Summary

Will Ospreay says Kenny Omega remains one of the wrestlers who inspires him most, pointing to Omega's rise in Japan and his return from a life-threatening health scare as reasons he still measures himself against him.

Speaking on Wrestling Brain, Ospreay said he was in the Tokyo Dome when Omega first reached another level in his rivalry with Kazuchika Okada, and that moment helped define the standard he wanted to chase in his own career.

Ospreay also reflected on his own history with Omega. He noted that they have split their two major singles matches, one at the Tokyo Dome and one at Forbidden Door, but admitted the second result still bothers him because Don Callis was involved. Ospreay said he wants to reach a point where he can say he beat Omega clean.

That ongoing respect fits with how central Omega has remained to AEW's identity, whether through his in-ring return or broader influence on the company, as seen in Tony Khan's recent praise for Omega and The Young Bucks.

Quote from Will Ospreay

"I mean, Kenny, I always get inspired by all the time. Like, I mean, I was in the Tokyo Dome when Kenny first rose to his prominence where he wrestles Okada for the first time, and it was at that moment where I was just kind of like, 'okay, that's the wall that I need to climb,' and we've had so many, look, we've had two matches, one at the Tokyo Dome and one at Forbidden Door. We've won one each, and something sours me about the second one because maybe I did need Don to beat him, but I want to be able to be in a position where I could say, honestly, like, I think I could beat Kenny Omega clean. I don't want to have that one day, but Kenny inspires me all the time to have the thing that happened to him where he nearly died. Like, I think, I think we all like blow past that and we don't talk about it enough, but like, he actually was like so close to dying and he's back and he's looking the best that he's looked in flipping years, man. He's smashing it."

What Ospreay's Omega comments say about AEW

Ospreay framing Omega as the wall he still wants to climb keeps their rivalry feeling unfinished, especially when he openly says the Forbidden Door result still does not satisfy him. That leaves plenty of room for AEW to revisit the matchup whenever both men are in position for it.

It also says something about Omega's standing in the company. Ospreay is already one of AEW's top stars, so publicly treating Omega as a benchmark reinforces how much weight Omega still carries in the promotion's singles hierarchy.

Sources

As reported by Fightful.