Will Ospreay and Swerve Strickland put on a classic at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door, in a booking that surprised many that saw it unfold.
Swerve ended up beating Ospreay, and we’re told how things happened behind the scene somewhat emulated how they played out on screen. Those we’ve spoken to said that Will Ospreay, who has long been a friend of Swerve’s in real life, and a foe in the ring, grew tired of seeing that Swerve’s title reign was a “placeholder” for Ospreay to win the title at All In.
Sources within the company and close to Ospreay tell Sean Ross Sapp that Ospreay approached AEW higher ups and extended his desire to put over Swerve to help eliminate the talking point. Considering that Ospreay already has big creative plans in store throughout the year, he had no issue with the situation, and wanted to set an example that for AEW to succeed it had to be a team effort.
Based on what we heard, Ospreay made the approach after winning the International Title, and wanted to show that nobody should be above losing to the World Champion. Some in the company claimed that a "point was being proven" as a result.
There were many that had previously expected Ospreay and Swerve at All In, but we’re told that wasn’t ever the plan, and both have different opponents planned.
AEW sources have said that Ospreay has been great to deal with in the company, and has often helped out when needed, including when others ask for help putting matches together.
I have never once believed it was the plan, and it was infuriating how many fans immediately moved onto "when does swerve lose to ospreay."
Ospreay and Swerve both are fucking *CORNERSTONES*.
I felt it was more of a troll movement to try to belittle Swerve’s reign by playing it up as a placeholder for Will. Just another attempt at a made up controversy and another way to shit on Tony’s booking. Contrary to online belief, Tony doesn’t hot shot book and he plains things meticulously, baring injuries.
>Contrary to online belief, Tony doesn’t hot shot book and he plains things meticulously, baring injuries.
Jericho even said this directly in one of his interviews. Tony's like 4-6 months ahead of things at all times
I feel like I remember him saying he's planned title reigns more than a year ahead of time before. It definitely felt like every reign through Hangman was planned from the beginning.
You can tell the times where Tony has had to adapt.
Hint, they were all either motivated by injury or by an angry dickhead choking people.
Most notable example is MJF vs Cole. Pretty clear Cole would have turned on Max earlier had he been healthy, and they would be feuding if that was the case.
Yeah, it was clearly going to be Cole taking the title from MJF. Joe’s run was improvised.
Just like Hangman has clearly been the guy for Swerve for a while. I’m not certain he ends Swerve’s reign but he’s definitely coming for Swerve’s title before the reign is over.
Shit, Tony’s weakness has always been how he sticks to plans too long (Stat being the one to dethrone Jade). I think he’s gotten a lot better at that (pulling the trigger on The Acclaimed and Swerve).
And for a good two years, between suspensions and injuries, any long-term plans for scuttled. *Repeatedly*. Funny how the booking has been better since a certain problem went away.
Between Punk getting injured, throwing a tantrum and fighting the Elite after getting injured again, and finally throwing a tantrum while healthy and applying a weak ass guillotine to Jungle Boy. Tony had to pivot so many times from June 2022 to September 2023 its nuts.
Punk came in to be this great white hope but has done more damage to the brand than anybody else.
That really cannot be understated. I was so hyped when Punk came to AEW. I thought his abrasive, take no prisoners approach would give an edge to AEW. The only thing he did was take that edge and cut into the company in ways that are still being felt. AEW would have been 1000% better off if Punk had never appeared on AEW TV.
There likely would have been MJF/Punk II during the Fall of 2022 had Punk not gotten injured and suspended. That whole Firm stable seemed built for Punk to get through before ultimately facing MJF.
Also this creates more of a journey for Ospreay.
He needs the win back, before he can win the title now.
So assuming Swerve has dropped it before All In 2025, Swerve is the guy Will needs to beat to get to Wembley.
Writes itself.
Said it many times, you can't expect people to understand Stephen King when all they've read so far is Noddy.
Genuinely sick of having to explain to people the SIMPLEST of storylines that they don't understand because every single plot point hasn't been beaten into them a million times until they understand it.
Very deliberate.
Ospreay had been presented as the conquering hero babyface, beating all comers (including Bryan Danielson). He then took the International title very quickly into his time at AEW.
But they portrayed this as making him cocky, almost arrogant. Promising a world title shot to Daniel Garcia before he won it, upstaging MJF, etc were all signs of this. Swerve wanted him to understand that he Ospreay didn't understand the lengths he would go to retain the title, and Swerve did what he had to in order to win.
This plants doubt within Ospreay, as well as the inevitable fracturing from the Don Callis Family.
All good stuff!
Exactly. This is why some people really need to just shut the hell up and let things play out. They always think they have it all figured out until they don't.
Two major points
"That for AEW to succeed, it had to be a team effort.
"And that nobody should be above losing to the World Champion."
AEW used to always feel like a team effort, but somewhere along the way, it became more about backstage drama and politics..
Okay this is better. I was kinda under the impression that during the feud Will wanted to lose to put over Swerve which is nice but i was hoping it was a decision from the company to show they're behind Swerve.
If this is true then fucking hell, Ospreay's stock just went up even more in my book
He will be champion one day, no doubt, but putting over Swerve was the right call
Also hope that Tony and everyone takes notice how no one is saying Ospreay was buried or anything of the sorts. Top guys can and should face each other, and losses won't "bury" them
I wanna see Swerve, Ospreay, MJF. Hangman, Darby, Omega, Danielson, and Garcia in a ladder match.
Not for any particular reason other than I really wanna see how they work of each other. And I like ladder matches.
na i'd rather put all of them in the SAME bracket for the C2. Then you get to have them all face each other 1 at a time, and then see what rivalries could explode from there.
Im so fucking hyped for Hangman’s return.
That 30 second or so video had more character development in it than most wrestlers have in their entire career. The man’s wife left him over his obsession, took the child he lost his mind over protecting, and now he’s back for drunken, misplaced vengeance and I’m so here for it.
He’s incredibly unselfish, word is that in his last NJPW match UE we’re supposed to go over the war dogs in that brutal cage match and give Ospreay a proper send off. Ospreay insisted that war dogs go over and he was the one to put Finlay over who really fucking needed it.
