Will Ospreay on His Neck Surgery Being Very Expensive & Tony Khan Covered The Cost, Biggest Change for His Ring Work After Neck Surgery, Hoping To Work More with United Empire in AEW, & Potential of New Day Joining AEW

Forbes held a recent interview with Will Ospreay. One of the topics discussed included Ospreay’s thoughts about if he had ever thought of his wrestling career being over while being on the shelf due to a neck injury. Ospreay also revealed that the costs for his neck surgery was more expensive than his house and how AEW CEO Tony Khan covered the cost.

“I mean, that always kind of creeped in, but I knew I was going to do everything physically possible to make this go as quickly as possible and get back in the ring. It was always a conversation, and I had great phone calls with my surgeon, Dr. Wallace, who deserves the biggest shoutout because he’s given me a second chance at having a career doing this. I mean, 10 years ago, this was the type of thing that medically disqualified you from wrestling. So the fact that medical science has come so far, man, I’m just grateful and so blessed. And I must give the biggest shoutout to Tony [Khan] for paying for that surgery because the moment I saw that f****** bill — bro, it was more expensive than my f****** house. It was crazy.”

Ospreay also gave his thoughts about how spoke to Adam Copeland, Kyle O’Reilly, and more for their advice for his neck surgery.

“Yeah, I spoke with Adam Copeland quite a lot about it, just because I guess he’s kind of the godfather of this surgery. He’s had three of them. I think he’s had a [triple fusion neck surgery]. I remember when I got told how severe it was because I didn’t realize how bad it actually was. I’d been wrestling on it for like 10 months. It only really started getting bad around May, and then it started f****** destroying me. But I spoke to him, and he gave me the whole backstory of when he found out about his surgery and what was going to happen. He gave me his number to keep in contact because he knows it can get really depressing at times. So if I ever needed to vent or bullshit, he was always a great person to call or text about stuff. There were a lot of times he was in London too, so I got to chat with him during good hours. I never felt like I’d text him and have to wait until the next morning because of the time zones. So he was really good. I spoke with Kyle O’Reilly as well. He was great. I spoke with Roddy and Bryan Danielson a little bit, but not much. Everybody’s just been super cool because it really is such a good group of people backstage. I feel like news got around very quickly, and it was one of those things where it was really lovely having the support of my peers and everybody wishing for me to come back.”

Ospreay also gave his thoughts about how he is currently feeling a few months into his return from his neck surgery and recovery.

“Up and down quite a lot of the time. I’m getting by, but it’s still a new thing for me right now. This was the first surgery I’ve ever had, and it turned out to be one of the most major surgeries you could have. It’s still a bit of a learning experience, trying to learn how to wrestle with a new structure, I guess. It’s a challenge, but I’m doing fine.”

Ospreay also gave his thoughts about what the biggest change has been for him since his return from injury.

“It’s mainly my range of motion right now. There are so many things where I just don’t feel comfortable doing certain tricks anymore, so I’ve kind of knocked them on the head. For example, I won’t do a shooting star press anymore because that required me to really put my head back and get a good arch, and I just can’t do it anymore.”

Ospreay also gave his thoughts about United Empire potentially doing more in AEW.

“I would like to do it a little bit more because, obviously, they’re my teammates. They’re the guys that got me to where I was. In 2019, I felt like at that time I was the best in the world. I felt like I was at my peak in a weird way. But I do believe my peak was probably during the COVID era, which f****** sucks. In 2020, it was me, O-Khan, Jeff and Henare, and I just remember when I first started getting attraction from the wrestling crowd, it was alongside my boys. Those guys were alongside me as I rode that wave. We were just a great team. So I hope so, and I hope we can keep doing it.”

Ospreay also gave his thoughts about New Day’s Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston’s recent departures from WWE and the potential of getting the chance to wrestle them in AEW.

“I mean, I would love it. I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things about them. I loved watching Kofi Kingston win the WWE Championship and seeing what that meant to so many people. I think that’s powerful stuff. I’ve only really spoken with Xavier Woods on Twitter, and I think it’s mostly been about costumes more than anything. He’s messaged me quite a lot about how he loves my jackets. Everybody’s said they’re wonderful human beings, so if the avenues are there, of course I’d love to f****** wrestle them.”