Will Ospreay on Tony Khan Chose Hangman Page Over Him For 2025 Men’s Owen Hart Cup Winner, Importance of Him Headlining Wembley Stadium For AEW All In 2026, & Why He Was Never A “WWE Guy” While Growing Up

A recent episode of The Ariel Helwani Show featured Will Ospreay as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Ospreay’s thoughts about his belief on the reasons why AEW CEO and President Tony Khan chose Hangman Adam Page over him to be the winner of the 2025 Men’s Owen Hart Foundation Cup tournament.

“I think there was talks about it last year when it was myself and Hangman [Page] going for the Owen [Hart Foundation Cup], and Tony [Khan], I don’t think, knew which one he wanted to go with.

All signs were great for both of us. It was Hangman’s time or the rise of me. And when it was time to make the decision and Tony decided Hangman, it was kind of like, okay, well… I’m not ready for the world title yet. So it’s one of those things where, okay, we’ll have to build up to it.”

Ospreay also gave his thoughts about how Khan’s decision to not have him be put into position to go after the AEW World Championship was a good thing in the end due to his neck injury issues after All In 2025.

“And in a weird way, it’s a good thing that I wasn’t put in that position to go after the world title, because I probably would have had to vacate it the next day.”

Ospreay also gave his thoughts about the importance of him headlining Wembley Stadium for AEW’s All In 2026 event after having never been with WWE.

“I’ve never been to WWE. Never been backstage. I’ve had a phone call, and that’s about it. Other than that, that’s one of the coolest things, to say there are so many guys who have never performed at Wembley Stadium….The Rock hasn’t done it, Triple H hasn’t done it, so many icons of the business have never performed at this iconic stadium. The fact that two guys who never made their name in WWE are main eventing speaks volumes about the promotion AEW has done and the feeling around it. People want us to succeed and do well.”

Ospreay also gave his thoughts about why he was not a fan of WWE while growing up and why he never had that connection to want to work for WWE.

“I feel like I got into it just as WCW and ECW were about to be bought out. My dad bought ECW tapes; I used to watch it, but I was like forbidden. ECW was sick. After that, [WWE] just wasn’t for me. I didn’t like it. I didn’t like the presentation behind it. I still have those feelings now. I found TNA, and that was a style that spoke to me. The X-Division was huge for me. Then, finding Pro Wrestling NOAH, Dragon Gate, and New Japan were the things that inspired me and made me want to be a pro wrestler. WWE has never really driven me. When you first get into the industry and first start learning it, even in the schools, we had a guy that got sign to WWE in the schools, he never ended up going because of a heart condition, but they were always telling you, ‘WWE is the route,’ meanwhile, I’m in the background like, ‘I’d love to wrestle in a six sided ring and go over to Japan and learn strong style.’ I’ve just never been a WWE guy.

I remember watching AJ come out in the Royal Rumble, and we were eating chicken nuggets in McDonald’s the week before. It was cool to see that, but it wasn’t a moment of, ‘Maybe one of these days I’ll go do that.’ I’ve never had that connection. I’ve always loved myself in Japan. Honestly, if AEW wasn’t a thing, I’d probably still be in Japan.”

Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com, Fightful.com