, Kazuchika Okada, Kenny Omega, Kota Ibush, and Zack Sabre Jr. among others. Since 2022 Ospreay has been working with AEW off-and-on. He has taken part in the jointly promoted AEW and NJPW events, Forbidden Door, in 2022 and 2023. Last year, he faced Orange Cassidy, and earlier in June, he faced longtime rival Omega in a rematch from Wrestle Kingdom 17.
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However, Ospreay’s biggest career match was arguably at the biggest wrestling pay-per-view event of all time, All In, which took place at London’s Wembley Stadium. Ospreay wrestled in his home country, with the single largest attendance for a wrestling event of all time, with over 81,000 paid fans in attendance. Chris Jericho spoke about what a huge moment the PPV event was for him, making sure his peers knew what a big deal it was. The former AEW World Champion continued during his podcast:
“Any time you have a big show like that, there’s a certain vibe to it. Everyone knows that it’s not just another show. We had a big team meeting on Zoom to discuss, kind of, the protocols and that sort of thing. At the end of the meeting, I just told everybody ‘Just enjoy this. This is not something that happens every day. It might never happen again.’ Once again, the biggest wrestling show of all time. Think about that; I’ve been doing this for 33 years, and I’m having my biggest show ever on this day? After thousands and thousands of matches? Just a really cool vibe and a really cool moment.”
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
What did you think of Chris Jericho vs. Will Ospreay? Was it the best match on the card? With Ospreay’s contract ending soon, where would you like to see him go? Do you think the right move is staying with NJPW? What did you think of All In? Did it feel like the biggest show of all time? Let us know if you think Ospreay should sign with AEW and if he should immediately go after the AEW World Championship. Share your thoughts with us on our social media!
SOURCE: Talk Is Jericho, Wrestling Inc.
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