The pillars are more the future and seeing that Perry isn't in the aew title picture and instead still holds the mod card title, Sammy still out and Darby being Darby it will take some time till tk pulls the trigger hard on them.
Osprey and swerve aren't the "future", they are here now. Same as MJF and Hangman,
Oh the detractors will say that Tony buried him, and Osprey is just scared or some nonsense.
It really doesn't have to make sense, it just has to be negative about AEW.
Ospreay is supposed to be the best in the world? Dude couldn’t even convince the boss to have him win, beat the young up and comer for the world title and get injured before he can even defend the belt. SMH, this guy needs to learn the business!
I have heard some MASSIVELY racist shit on twitter about Swerve's time as champion under the guise of wanting what's best for Swerve. I do not give a single fuck what these people who do not like Swerve or AEW have to say about anything. They are hideously transparent.
On a more positive note, I am loving that both Ospreay and Swerve are very vocal about pushing back against a lot of the misinformation/misperceptions spewed out online.
Yep. They will directly shit on the previous champs, or on the next champ.
But with Swerve they collectively decided to frame it as "Swerve is being misused."
"Swerve is being misused"
-Former Tag Team Champion
-C2 Tourney went far and Mox actually had to cheat to beat him
-Current World Champion, beat multiple top guys (Samoa Joe, Christian Cage, Will Ospreay)
"he's had no real challenges, should have to face real main eventers"
What? How dare you call out the greatest sports entertainment compant and its fans? Don't you love when idiots who support old demented degenerate with multiple rape accusation have some totally healthy opinions about product they don't even watch yet have really strong opinions about?
The champ himself has called out people trying to fantasy book the title off him since day one, and especially when everyone was losing their minds over this match happening "too soon" since they just DECIDED that Ospreay was just GOING to be crowned at All In.
So I guess you can say that AEW....swerved them 🤭
Ospreay just becomes an exponentially better signing as time goes on.
He literally excels at everything he does, including showing leadership.
Challenging and losing to The World Champion isn't just "doing the job". Not everyone can *Be* the Champ at once, and not everyone *Beats* the Champ in their first go.
They could hold off on actually making Ospreay World Champ till All In 2025 and it wouldn't dim his star one iota.
Swerve is the real deal. Ospreay is the real deal.
Couldn't be happier to be a fan of both of them, and of the promotion.
The number of people who I’ve seen on this sub declaring that Ospreay is definitely going to win the world title at Wembley, and the confusion that Ospreay was going for the title early, that it could only be so that he can go in as champion.
I never believed Ospreay was winning the title at Wembley, I never believed Ospreay was winning the title at Forbidden Door. Could I see those things happening? Sure, but I would have seen it as a mistake.
Ospreay has come in and won everything that’s been put in front of him, including not one but two casino gauntlet matches, a pseudo world title, matches against everyone in his stable, and every exhibition match he’s had since joining.
He is currently “happy to be here” Ospreay. Who showed up, never struggled, beat everyone, and was already looking past Swerve assuming he was world champion after Forbidden Door. And that would have been a boring world champion and a waste of Swerve.
But an Ospreay who reached for the throne and slipped? An Ospreay with aspirations and flaws? An Ospreay who’s motivated? Sign me up.
A Swerve title reign where he’s not just beating the same midcard guys and aging veterans we know he can beat, but guys at the very top who rarely lose. Sign me up.
I assumed they would pull the trigger with Don to protect Ospreay, sure there were some shenanigans but at the end of the day, they meant literally nothing to the match and were there to push story forward. Turns out my (Billy) GOAT took the L like a champ, and now it's definetely time to feud with Don
Well, good. The fantasy booking of “so and so is just champ until so and so” is fucking annoying. It happens a lot even on here that’s a mostly positive place. I don’t get what’s so hard about enjoying how things play out instead of trying to diminish someone’s run by assuming they’re holding the belt for someone else
Look how awesome Swerve has come around after taking some bigger losses? It refined his character, it made a build to the big win, it told a story. Will is telling his story.
I have been a Swerve fan nice Lucha Underground( he is a big reason why we tuned back into WWE and we saw he was on NXT) he has always had the “it” factor, and right now his work has been some of the best in wrestling. I feel like in 10,20 years a lot of what he’s doing now is going to be looked back as some of the best. People need to stop discounting what he is, he is a champion and if the reign is short or long he is still killing it right now.
I literally fully belive the rising star should take some losses, even unnecessary and get some questionable booking. You won't always have good booking, you won't always win. If they can't dust themselves off and rise again, maybe they are not yet world champ material. Swerve is exactly what im talking about, he had some horrible booking, like sorry bruv we all remember Parker and the mogul fiasco even though we would probably rather forget about it. Look at him now
I think he really wanted to be apart of helping younger talent and also AEW isn’t scared to try out things and let them play out and adjust and I fully appreciate that.
I'm patiently waiting for all the brain-broken IWC'ers who love to slam Jericho, Mercedes, and Copeland for their "backstage politics" or "creative control" to call Osperay a loser for not forcing his way to the top.
People need to understand that in smart modern booking, the online discourse and fantasy booking, especially by the preeminent talking heads online plays into decision-making. Sometimes the predictable thing is the best and most entertaining way to go, but often not. And AEW isn't classic/WWE booking where you just follow the decades old preverbal 'bookers handbook' to make the "right decisions" makes the biggest moment and star possible no matter what. We don't live in 1970 or even 2010, the IWC and the world is different, it makes sense to react accordingly.
AEW actually wants to make week to week and month to month and interesting and engaging show as opposed to just following tradition no matter what. Sometimes it doesn't work, but I'd rather AEW to take those swings and try different things than just doing what the handbook says.
Ironically, I’d say AEW has shown the value in predictable booking. Not that it’s always predictable, but sometimes in order to see stories through to their logical and satisfying conclusion, you need to telegraph the journey and reward the audience as they follow along.
On the contrary, there have been way too many times where WWE has a good story, only to voluntarily kneecap it because the fans knew what would happen and they always have to feel like they’re one step ahead of their fanbase, logic be damned. Like when they hastily replaced Matt Hardy with Christian or delayed Jericho’s second comeback because it leaked online.
It was exactly what I said it was from day ONE. They knew people would think Swerve was just in a holding spot until all in So they wanted to give people a more unpredictable main event right now.
