Summary

Will Ospreay believes several AEW names would draw well or grow from time in NJPW, and he pointed directly to MJF as one of the most intriguing tests.

Ospreay said Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega would pull big houses in Japan, then singled out Swerve Strickland, Mike Bailey, Daniel Garcia, and MJF when discussing AEW wrestlers he would like to see make that jump.

Quote from Will Ospreay

When asked which AEW wrestlers he would like to see in Japan, Ospreay said:

"On the top end, obviously Moxley, Omega would pull in big houses. I would love to see Swerve Strickland in Japan. I really would. And MJF- is he just a great American TV wrestler, or would he be really successful in Japan as well? That’s a whole different animal he’s never done, and then as well, I love Mike Bailey and I think he could do more in the junior heavyweight space, because he is such an exciting wrestler in that mould. Daniel Garcia, I think, could learn so much from a good few months in Japan,"

What Ospreay sees in an NJPW test for MJF and Garcia

MJF was the sharpest name Ospreay raised because he framed Japan as a very different environment from American television wrestling. If AEW ever sent MJF into NJPW for more than a cameo, it would immediately become a measuring-stick story because Ospreay presented that setting as a different kind of challenge.

Ospreay's comments on Mike Bailey and Daniel Garcia also pointed to style rather than star power alone. Bailey fitting into the junior heavyweight space and Garcia benefiting from a longer stay suggests Ospreay was thinking about how certain AEW wrestlers could sharpen specific parts of their game in Japan.

Ospreay's own NJPW return adds context

The timing matters because Ospreay is heading back to Japan for Wrestling Dontaku, where he will challenge for the NEVER Six-Man Tag Team Titles. That keeps him closely tied to NJPW even while working in AEW, much like his earlier comments about chasing the NEVER Six-Man titles with Great-O-Khan and HENARE.

Because Ospreay is still moving between both worlds, his read on who could translate in NJPW carries more weight than an offhand fantasy booking comment. He is speaking from the perspective of someone who knows what that transition demands.

Sources

As reported by Fightful