Will Ospreay Reveals His True Thoughts on Jon Moxley Ahead of AEW All Out (Exclusive)

Less than a month after going all in, Will Ospreay is ready for his first AEW World Championship defense Saturday night at AEW All Out.

Ospreay, who won the belt last month from Kenny Omega, will put the title on the line against a man who is no stranger to gold and Ospreay himself: Jon Moxley. The 33-year-old Ospreay enters the match 0-2 in singles matches against one of the faces of AEW and will aim to change his fortunes in Chicago.

Though they're on opposite sides on Saturday night, Moxley has played a critical role in Ospreay's climb up the AEW ladder. A loss to Moxley at AEW Dynasty earlier this year led to Ospreay briefly joining forces with The Death Riders, with Moxley then appearing in his AEW All In entrance ahead of winning the championship. There, he passed him the Union Jack, something significant in more ways than one.

"I purposely constructed it that way," Ospreay told The Takedown on SI. "I want people to know that after I left the Death Riders, this was never gonna be the end of myself and Jon. This was only the beginning, but symbolically, although he was handing me my country's flag, I felt like that was the ace handing me the responsibility."

Their match will headline a loaded night of wrestling in Chicago, as WWE, Moxley's former stomping grounds, runs a WWE x AAA Worlds Collide event just miles away. Ospreay feels like he and Moxley wear that responsibility as a badge of honor.

"I do feel like there is a lot of respect between myself and John. I do think we do complement one another when it comes to our matches and our ideologies of what wrestling kind of is, and what AEW needs to be. Especially when there are so many people counter-programming us and trying to tear AEW down," he said.

"I feel like myself and John do share a same philosophy by making sure that AEW is so different to every other promotion in the world, and just ensuring that there is gonna be longevity in the promotion."

Will Ospreay's respect for Jon Moxley

Moxley passing the flag to Ospreay was befitting of the journey Moxley's character has taken. Though criticized at times, he has largely been the foundation of AEW since its inception.

Will Ospreay vs. Jon Moxley will go down Saturday night. | All Elite Wrestling

The 40-year-old made his debut at AEW's inaugural Double or Nothing event in 2019, and since that, has become the (literal) flag-bearer for the promotion. His run has earned the respect of his opponent on Saturday.

"I think his durability, and throughout his entire time, I feel like there were points where he was meant to take time off, and then stuff has happened, and he's dropped everything to be there front and center," Ospreay said. "How can you not respect a guy that, in any wake of darkness, he wants to be like a shining light and locker room leader?"

Ospreay told the Takedown on SI he believes both Moxley and AEW have benefitted greatly from their working relationship.

"I feel like with his guidance and his knowledge about the business, AEW's been able to not only profit from it, but AEW's able to thrive under the pressures that he's able to put on," he said.

"I think so many people that have worked around him have learned and developed as characters a lot more because he dives in deeper with wrestling. He doesn't tell stories the way that WWE kinda tells stories. He's very unique in the way that he does tell, and I think that kind of rubs off on everybody that he works with."

If you use any quotes from this article, please H/T The Takedown on SI.

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