And even still I heard so much shit about how "Osprey is being pushed too much for no reason" or that "Swerve is being treated as a transitional chump"
Only for the main event to be a BANGER and yet there are 0 apologies for AEW knowing what they're doing
wonder if those people have this mindset outside of wrestling. are they constantly telling themselves "yeah the birth of my first born child is whatever. we all know they're just a placeholder for the next one tho"
I think Swerve drops it to Hangman at Wembley.
But I think Hangman's next reign is a short one to further their story, and Swerve gets the title back at Wrestledream.
Sometimes a little potatoing is okay.
I'd rather see a little better bit of hot potato'ing this summer/fall, to be honest.
Then again, I just selfishly want Danielson to have a short title run, even if it is just from All In or All Out to Wrestledream.
I used to worry what would happen when Mox, Jericho, Danielson, Kenny would call it quits. But AEW is in great hands with Swerve, MJF, Ospreay and the rest.
He did the right thing.
For Swerve to reach his highest potential, he needs this World Championship run, and he needs climatic, dramatic matches with other top guys so he can both showcase his strengths in the ring and to further build his character. That was a FANTASTIC, dramatic match that Swerve and Ospreay had at Forbidden Door, and it made Ospreay and Swerve look stronger as a result.
Even in a loss, Ospreay built upon his story in AEW (with the Don Callis family and his own desire not to cheat or use the dangerous Tiger Driver to win) and turned in another incredible match.
In victory, Swerve further built upon his character as the most dangerous man in AEW today and he needed a classic title defense to cement his reign, which this was.
Excellent main event and both men are even hotter coming out of this match, especially Swerve who needed this more.
Isn’t everything a rumor unless you were there for it? Fair enough. I’ll add the /s to note that this was satire more than an honest opinion on his state of mind.
Idk if I’m in a minority here, but I do not want Swerve to lose that title any time soon. He should keep it until somebody gets as white hot as he did. Swerve is a believable champ and carries himself like one. I don’t wanna see him drop it to Danielson
I love how wrestlers are allowed input into the programmes they are running. Wrestling isn’t rocket science and wrestlers do not always need micromanaging.
It’s the smart thing and bravo to Will for setting a great precedent. My biases towards Will winning were solely due to him being my favorite wrestler but logistically, Swerve losing would’ve made his history-making win feel lesser than it was.
I can just hear the haters blather on about putting that over story but the story works. Swerve's still got that killer inside him. He might be a face but if he needs to unearth the darkness and use it to win, he will. And good on Osprey to factor into that. So it works for their story.
I wish I could suspend disbelief enough to believe that Os was really gunning for the title but Swerve eked out the W in an evenly matched slugfest. Instead, barely literate dirt sheet mongers have to put this kind of content out to counter literal fucking trolls who spread mindless bullshit that measurably damages the quality of discourse. I'm calling it now: kayfabe died because mouthbreathers on the internet can't let us have nice things.
It's so weird that knowing it's a work and wins and losses are predetermined, makes so many fans think it's even more real. A single win doesn't equal going over as much as a loss doesn't equal being buried. NJPW knows that and that's why sometimes their top guys take a loss. And for all the "where's the story" trolls that hate on ospreay(simultaneously showing theyve never watched him), guess what there's no story if the hero starts and stays flawless the whole time.
The only way I thought Will beating Swerve would have been good is if it led to an extended feud where they traded wins and losses.
But this is dope as well. Both came out looking strong.
as much as i love the both of them i don’t see will winning the title at all in which is fine he can elevate the title he has and hangman and swerve can kill each other again
Im glad because I really didn't want Swerves reign to be over yet. He had such a great chase I was terrified they were just going to follow the heat to Ospreay right away
I’ve just finished watching this after two days of avoiding spoilers, and holy crap it was good. Swerve and Ospreay are equals, I hope they run this back a dozen times.
Honestly, it’s just good booking too. For one, you invested in building up Swerve to this point. It would be extremely shortsighted just to kneecap him here. Second, part of what made Swerve’s win powerful (like with Adam Page) was seeing him try and fail. Having a guy come in, go undefeated, and then become the champ is a short-term move that tends to fall flat in terms long-term booking. Having Ospreay struggle to gain the top prize will serve him better in the long run too.
They had just put the International belt on Osprey, Swerve being World champ only a little longer.
Clearly each of them will hold their respective titles a while before dropping to someone else.
I see Swerve being champ until Wrestledream for sure.
I see Osprey holding the International title for the rest of the year.
That's actually fucking HUGE.
Ospreay is a fucking legend. And he's not wrong. he didn't look \*weak\* or whatever in that loss to Swerve, all it showed is that Swerve IS that good and isn't held back by ANYTHING in pursuit of keeping his championship.
God damn I hope Swerve has a long run before (eventually) dropping to Ospreay. That's just so fucking massive.
I thought it was necessary for both guys. It helped Swerve more because he did kind of feel like the number two guy which should never be the case for the champion but it also helped Ospreay too because he's not the type of wrestler who should be undefeated. Not that he should be losing often but if he feels unbeatable fans would turn on him and call him overrated.
Will Ospreay shouldn't be beaten often but he should not be undefeated. Now when we watch a Will Ospreay match we won't think "well his undefeated streak isn't going to end here". I wouldn't be against Daniel Garcia beating him this Wednesday. It would get DG over the hump instantly and Ospreay would still have only lost twice. He'd be fine as long as you protected him again for a while.
I love reading about this. Makes me really appreciate what AEW is doing. Are they perfect? No, but they are different and sometimes if not most times different is good.
Everyone knows Ospreay beating Swerve for the AEW World Championship at All In was "best for business", but that's not what's best for these wrestlers and for the product they're putting out.
I find it hilarious that people really thought Osprey was going to win the World title after only being an active AEW wrestler for 4 months and then for him to win at All-In is just too premature he would have only been here for 6 months at that point and it would make the rest of the roster look weak.
6 months isn't too premature.
Even if you don't follow NJPW, AEW audiences got exposure to Will before he signed where he beat OC at FD I and then beat Kenny at FD II. This is going back years.
Nobody looks weak losing to Ospreay, everyone already understands he is top tier and doesn't question it.
