When Will Ospreay spoke on the July 23 AEW Dynamite about the two herniated discs that’ve gone into his spinal cord
, it sounded like he would be able to address the problem non-surgically. But on the most recent episode of the the show this week (Aug. 20), the 32-year-old Brit said he does need an operation.Bruv has been talking about his neck for a long time now — which isn’t terribly surprising considering his style, and the travel he’s logged over the years on the indies and for New Japan. Even
on a more relaxed scheduled for AEW these days, he’s still catching regular transatlantic flights. So while there was some question about whether his surgery comment on Wednesday’s show was more about creating suspense for his Lights Out Steel Cage match on Sunday’s Forbidden Door PPV than an honest admission, it wasn’t too surprising when we heard that Ospreay is likely going under the knife soon to fix his ailing neck.
And while we often approach anything wrestlers say with some skepticism (and were just reminded that its still wise to apply that to rule to otherwise legitimate-seeming injuries), Ospreay is confirming that report. He told The Takedown on SI’s Zack Heydorn:
“I am compromised. I’ve got a few herniated discs pushing against my spinal cord, which is affecting a couple of my nerves. But, I can do stuff and I can perform one last time before I need to go get it all corrected.
“I got told after All In that I was gonna need to rest and take some time off to see how this is gonna go. And then the MRI’s came back and I got told this is worse than what we thought it was gonna be, but that it’s manageable. It’s absolutely fine. The surgeon even told me that it’s not going to get any worse. It just it needs to be corrected.”
Will says doctors and trainers have assured him that wrestling in Aug. 24’s multi-man unsanctioned cage match won’t worsen his condition (and contrary to appearances it can be easier to protect someone in a hardcore bout than in a traditional one, which is why aging veterans and part-timers often appear in them). He offers the missus, fellow AEW talent Alex Windsor, as his final argument however:
“I have a huge medical team around me, and guys that work with AEW. They would not allow me to go into the ring unless, if it was a huge percentage of a risk of me getting hurt. Like, honestly, do you think my wife would let me go in a ring if there’s a high chance of me dying?”
And like the worker that he is, he’s still using his condition to sell Sunday’s match. You wouldn’t want to miss what could be your last chance to see the Aerial Assassin in his current form, would you?
“I know what lies ahead and I know what’s going to be coming after this. I just don’t know what that looks like. People that have said after this, like, there’s things that you’re gonna have to say no to and there’s things that you’re gonna have to turn tone down on with my style. And it’s not computing in my head, because I feel like I’m in good shape right now.
“If there’s even the smallest chance that I’m not going to be the exact same afterwards, I’m just going to go in there and just be Will Ospreay for one last night.”
Will Ospreay will lead a dream team of Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Darby Allin in a Lights Out Steel Cage Match against Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoi, The Young Bucks & Gabe Kidd in London at Forbidden Door this Sunday.
