Tony Khan has seen Will Ospreay put in some impressive performances in the ring since the summer of 2022, but the AEW president has been blown away by Ospreay’s performances since working with him on a weekly basis.
Ospreay, who had been appearing occasionally in AEW, left New Japan Pro-Wrestling and officially joined Khan’s company as a free agent in February.
While it’s fair to say the current AEW International champion is the best wrestler in the world, Khan said working more closely with Ospreay has given him a greater understanding of wrestling psychology, storytelling and attention to detail.
“As I got to know him better and got to know him more each week, I think I became fascinated with his mind. [for wrestling]Khan said: “I think the headline with Will Ospreay is that he’s such a phenomenal athlete. What he can do in the ring is so unique and his talent is so special, so the headline is always going to be that he’s a phenomenal athlete, but he’s also got such an incredible mind.”
“I think people are starting to realise that as they see him being interviewed on television more and more and getting more attention. His charisma is so evident on television and as he connects more with television audiences, people are realising there’s a lot to like about Will Ospreay as a person and a human being.”
Ospreay is scheduled to face Swerve Strickland for the AEW World Championship in the main event of The Forbidden Door on Sunday (8 p.m., Bleacher Report, Triller) at UBS Arena.
The match came just two months into Strickland’s reign and many fans were surprised that it was happening so soon after Ospreay joined AEW, but Khan thought it was something the company’s audiences wanted to see and fit with the company’s summer season, which “allows for unexpected matches and unexpected moments.”
Strickland and Osprey are friends in real life and have already demonstrated natural narrative chemistry on screen during the making of Forbidden Door.
Khan knows what each has achieved in major feuds and matches and believes the rivalry has “incredible potential” in the long term.
“It’s so exciting to imagine what they could do with each other,” Kahn said.
The third “Forbidden Door” tournament between AEW and New Japan Pro-Wrestling featured wrestlers from Mexico’s CMLL and Stardom, a sister organization of New Japan Pro-Wrestling, for the first time.
This comes amid a wave of increased cooperation within the wrestling world, with WWE partnering with TNA and Japan’s Pro Wrestling Noah, among others, and is something that was previously unheard of.
Khan said it’s always great to see wrestling organizations working together.
“We all have a common goal, and that is to make our organizations stronger and help each other in the process,” Khan said of AEW’s relationships with NJPW, Stardom and CMLL. “There’s definitely been more collaboration in the wrestling world over the last few years, and I think that’s a good thing.”
Through his partnership with New Japan Pro-Wrestling, one of AEW’s top young stars, Jack Perry, has begun to come into his own as a performer, transforming from “Jungle Boy” to a new “Scapegoat” persona and now aligning with The Young Bucks and Kazuchika Okada’s new elite faction.
Perry, the son of the late “Beverly Hills 90210” star Luke Perry, worked for New Japan Pro-Wrestling from March to May after being suspended and declining to appear on AEW television following a backstage altercation with CM Punk at All In. This was the final straw for Perry, a current WWE star, before he is fired by the company in September 2023.
AEW made this all one of their main storylines, closing out Dynamite on April 25 with Perry and The Elite launching a storyline-setting attack on Khan.
Perry has used his experience in New Japan Pro Wrestling and now has the chance to win his first TNT Championship in a six-man ladder match at The Forbidden Door.
“It was very interesting to watch and very compelling. [to see] “I just love how much Jack has grown and how much he has connected with the audience and his presence as a big-name wrestler continues to get bigger and bigger,” said Khan, who attended Perry’s final New Japan Pro Wrestling match in Chicago. “He’s been a great wrestler for us. We’ve had our differences and disagreements, but I think he’s a great wrestler who continues to evolve and get better. I think he’s come a long way as a wrestler.”
After Khan suffered a spike piledriver off the top rope as part of an angle, his father, Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad, came to check on him, but he continued to kayfabe wearing a neck brace during his team’s strategy meeting during the 2024 NFL Draft.
NFL Network analyst Rich Eisen featured Khan during the draft coverage and continued to talk about him.
Khan ended up signing the brace and donating $100,000 to St. Jude’s Hospital instead of auctioning it as originally proposed.
“I’m glad that Rich Eisen brought my injury during the NFL Draft to my attention and it paid off. Rich gave more and more insight with each round and told me more about what happened on AEW and Dynamite, the stakes and the situations,” Khan said. “I’m really glad that we were able to do something good and help people because of what happened in a wrestling ring.”
AEW will kick off its summer big event with Forbidden Door, and Khan is in exclusive negotiations with current partner Warner Bros. Discovery during the time period in which he is working on the company’s next media rights deal.
Khan said earlier this week that the two sides were close to reaching an agreement, noting that AEW is open to making changes to how it allocates television time.
There are currently a total of five performances each week, with Wednesday’s Dynamite and Saturday’s Collision being two-hour shows and Rampage being a one-hour show.
AEW has done various mixes of three-hour television broadcasts, including a “Battle of the Belts” special, particularly during the NBA playoffs.
It’s a concept Khan is open to exploring, ideally partnering with multiple pay-per-view distributors rather than a single organization.
I really love that rhythm [of shows we have]Khan said: “It’s very interesting to be given the opportunity to work with a three-hour format. It has its challenges at the same time, but there are a lot of positives. We’re very open to what will be more beneficial for our media partners, so we’re open to different formats if that’s what’s best for AEW and especially our media partners.”