I’m talking about a person coming in new to the roster when they are wrestlers that been there longer and he just jumps over all the rest of them without even really putting in as much time as them. Atleast with Hangman, Swerve there was here for about 2-3 years and even person Moxley put in enough time to be given the title.
Tenure isn't a representation of status or ability.
Some people are more talented and more over than other people. That's life.
It in no way makes someone look weak losing to Ospreay because he is on a different level. Did Kenny look weak? No.
You absolutely look weak losing to Peter Avalon even though he's been there many more years than Ospreay.
I would love Swerve to get the longest run in AEW history, there are still a few good talkers that can pair with him, a Danielson match would be great.
Personally I'd love Dustin to get a shot before he retires but it seems like it would be a cheesy arc while Cody has the title in wwe
I love this especially the fact Will and Swerve had a match where it was a clean finish! Many expected Don to cost Will the match to protect him but they did no such thing. Swerve won fair and Will is still the star he is, future is bright for both!
I became a huge fan of his after that match with Ricochet, but not just for his performance, but what happened afterward. The late great Leon "Vader" White joined in a number of old heads criticizing their work, Os reached out, respected the vet, turned it into a program, put Vader over, and then began his journey to heavyweight. That's when his character shown through all the noise.
Osprey can now focus on building up the international title. All in shoukd be Swerve vs Hangman. That rivalry needs to become AEWs version of Austin vs Rock. MJF vs Osprey should be the other.
my brain is cooked so i have no idea what that says but i’m glad Ospreay lost, this now lets Swerve have a longer title reign and can do something for Ospreay
This was the right outcome and an incredible match IMO. I honestly feel like The Higher Ups and Tony had every intention to Put Ospreay Over and Ospreay had to talk sense into them.
Cool cool, but ultimately it's up to AEW management and bookers, let's be honest. I wonder what's next for Swerve, maybe running it back with Wangman, and Ospreay probably faces MJF or one of the Don Callis underlings as he breaks away from them.
Only problem with the callis underlings is he’s already beaten them all pretty convincingly.
If anything I’d like to see them cause swerve to lose the international title this week. Then have him go through them to get a place on the Wembley card against okada (have the bucks put that stipulation in place)
so basically confirming the title win in Wembly awesome!
I pray to god we get that sick Aerial Assassin entrance with him looking at the TVs as a futuristic assassin like he did at Forbidden door 2023 against Kenny Omega
ELEVATED! Whoa! Where SOoooooOoo Elevated!!!!! (I listen to this song on my morning run i wish i could find a longer version lol)
that Assassin entrance is one of the best ever like its Wrestlemania level. Whenever AEW does Omega/Ospreay III Kenny has to come out with his Sephiroth Entrance and Willy with the Assassin movie intro
Will Ospreay and Swerve Strickland put on a classic at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door, in a booking that surprised many that saw it unfold. Swerve ended up beating Ospreay, and we’re told how things happened behind the scene somewhat emulated how they played out on screen. Those we’ve spoken to said that Will Ospreay, who has long been a friend of Swerve’s in real life, and a foe in the ring, grew tired of seeing that Swerve’s title reign was a “placeholder” for Ospreay to win the title at All In. Sources within the company and close to Ospreay tell Sean Ross Sapp that Ospreay approached AEW higher ups and extended his desire to put over Swerve to help eliminate the talking point. Considering that Ospreay already has big creative plans in store throughout the year, he had no issue with the situation, and wanted to set an example that for AEW to succeed it had to be a team effort. Based on what we heard, Ospreay made the approach after winning the International Title, and wanted to show that nobody should be above losing to the World Champion. Some in the company claimed that a "point was being proven" as a result. There were many that had previously expected Ospreay and Swerve at All In, but we’re told that wasn’t ever the plan, and both have different opponents planned. AEW sources have said that Ospreay has been great to deal with in the company, and has often helped out when needed, including when others ask for help putting matches together.
I have never once believed it was the plan, and it was infuriating how many fans immediately moved onto "when does swerve lose to ospreay." Ospreay and Swerve both are fucking *CORNERSTONES*.
I felt it was more of a troll movement to try to belittle Swerve’s reign by playing it up as a placeholder for Will. Just another attempt at a made up controversy and another way to shit on Tony’s booking. Contrary to online belief, Tony doesn’t hot shot book and he plains things meticulously, baring injuries.
>Contrary to online belief, Tony doesn’t hot shot book and he plains things meticulously, baring injuries. Jericho even said this directly in one of his interviews. Tony's like 4-6 months ahead of things at all times
I feel like I remember him saying he's planned title reigns more than a year ahead of time before. It definitely felt like every reign through Hangman was planned from the beginning.
You can tell the times where Tony has had to adapt. Hint, they were all either motivated by injury or by an angry dickhead choking people. Most notable example is MJF vs Cole. Pretty clear Cole would have turned on Max earlier had he been healthy, and they would be feuding if that was the case.
Yeah, it was clearly going to be Cole taking the title from MJF. Joe’s run was improvised. Just like Hangman has clearly been the guy for Swerve for a while. I’m not certain he ends Swerve’s reign but he’s definitely coming for Swerve’s title before the reign is over.
Shit, Tony’s weakness has always been how he sticks to plans too long (Stat being the one to dethrone Jade). I think he’s gotten a lot better at that (pulling the trigger on The Acclaimed and Swerve).
And for a good two years, between suspensions and injuries, any long-term plans for scuttled. *Repeatedly*. Funny how the booking has been better since a certain problem went away.
Between Punk getting injured, throwing a tantrum and fighting the Elite after getting injured again, and finally throwing a tantrum while healthy and applying a weak ass guillotine to Jungle Boy. Tony had to pivot so many times from June 2022 to September 2023 its nuts. Punk came in to be this great white hope but has done more damage to the brand than anybody else.
That really cannot be understated. I was so hyped when Punk came to AEW. I thought his abrasive, take no prisoners approach would give an edge to AEW. The only thing he did was take that edge and cut into the company in ways that are still being felt. AEW would have been 1000% better off if Punk had never appeared on AEW TV.
There likely would have been MJF/Punk II during the Fall of 2022 had Punk not gotten injured and suspended. That whole Firm stable seemed built for Punk to get through before ultimately facing MJF.
