Summary

Will Ospreay said Tony Khan covered the cost of the neck surgery that sidelined him before his AEW return, and Ospreay made clear just how serious both the injury and the bill were.

Ospreay returned in March after months away following the procedure. He said the possibility of not wrestling again was always in the back of his mind, even while he pushed to come back as quickly as possible.

The former AEW International Champion also said the surgery changed the reality of what he can do in the ring. That lines up with Ospreay's recent comments about how neck surgery ended his shooting star press as he adjusts his style after the layoff.

Quote from Will Ospreay

Ospreay reflected on the fear that came with the injury and praised both his surgeon and Khan for helping him get through it:

"I mean, that always kind of creeped in, but I knew I was going to do everything physically possible to make this go as quickly as possible and get back in the ring. It was always a conversation, and I had great phone calls with my surgeon, Dr. Wallace, who deserves the biggest shoutout because he's given me a second chance at having a career doing this. I mean, 10 years ago, this was the type of thing that medically disqualified you from wrestling. So the fact that medical science has come so far, man, I'm just grateful and so blessed. And I must give the biggest shoutout to Tony [Khan] for paying for that surgery because the moment I saw that f****** bill, bro, it was more expensive than my f****** house. It was crazy."

Ospreay later went on to say the support inside AEW helped him through the recovery process:

"Yeah, I spoke with Adam Copeland quite a lot about it, just because I guess he's kind of the godfather of this surgery. He's had three of them. I think he's had a [triple fusion neck surgery]. I remember when I got told how severe it was because I didn't realize how bad it actually was. I'd been wrestling on it for like 10 months. It only really started getting bad around May, and then it started f****** destroying me. But I spoke to him, and he gave me the whole backstory of when he found out about his surgery and what was going to happen. He gave me his number to keep in contact because he knows it can get really depressing at times. So if I ever needed to vent or bullshit, he was always a great person to call or text about stuff. There were a lot of times he was in London too, so I got to chat with him during good hours. I never felt like I'd text him and have to wait until the next morning because of the time zones. So he was really good. I spoke with Kyle O'Reilly as well. He was great. I spoke with Roddy and Bryan Danielson a little bit, but not much. Everybody's just been super cool because it really is such a good group of people backstage. I feel like news got around very quickly, and it was one of those things where it was really lovely having the support of my peers and everybody wishing for me to come back."

What Ospreay's Recovery Means In AEW

Ospreay saying he wrestled on the injury for roughly 10 months adds weight to how much AEW may need to manage him differently now that he is back. Between the surgery itself and the changes he has already described to his moveset, this does not read like a short-term issue that simply disappeared once he returned.

His comments also underline how much veteran guidance surrounded him during that stretch. Adam Copeland, Kyle O'Reilly, Roderick Strong, and Bryan Danielson are all established names with deep locker-room credibility, and Ospreay made it clear that support system mattered while he was trying to get back on television.

Sources

Will Ospreay while speaking with Forbes