AEW: Cope “Injury” Return Plans Update, Will Ospreay on He Doesn’t Enjoy WWE & “I Don’t Think Anyone From That Side Matches Our Guys”, More News

May 8, 2025

Cope “Injury” Return Plans Update

Adam “Cope” Copeland has been absent from AEW since this past April’s Dynasty 2025 due to him suffering an “injury” following FTR’s heel turn and attack on him.

Fightful Select’s Sean Ross Sapp reported in a recent Q&A article that his sources stated that AEW officials currently have plans for Cope to be involved in a significant match for this July’s All In Texas event.

Sapp reported that it is currently not known exactly when Cope will be making his return to AEW television from his storyline injury.

Will Ospreay Comments on He Doesn’t Enjoy WWE and “I Don’t Think Anyone From That Side Matches Our Guys”

The Daily Star held a recent interview with Will Ospreay. One of the topics discussed included Ospreay’s thoughts about his issues with WWE’s style of wrestling and presentation for shows and his belief that nobody from WWE’s side matches AEW’s guys in the ring.

“I think deep down, we know WWE is a machine and an animal. They’re in giant stadiums and doing so good. A lot of people look at us and think we’re doing it wrong because WWE is doing this. No, there are different ways of doing it. I got into WWE when I was a kid, but when I became a teenager, I thought it was lame. There were certain guys I enjoyed like Eddie Guerrero, Edge, Randy Orton is sick. After a while, I was like, ‘This is so pantomiming.’ People would go, especially coming up in wrestling, ‘less is more.’ Is it? I’m bored. It’s the same stuff recycled over and over again. Every now and again, you’d get something cool like the CM Punk pipebomb promo.
WWE are on fire now, but not even as a viewer, as a wrestler, I just don’t enjoy it. I haven’t watched WrestleMania. From what I’ve heard, it wasn’t the best Mania. Maybe IYO, Rhea, and Bianca was the only sick match. The three of them are sick. They are three of the best wrestlers, period. For me, I was just never a WWE guy. I respect it, and I respect the guys doing it. That schedule is crazy, and they are commendable for doing it.
I just didn’t like…I don’t like the show, I don’t like the style of wrestling, I don’t like the presentation. It’s gotten better. I love the one shots that they do, but I’ve never been a big fan of it. When AEW came along and they went with the more sports-based style, it was something I could sink my teeth into. Even this isn’t sports-based at all, more presentation, when Hangman comes out with Dark Order by his side. That segment still gives me goosebumps. That’s how you take a group of nobodies, that’s who the Dark Order are, a group of misfits, and they told this beautiful story about coming together and their cowboy leader. ‘This is sick.’ I don’t want to use the word cinema, but it was like a beautiful movie that was portrayed right in front of our eyes and I couldn’t believe this is AEW. I love that. I love the fact that they do stuff like an exploding barbed wire deathmatch. It didn’t go according to plan, but they’re daring to try those things. There are lessons. If I want to be the next guinea pig for that match, I’m happy to volunteer myself to do an exploding barbed wire deathmatch.
Of course, I respect WWE and I admire everyone there. A lot of people think I hate Triple H, and I really don’t. I’ve never met the guy before in my life. For me, there is always this little bit of rivalry where I’ll be like, ‘Yeah, you guys are the biggest, you guys draw the bigger houses, you guys got the bigger deals,’ but the moment the bell rings, I think we’re better than all of them. On my worst day, I’m better than a lot of the guys in-ring. In-ring. Promo? You guys have a bunch of guys. Punk is sick. [Roman] Reigns is sick. There are still things I need to catch up on. In-ring, I generally don’t think there is anyone from that side that matches any of our guys.”

AEW News & Notes

AEW recently released a new video featuring Swerve Strickland, Harley Cameron, and Satnam Singh visting the Detroit Piston’s team facilities in Detroit ahead of last night’s AEW Dynamite show in the city.

Jeff Jarrett revealed on Twitter that former TNA wrestler Monty Brown had visited backstage at Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show in Detroit, Michigan.

Following Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show in Detroit, AEW CEO Tony Khan came out and addressed the live crowd stating that he guarantees that an AEW pay-per-view event will be taking place in the future in Detroit.

AEW also recently released a new episode of Close Up with Renee Paquette featuring Tony Schiavone as the guest.

As noted before, EJ Nduka’s contract with AEW and Ring of Honor recently expired and he departed from AEW. Fightful Select’s Sean Ross Sapp reported in a recent Q&A article that his sources stated that one rumor going was that AEW officials found it hard to put Nduka next to anyone without him outshining them physically. Sapp reported that this rumor was also stated to be one that seems to go around about a lot for physically huge talent in AEW.

In a recent interview with MuscleManMalcolm, Willow Nightingale gave her thoughts about her current desire to be a champion again in AEW. Nightingale stated “If you think about it, like I was TBS Champ for a month, I do not feel fulfilled. I want to get it back. So Mercedes is definitely on the radar. The Ring of Honor Women’s Champion was something that was always something that kind of like, something that kind of like, evaded me. Roxanne [Perez], who was Rok-C at the time, had it; I tried to beat her. That didn’t work. I tried to beat Mercedes [Martinez] to win, it didn’t work. So I do not have a good streak. I do not have a good record when it comes to the Ring of Honor Women’s Championship. So that’s also something that I’m like, ‘It would be really nice to feel that and finally, one day, get it.’” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent interview with the Knockouts and 3 Counts podcast, Swerve Strickland gave his thoughts about his quest to regain the AEW World Championship and the Young Bucks being around makes his path difficult. Strickland stated “Honestly, it’s going to be a difficult one as long as the Young Bucks are involved with the EVPs titles. If it wasn’t for the Young Bucks, I probably would’ve pinned Jon Moxley at Dynasty to become the two-time AEW World Champion, which very few people have been able to do in AEW history. Back to the World Champion, for me, how the Young Bucks and EVPs feel about me, it’s not possible until they are taken care of and out of my way.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent new video posted by Private Party’s Zay on his YouTube channel, Daniel Garcia gave his thoughts about how Chris Jericho helped him for his wrestling career. Garcia stated “I think the biggest thing working with Jericho is just he gave me the confidence to try new things and not be afraid to fail.” In response to comments by Zay about his belief that Jericho helped him grow as a performer and come out of his shell compared to the very serious wrestler he was when he first came to AEW, Garcia stated “I wouldn’t agree with that. I mean, I think it’s more or less the same. The only difference is I do the dance, really. Of course, I’ve gotten better, and the crowd has gotten behind me more. But that just comes naturally from being on TV for the past three or four years. I don’t think the mindset of how I do things is completely overhauled, or anything like that.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)