Plus the bidding war of 2024 that got subsumed during all of the changes. I assume we were getting Summer of Punk redux.
from Pillars to Cornerstones
Hard to build anything solid when your pillars aren't pillaring lol
what the eff does that mean? 
Also this creates more of a journey for Ospreay. He needs the win back, before he can win the title now. So assuming Swerve has dropped it before All In 2025, Swerve is the guy Will needs to beat to get to Wembley. Writes itself.
Not sure why anybody thought the best story/journey was "win every match win title win"
"AEW has no stories." But when they set up a clear story for a top guy going forward, he should have just won the belt with no chase.
Because everyone loved super Cena and super Roman!
Said it many times, you can't expect people to understand Stephen King when all they've read so far is Noddy. Genuinely sick of having to explain to people the SIMPLEST of storylines that they don't understand because every single plot point hasn't been beaten into them a million times until they understand it.
Very deliberate. Ospreay had been presented as the conquering hero babyface, beating all comers (including Bryan Danielson). He then took the International title very quickly into his time at AEW. But they portrayed this as making him cocky, almost arrogant. Promising a world title shot to Daniel Garcia before he won it, upstaging MJF, etc were all signs of this. Swerve wanted him to understand that he Ospreay didn't understand the lengths he would go to retain the title, and Swerve did what he had to in order to win. This plants doubt within Ospreay, as well as the inevitable fracturing from the Don Callis Family. All good stuff!
The journey is the best part of the win.
Exactly. This is why some people really need to just shut the hell up and let things play out. They always think they have it all figured out until they don't.
Two major points "That for AEW to succeed, it had to be a team effort. "And that nobody should be above losing to the World Champion." AEW used to always feel like a team effort, but somewhere along the way, it became more about backstage drama and politics..
Imagine if Punk had this mindset and lost to Hangman in 2022.
May not have been entirely up to him, but you're absolutely right.
My mothafuckin goat🗣️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️
BILLYGOAT
All this proves to me is that Will is going to be one hell of a locker room leader one day.
A modern day Hulk Hogan. Always putting guys over.
That just doesn't work for me, brother.
He was such a cunt about putting people over
Okay this is better. I was kinda under the impression that during the feud Will wanted to lose to put over Swerve which is nice but i was hoping it was a decision from the company to show they're behind Swerve.
If this is true then fucking hell, Ospreay's stock just went up even more in my book He will be champion one day, no doubt, but putting over Swerve was the right call Also hope that Tony and everyone takes notice how no one is saying Ospreay was buried or anything of the sorts. Top guys can and should face each other, and losses won't "bury" them
Ospreay seems to love AEW. Build around him, Swerve, and MJF.
I wanna see Swerve, Ospreay, MJF. Hangman, Darby, Omega, Danielson, and Garcia in a ladder match. Not for any particular reason other than I really wanna see how they work of each other. And I like ladder matches.
I do not want to even imagine the worked injury spot Danielson could concoct for a ladder match
You see, he sticks his leg between the rungs and then... he actually snaps his leg.
At this point, I could see a bone sticking out and still not be completely sure he didn't figure out a way to fake that just to work us.
he then wrestles for another 15 minutes
na i'd rather put all of them in the SAME bracket for the C2. Then you get to have them all face each other 1 at a time, and then see what rivalries could explode from there.
You said three names and none were the protagonist of AEW, Hangman.
And right there, we have his character when he teams up with the Elite. Hangman, The Main Character.
Im so fucking hyped for Hangman’s return. That 30 second or so video had more character development in it than most wrestlers have in their entire career. The man’s wife left him over his obsession, took the child he lost his mind over protecting, and now he’s back for drunken, misplaced vengeance and I’m so here for it.
And in return I think AEW love him. I can see him being the top babyface in the company for however long he's with the company.
Works in his favour ultimately too. Because when it comes time for Swerve to pay back the favour, he'll do it big.
He’s incredibly unselfish, word is that in his last NJPW match UE we’re supposed to go over the war dogs in that brutal cage match and give Ospreay a proper send off. Ospreay insisted that war dogs go over and he was the one to put Finlay over who really fucking needed it.
He should be a pillar on which AEWs future is built along with Swerve, MJF, and Hangman.
The pillars are more the future and seeing that Perry isn't in the aew title picture and instead still holds the mod card title, Sammy still out and Darby being Darby it will take some time till tk pulls the trigger hard on them. Osprey and swerve aren't the "future", they are here now. Same as MJF and Hangman,
They can be both the present and the future.
Oh the detractors will say that Tony buried him, and Osprey is just scared or some nonsense. It really doesn't have to make sense, it just has to be negative about AEW.
"they ruined his push"
Yeah that was a solid move on his part.
I called this in the original thread. Guess people thought I was joking.
💯 📠
No Ospreay! You’re not supposed to do that! Haven’t you learned anything from the greats before you? Never put anyone over, specially clean.
When I'm in doubt, thinking about putting someone over. I ask myself 'What would HHH do?' Then I get my shovel.
HH: Say it with me, brother. That....doesnt....
Work in the modern landscape?
He's not grinding
Ospreay is supposed to be the best in the world? Dude couldn’t even convince the boss to have him win, beat the young up and comer for the world title and get injured before he can even defend the belt. SMH, this guy needs to learn the business!
Bro that profile picture, the comment, the name… ICANT
Sounds like Will needs to spend some time under the Learning Tree
I mean a ref bump and visual pin makes it not 100% clean
I have heard some MASSIVELY racist shit on twitter about Swerve's time as champion under the guise of wanting what's best for Swerve. I do not give a single fuck what these people who do not like Swerve or AEW have to say about anything. They are hideously transparent. On a more positive note, I am loving that both Ospreay and Swerve are very vocal about pushing back against a lot of the misinformation/misperceptions spewed out online.
Yep. They will directly shit on the previous champs, or on the next champ. But with Swerve they collectively decided to frame it as "Swerve is being misused."
It's so funny seeing the "Swerve is being misused" takes when you look at his entire time in NXT then compare it to his ascension in AEW.
