7 months ago
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Will Ospreay recently made waves with his response to remarks made by WWE’s Triple H. The response followed Ospreay’s earlier statements and some believe his jab at Triple H was an act of self-harm.
During a recent appearance on the Pat McAfee Show as part of WWE World, Triple H discussed his approach to hiring new talent for the company. He mentioned that many performers choose other promotions over WWE because they offer a lighter schedule. This insight sheds light on the decisions wrestlers make when considering their careers and work-life balance.
“When I see people coming out of trying to make it, and then they pick a job where, well, they work less, the schedule is lighter, then I’m like, ‘I’m glad I didn’t pick you.’ If you’re not in it for the grind, at that point early in your career, you have no business being here.”
As seen on a previous week’s episode of AEW Dynamite, Will Ospreay would directly respond to Triple H’s comments and took quite a few personal shots at The Game for good measure.
Booker T, on his Hall of Fame podcast, discussed Will Ospreay’s recent comments and shared his thoughts on the implications they might have for Ospreay’s career.
Booker T noted that Ospreay is a young talent who has garnered significant attention, but he criticized Ospreay’s comment as potentially harmful to his career. He explained that working in a wrestling “bubble,” such as AEW, can create a skewed perspective on the broader wrestling industry. Booker T shared his experience transitioning from WCW to WWE, emphasizing how different the two companies were in terms of business operations and earning potential.
“The stuff with Will Ospreay, he’s a young guy, we’ve interviewed him. He seems like a really good dude. I don’t know if he’s playing into the AEW antics and wanting to get a little piece of the action and feels like ‘it’s a buzz around my name’ for a comment like that. I think that comment is going to come back to hurt him more than help him. I know wrestling in that bubble, it feels like the greatest thing in the world until you get out of that bubble and see, ‘Man, what the hell is this, this is something totally different.’ I say that because when I worked in WCW, WCW was huge. We were doing house shows with 20,000 people. I understand the position Will Ospreay is in, making good money too. I was making damn good money in WCW. When I came to WWE, it was a totally different ball game. It was a machine like I hadn’t seen before.
The money was guaranteed, not just guaranteed, but the money I could make on top of that was astronomical. When I look at Will Ospreay, who is probably getting paid a nice grip in AEW, or one would expect, but I’m not talking about today. I’m talking about tomorrow when this thing is over with. I’m talking about your legacy and how people are going to look at you and praise you when this thing is over with. I don’t see AEW doing any of that, from a merchandise perspective, none of that is popping from an AEW perspective.”
Booker T questioned Ospreay’s apparent dismissal of WWE’s work ethic, pointing out that WWE is a much larger and more complex operation than AEW. He warned that making comments like the one Ospreay did could limit his future opportunities, particularly with WWE. Booker T expressed his view that it was unwise to publicly disparage another company, especially since wrestlers often move between promotions throughout their careers.
Booker T’s main concern was that Ospreay’s comment could negatively impact his legacy and future prospects, given WWE’s considerable influence in the wrestling world. He advised against participating in public spats or creating unnecessary conflict, as it could damage a wrestler’s reputation and limit their career options.
“Personally, I always want to stay above or away from anything the company was doing, especially if they were going back and forth with the other company just because I might be working for that company one day. I have no dog in that fight, that’s why I’m shocked by Will Ospreay and what he said. It was nonsensical. It didn’t even have a place. I don’t know the conversation he had with Triple H. The world doesn’t know the conversation he had with Triple H. That’s a conversation that should have been between him and Triple H. It sounds pretty simple. What we’re looking for is guys that are going to go out there and grind. Guys that are going to look at work. This is a no days off business. If that’s what the conversation was and you’re upset about him saying ‘we’re looking for grinders.’ ‘Okay, cool, I appreciate it, but I’m going to go over here where I don’t really have to grind that hard and get that check.’ That seems like it would be it. For him to make that comment, it definitely put him in a position where, I would not want to be Will Ospreay when my contract came up, or if things went right in AEW because his options are going to be limited. Maybe Tony Khan will pay him enough to retire.”
Will Ospreay noted that he would never get involved in such drama again. Even Eric Bischoff wished Will Ospreay didn’t take jab at Triple H. Regardless, Will Ospreay is clearly done with the whole situation now and that is all that truly matters at the moment.
Do you feel Will Ospreay was right in what he said about Triple H? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
