Will Ospreay found out quickly who his first All Elite Wrestling (AEW) World Championship title defense was going to be against.
The “Aerial Assassin” started AEW “Dynamite” on Wednesday with an impassioned promo, calling his All In opponent Kenny Omega “the best wrestler in the world” for the last 10 years and “still is.”
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“I think about the people that have held this belt before,” he said. “Chris Jericho, ‘Hangman’ Page, Jon Moxley, Kenny Omega, Bryan Danielson, Swerve Strickland … and I have to pinch myself a little bit. These guys were once-upon-a-time my heroes. I would watch them on TV. … These guys are my heroes and now the reality is, I’m amongst all of them. I worked hard for this, mate. All my idols, they’re now my rivals.
“I’m one of these guys that struggle to be able to say that I’m the guy. I haven’t got that much confidence in me. But then I look down at this belt and you can all look at it through your screens, bruv, I am the standard now. I am the Billy goat. I am the best in the world. I am your AEW world champion. And if anyone is going to take it from me, you’re going to need to walk through the same fire that I went through and I will see you at the end of the line, bruv.”
Ospreay was later thrust into a 10-man tag team match with Andrade El Idolo, Callum Newman, Francesco Akira and Henare against Gabe Kidd, Bishop Kaun, Ricochet, Toa Liona and Clark Connors. Ospreay’s team won but the beat down was on afterward.
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Kidd was about to hit Ospreay with a chair when Moxley stepped into the ring to take it away from him. Technically, Kidd and Connors are aligned with Moxley’s faction, The Death Riders. But Moxley has clearly shown he has a soft spot for Ospreay. Moxley helped Ospreay strengthen his body after he recovered from a neck injury. He also handed Ospreay the Union Jack before Ospreay stepped onto the stage at All In.
As Moxley stared down Ospreay, he handed him his world title back. The crowd then got ramped into a frenzy. The video board featured what was coming next for Ospreay and Moxley.
A match at All Out on Sept. 26 for the AEW World Championship.
Andrade has a guaranteed title shot lined up as well, though it’s unclear when he will embark on that journey. Andrade won the Casino Gauntlet match to earn the right for a title match.
For now, Ospreay and Moxley will battle it out at the end of the month.