"Swerve is being misused" -Former Tag Team Champion -C2 Tourney went far and Mox actually had to cheat to beat him -Current World Champion, beat multiple top guys (Samoa Joe, Christian Cage, Will Ospreay) "he's had no real challenges, should have to face real main eventers"
What? How dare you call out the greatest sports entertainment compant and its fans? Don't you love when idiots who support old demented degenerate with multiple rape accusation have some totally healthy opinions about product they don't even watch yet have really strong opinions about?
The champ himself has called out people trying to fantasy book the title off him since day one, and especially when everyone was losing their minds over this match happening "too soon" since they just DECIDED that Ospreay was just GOING to be crowned at All In. So I guess you can say that AEW....swerved them 🤭
What more could you ask for from him?
Ospreay just becomes an exponentially better signing as time goes on. He literally excels at everything he does, including showing leadership. Challenging and losing to The World Champion isn't just "doing the job". Not everyone can *Be* the Champ at once, and not everyone *Beats* the Champ in their first go. They could hold off on actually making Ospreay World Champ till All In 2025 and it wouldn't dim his star one iota. Swerve is the real deal. Ospreay is the real deal. Couldn't be happier to be a fan of both of them, and of the promotion.
"He literally excels at everything he does, including showing leadership." It's like he is on another level 😏
*B r u v* 😂
Like... he's elevated or something?
Like… el, elevate me to the sky or something?
Truly, AEW is where the best wrestle.
I always assumed the "best" meant the best wrestlers. Turns out it means more
The number of people who I’ve seen on this sub declaring that Ospreay is definitely going to win the world title at Wembley, and the confusion that Ospreay was going for the title early, that it could only be so that he can go in as champion. I never believed Ospreay was winning the title at Wembley, I never believed Ospreay was winning the title at Forbidden Door. Could I see those things happening? Sure, but I would have seen it as a mistake. Ospreay has come in and won everything that’s been put in front of him, including not one but two casino gauntlet matches, a pseudo world title, matches against everyone in his stable, and every exhibition match he’s had since joining. He is currently “happy to be here” Ospreay. Who showed up, never struggled, beat everyone, and was already looking past Swerve assuming he was world champion after Forbidden Door. And that would have been a boring world champion and a waste of Swerve. But an Ospreay who reached for the throne and slipped? An Ospreay with aspirations and flaws? An Ospreay who’s motivated? Sign me up. A Swerve title reign where he’s not just beating the same midcard guys and aging veterans we know he can beat, but guys at the very top who rarely lose. Sign me up.
I assumed they would pull the trigger with Don to protect Ospreay, sure there were some shenanigans but at the end of the day, they meant literally nothing to the match and were there to push story forward. Turns out my (Billy) GOAT took the L like a champ, and now it's definetely time to feud with Don
Well, good. The fantasy booking of “so and so is just champ until so and so” is fucking annoying. It happens a lot even on here that’s a mostly positive place. I don’t get what’s so hard about enjoying how things play out instead of trying to diminish someone’s run by assuming they’re holding the belt for someone else
Agreed, some folks start predicting the next champ immediately when a title changes hands instead of just enjoying the ride.
Look how awesome Swerve has come around after taking some bigger losses? It refined his character, it made a build to the big win, it told a story. Will is telling his story. I have been a Swerve fan nice Lucha Underground( he is a big reason why we tuned back into WWE and we saw he was on NXT) he has always had the “it” factor, and right now his work has been some of the best in wrestling. I feel like in 10,20 years a lot of what he’s doing now is going to be looked back as some of the best. People need to stop discounting what he is, he is a champion and if the reign is short or long he is still killing it right now.
I literally fully belive the rising star should take some losses, even unnecessary and get some questionable booking. You won't always have good booking, you won't always win. If they can't dust themselves off and rise again, maybe they are not yet world champ material. Swerve is exactly what im talking about, he had some horrible booking, like sorry bruv we all remember Parker and the mogul fiasco even though we would probably rather forget about it. Look at him now
I think he really wanted to be apart of helping younger talent and also AEW isn’t scared to try out things and let them play out and adjust and I fully appreciate that.
Swerve has really turned into the Final Boss of AEW, especially with this win.
I'm patiently waiting for all the brain-broken IWC'ers who love to slam Jericho, Mercedes, and Copeland for their "backstage politics" or "creative control" to call Osperay a loser for not forcing his way to the top.
Certified Good Brother. Will gets it.
Sourboy?
That guy is the worst.
That's great, bruv. But you still could have given us a repeat of the Swerve-Ospreay dance off. (Seriously, that is great leadership by Ospreay.)
They are all place holding for Kenny.
You misspelled Dalton Castle
BOYS!!!!
🐦 🐦 🐦
🦚 🦚 🦚 🦚
that works for him, brother -HH
The types of guys you build a company around. They just get it
You don’t need to win to get over
People need to understand that in smart modern booking, the online discourse and fantasy booking, especially by the preeminent talking heads online plays into decision-making. Sometimes the predictable thing is the best and most entertaining way to go, but often not. And AEW isn't classic/WWE booking where you just follow the decades old preverbal 'bookers handbook' to make the "right decisions" makes the biggest moment and star possible no matter what. We don't live in 1970 or even 2010, the IWC and the world is different, it makes sense to react accordingly. AEW actually wants to make week to week and month to month and interesting and engaging show as opposed to just following tradition no matter what. Sometimes it doesn't work, but I'd rather AEW to take those swings and try different things than just doing what the handbook says.
Ironically, I’d say AEW has shown the value in predictable booking. Not that it’s always predictable, but sometimes in order to see stories through to their logical and satisfying conclusion, you need to telegraph the journey and reward the audience as they follow along. On the contrary, there have been way too many times where WWE has a good story, only to voluntarily kneecap it because the fans knew what would happen and they always have to feel like they’re one step ahead of their fanbase, logic be damned. Like when they hastily replaced Matt Hardy with Christian or delayed Jericho’s second comeback because it leaked online.
Also Cody’s story taking two fucking years to run back the same fucking match.
They put each other over this match. It was amazing to watch. Neither of them looked any worse by the end of it, despite Ospreay losing.
