Will Ospreay has opened up about his highly praised match with Bryan Danielson.
The Aerial Assassin recently had an interview with Chris Van Vliet. He talked about things such as why he chose to sign with AEW, Chris Jericho calling him to warn him against high-risk moves, his post-retirement plans and more.
When asked if he still gets nervous before matches, the former IWGP World champion specifically recalled the Bryan match as something that made him really nervous. Ospreay who had only been signed to AEW for 6 months at that point noted that he couldn’t believe that the match was even happening, let alone so soon after he inked the deal:
“There’s a moment where I’m standing there opposite him and it’s just before the bell rings, we’re standing there looking at one another. He’s got this big smile on his face, and I just couldn’t help but look around as being like man, there’s 7,000 people in here.
I thought for the life of me I would have been just a kid in Japan for the rest of my life. I thought that was that was going to be me, and then just to stand there and look at him and just be like, Oh my God, here it is.”
Always Wanted To Be One Of Those Guys: Will Ospreay
The match between Will Ospreay and Bryan Danielson took place at the 2024 Dynasty PPV. Dave Meltzer gave the match six and a half star, his second-highest rating ever given after the famous 7-star Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada match in 2018.
The moment was also one that made Ospreay feel like he had finally achieved what he wanted in pro wrestling. According to him, he always wanted to be one of those names that made the crowd go nuts just by their presence:
“I said, ‘Sir this is going to be a pleasure.’ Then we backed up, the bell rang and I was just like, let’s go. I’ve never felt more like I finally did it. When Bryan and Kenny stood in the ring, the bell rung and the f*cking place stood up. I always wanted to be one of those guys. And at that moment I was like oh sh*t, I finally did it. I’m one of those guys now.”
The Ospreay match would end up being one of the final matches of Bryan’s full-time career. The American Dragon said goodbye to his full time run only months later at the WrestleDream PPV.