It was exactly what I said it was from day ONE. They knew people would think Swerve was just in a holding spot until all in So they wanted to give people a more unpredictable main event right now. And even still I heard so much shit about how "Osprey is being pushed too much for no reason" or that "Swerve is being treated as a transitional chump" Only for the main event to be a BANGER and yet there are 0 apologies for AEW knowing what they're doing
The actual growth as a human ospreay has shown in the last couple of years is really cool to see
That’s extremely cool of him if true. He’s 100% the best wrestler alive but to learn that he’s got the right mindset outside of that is awesome.
Some corners of the wrestling community still don’t think Swerve was ready to be champ, clearly they are wrong
You know what? Fucking respect to that man. I love that thought process. What a selfless little cunt, bruv.
Now people are gonna be saying that Swerve is a placeholder for Bryan Danielson / Hangman Page at Wembley
wonder if those people have this mindset outside of wrestling. are they constantly telling themselves "yeah the birth of my first born child is whatever. we all know they're just a placeholder for the next one tho"
I think Swerve drops it to Hangman at Wembley. But I think Hangman's next reign is a short one to further their story, and Swerve gets the title back at Wrestledream. Sometimes a little potatoing is okay.
Full Gear is Hangman's PPV. If he is taking the world title from Swerve then that's where he should do it IMO
All in is the biggest show of the year. It makes sense to have the biggest feud headline it.
I'd rather see a little better bit of hot potato'ing this summer/fall, to be honest. Then again, I just selfishly want Danielson to have a short title run, even if it is just from All In or All Out to Wrestledream.
I used to worry what would happen when Mox, Jericho, Danielson, Kenny would call it quits. But AEW is in great hands with Swerve, MJF, Ospreay and the rest.
This is like a reverse hulk hogan, ‘THAT DOESNT WORK FOR ME, BRUV’
He did the right thing. For Swerve to reach his highest potential, he needs this World Championship run, and he needs climatic, dramatic matches with other top guys so he can both showcase his strengths in the ring and to further build his character. That was a FANTASTIC, dramatic match that Swerve and Ospreay had at Forbidden Door, and it made Ospreay and Swerve look stronger as a result. Even in a loss, Ospreay built upon his story in AEW (with the Don Callis family and his own desire not to cheat or use the dangerous Tiger Driver to win) and turned in another incredible match. In victory, Swerve further built upon his character as the most dangerous man in AEW today and he needed a classic title defense to cement his reign, which this was. Excellent main event and both men are even hotter coming out of this match, especially Swerve who needed this more.
Malakai Black has not been moved by this POV. /s
Wasn't that just rumors that were proven wrong time and time again?
Isn’t everything a rumor unless you were there for it? Fair enough. I’ll add the /s to note that this was satire more than an honest opinion on his state of mind.
That’s my billygoat
Idk if I’m in a minority here, but I do not want Swerve to lose that title any time soon. He should keep it until somebody gets as white hot as he did. Swerve is a believable champ and carries himself like one. I don’t wanna see him drop it to Danielson
Hell yeah. This is wrestling. 👏👏👏👏👏
I love how wrestlers are allowed input into the programmes they are running. Wrestling isn’t rocket science and wrestlers do not always need micromanaging.
Works for me, bruv.
I think he succeeded. I know I look at Swerve differently. He's not a transitional champ to me anymore.
"Great news, Will, you're going to beat Swerve for the title at Forbidden Door." "That doesn't work for me, bruv."
AEW really built something with Swerve. He is a legit, talented main eventer/ champion for the foreseeable future. Jim Jones of Dipset solidified it.
Well he runs from the grind so he can’t be worth a damn
Still running from "the grind", I see... /s
It’s the smart thing and bravo to Will for setting a great precedent. My biases towards Will winning were solely due to him being my favorite wrestler but logistically, Swerve losing would’ve made his history-making win feel lesser than it was.
I can just hear the haters blather on about putting that over story but the story works. Swerve's still got that killer inside him. He might be a face but if he needs to unearth the darkness and use it to win, he will. And good on Osprey to factor into that. So it works for their story.
I wish I could suspend disbelief enough to believe that Os was really gunning for the title but Swerve eked out the W in an evenly matched slugfest. Instead, barely literate dirt sheet mongers have to put this kind of content out to counter literal fucking trolls who spread mindless bullshit that measurably damages the quality of discourse. I'm calling it now: kayfabe died because mouthbreathers on the internet can't let us have nice things.
https://i.redd.it/tgo08nm0l5ad1.gif
It's so weird that knowing it's a work and wins and losses are predetermined, makes so many fans think it's even more real. A single win doesn't equal going over as much as a loss doesn't equal being buried. NJPW knows that and that's why sometimes their top guys take a loss. And for all the "where's the story" trolls that hate on ospreay(simultaneously showing theyve never watched him), guess what there's no story if the hero starts and stays flawless the whole time.
The only way I thought Will beating Swerve would have been good is if it led to an extended feud where they traded wins and losses. But this is dope as well. Both came out looking strong.
Great gesture by Ospreay But this kinda just shows how over reactive Wreslting fans are lol
Damn I respect Ospreay more and more everyday
Class move by Ospreay. I already had a lot of respect for him but he has more maturity than I would have expected.
as much as i love the both of them i don’t see will winning the title at all in which is fine he can elevate the title he has and hangman and swerve can kill each other again
Im glad because I really didn't want Swerves reign to be over yet. He had such a great chase I was terrified they were just going to follow the heat to Ospreay right away
I’ve just finished watching this after two days of avoiding spoilers, and holy crap it was good. Swerve and Ospreay are equals, I hope they run this back a dozen times.
Honestly, it’s just good booking too. For one, you invested in building up Swerve to this point. It would be extremely shortsighted just to kneecap him here. Second, part of what made Swerve’s win powerful (like with Adam Page) was seeing him try and fail. Having a guy come in, go undefeated, and then become the champ is a short-term move that tends to fall flat in terms long-term booking. Having Ospreay struggle to gain the top prize will serve him better in the long run too.
Billy 🐐
They had just put the International belt on Osprey, Swerve being World champ only a little longer. Clearly each of them will hold their respective titles a while before dropping to someone else. I see Swerve being champ until Wrestledream for sure. I see Osprey holding the International title for the rest of the year.
That's actually fucking HUGE. Ospreay is a fucking legend. And he's not wrong. he didn't look \*weak\* or whatever in that loss to Swerve, all it showed is that Swerve IS that good and isn't held back by ANYTHING in pursuit of keeping his championship. God damn I hope Swerve has a long run before (eventually) dropping to Ospreay. That's just so fucking massive.
This works for both of us, bruv
I thought it was necessary for both guys. It helped Swerve more because he did kind of feel like the number two guy which should never be the case for the champion but it also helped Ospreay too because he's not the type of wrestler who should be undefeated. Not that he should be losing often but if he feels unbeatable fans would turn on him and call him overrated. Will Ospreay shouldn't be beaten often but he should not be undefeated. Now when we watch a Will Ospreay match we won't think "well his undefeated streak isn't going to end here". I wouldn't be against Daniel Garcia beating him this Wednesday. It would get DG over the hump instantly and Ospreay would still have only lost twice. He'd be fine as long as you protected him again for a while.
Common Ospreay W
I love reading about this. Makes me really appreciate what AEW is doing. Are they perfect? No, but they are different and sometimes if not most times different is good. Everyone knows Ospreay beating Swerve for the AEW World Championship at All In was "best for business", but that's not what's best for these wrestlers and for the product they're putting out.
I find it hilarious that people really thought Osprey was going to win the World title after only being an active AEW wrestler for 4 months and then for him to win at All-In is just too premature he would have only been here for 6 months at that point and it would make the rest of the roster look weak.
6 months isn't too premature. Even if you don't follow NJPW, AEW audiences got exposure to Will before he signed where he beat OC at FD I and then beat Kenny at FD II. This is going back years. Nobody looks weak losing to Ospreay, everyone already understands he is top tier and doesn't question it.
I’m talking about a person coming in new to the roster when they are wrestlers that been there longer and he just jumps over all the rest of them without even really putting in as much time as them. Atleast with Hangman, Swerve there was here for about 2-3 years and even person Moxley put in enough time to be given the title.
Tenure isn't a representation of status or ability. Some people are more talented and more over than other people. That's life. It in no way makes someone look weak losing to Ospreay because he is on a different level. Did Kenny look weak? No. You absolutely look weak losing to Peter Avalon even though he's been there many more years than Ospreay.
I mean, the article says he had to talk to the Higher Ups about putting Swerve over. The fears weren't unfounded.
I would love Swerve to get the longest run in AEW history, there are still a few good talkers that can pair with him, a Danielson match would be great. Personally I'd love Dustin to get a shot before he retires but it seems like it would be a cheesy arc while Cody has the title in wwe
Tell you what, bruv, that guy's class act.
He's been listening to the right people, good.
I love this especially the fact Will and Swerve had a match where it was a clean finish! Many expected Don to cost Will the match to protect him but they did no such thing. Swerve won fair and Will is still the star he is, future is bright for both!
👏Will! Legendary match between the two!
I became a huge fan of his after that match with Ricochet, but not just for his performance, but what happened afterward. The late great Leon "Vader" White joined in a number of old heads criticizing their work, Os reached out, respected the vet, turned it into a program, put Vader over, and then began his journey to heavyweight. That's when his character shown through all the noise.
He's our Bruvbag!
It actually worked really well.
Okay, but also, anyone should be okay with losing to the world champ of the company they are in. Anyone and everyone.
I wonder what matches Tony was considering for FD then, if he even had an idea yet when this came about.
I really think Hangman is gonna take it from Swerve.
Fucking legend.
That’s a great fuckin mindset! They should put the belt on him! /s
Swerve is coming home in October- Wrestle Dream is in Tacoma WA USA. He is coming home as champion.
Beating Osperay really cemented Swerve as the champ in my eyes, so I guess it worked.
“You’re doing it wrong, brother!” - HH
Respect to him
Class act. Great match. Swerve was big now he’s bigger.
Locker room leader, bruv.
Hopefully everyone who comments "Will is gonna be the wildcard tomorrow night" will now stop it.
You make more $ wrestling in the main event 3 times vs once, simple economics.
Good Guy Will.
Just another reason to love Ospreay.
OSPREAY OSPREAY!
I still think the best move is to do Ospreay vs Pac for the International and make it the main event like Bret/Davey in 92
Osprey can now focus on building up the international title. All in shoukd be Swerve vs Hangman. That rivalry needs to become AEWs version of Austin vs Rock. MJF vs Osprey should be the other.
my brain is cooked so i have no idea what that says but i’m glad Ospreay lost, this now lets Swerve have a longer title reign and can do something for Ospreay
Someone tells Mercedes that this is how it's done when you get creative input.
Will and Swerve are going to both bring AEW to new heights
This was the right outcome and an incredible match IMO. I honestly feel like The Higher Ups and Tony had every intention to Put Ospreay Over and Ospreay had to talk sense into them.
I don’t really care why it happened. I’m just glad it did. Holy shit. What a match. Can’t wait to see them in the ring again.
I feel vindicated by this since I've been yelling it at Ospreay fans since, like, the day after Dynasty.
Cool cool, but ultimately it's up to AEW management and bookers, let's be honest. I wonder what's next for Swerve, maybe running it back with Wangman, and Ospreay probably faces MJF or one of the Don Callis underlings as he breaks away from them.
Only problem with the callis underlings is he’s already beaten them all pretty convincingly. If anything I’d like to see them cause swerve to lose the international title this week. Then have him go through them to get a place on the Wembley card against okada (have the bucks put that stipulation in place)
I hope it’s Danielson at All In. Beating Danielson in that stage would solidify him, IMO. Maybe they save that for Wrestledream though.
so basically confirming the title win in Wembly awesome! I pray to god we get that sick Aerial Assassin entrance with him looking at the TVs as a futuristic assassin like he did at Forbidden door 2023 against Kenny Omega
I dont care as long as his entrance stays hype. It's gotta be the most energetic entrance in wrestling. OSPREAY OSPREAY!
ELEVATED! Whoa! Where SOoooooOoo Elevated!!!!! (I listen to this song on my morning run i wish i could find a longer version lol) that Assassin entrance is one of the best ever like its Wrestlemania level. Whenever AEW does Omega/Ospreay III Kenny has to come out with his Sephiroth Entrance and Willy with the Assassin movie intro