May 29, 2025 • 18 mins
I had a chance to chat with #AEW’s WILL OSPREAY before All Elite Wrestling’s “Double or Nothing” in Phoenix. Topics discussed: Why wrestling fans should watch AEW ALL IN:Texas on PPV over WWE’s Saturday Night’s Main Event on NBC in July. Wanting to be World Heavyweight Champion and the face of All Elite Wrestling. Manifesting and looking ahead at potential matches in his home country of England. Most underrated in AEW. Most improved in wrestling. The Owen Hart Memorial Foundation tournament finals. AEW’s Chicago residency at the end of July. Flying EVERY WEEK from England to the United States and the process behind the trips. His ADHD diagnosis and being on the Autism spectrum & more! THE SUPERSTAR CROSSOVER Podcast is available wherever you find Podcasts. It’s not a weekly podcast where I give you my opinion of wrestling, because quite frankly you don’t care. However, I simply talk with the biggest names in the industry & ask questions fans want to know.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, Yo, What up?
Speaker 2 (00:00):
I'm Josh Martinez of the Superstar Crossover podcast on iHeartRadio
Z one hundred in New York City, one of three
five Kiss FM in Chicago with my.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Guest, the Aerial Assassin, Will Aspar. What's going on?
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Man? Hello, I'm doing well. How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
I'm chilling, Malison. I'm gonna be honest and upfront real quick.
You are my favorite wrestler right now. So I was
very excited, very.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Very hard, too kind. Thank you, mate.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
So let's just jump into it. Some big news popped
off today.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
There's a Chicago residency popping off at the end of July,
six different shows for aew How exciting is that for
you to just stay in one city for a few
weeks in a unique venue like the Aragon Ballroom.
Speaker 4 (00:41):
My every time I've been to Chicago, it's always been
just like one of the best nights in wrestling. Their
fan base is just out of this world that some
of the best fan base in the entire of North America.
So the fact that we get to like make a
little home there for a little bit and like deliver
regular bangers and quality TV while we get to be
(01:04):
in front of an audience that cares.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
I'm really looking forward to it.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
And correct me if I'm wrong. Do you still live
in England?
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Dog? Yeah? Mate, I mean now.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
So okay, So we'll timestamp this real quick. It is
currently four thirty three in New York City where I
am and you are.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
What time?
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Nine?
Speaker 4 (01:24):
Nine thirty three? Yeah, and then I'll I'll go to
bed after this. I'll wake up at about five thirty
in the morning. I'll get me an hour and twenty
uber over to Heathrow. I'll sit on a plane for
about seven to eight hours. I'll land, I'll clear customs,
I'll have to get me bag. I'll go over, I
get picked up, go straight to the arena. I'll shower
(01:45):
in one of the locker rooms, make myself smell pretty,
and then get on with the show.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Do the show.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
The show starts at seven pm, right, that's enough time
to get warmed up, get the trainers to look at me.
We'll do a two hour show. We'll go back home
to the hotel. I'll check in, I'll eat some food.
I'll leave the I'll leave the airport in the morning.
I'll get back to England in the evening Thursday.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
And the reason why you do all this is because
of a personal reason, right with your family?
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Yeah, mate, family likes staying there. And I've made up
such a little life, a lot, my kids doing well
at school. Like, I'm just I'm happy. I don't really
have any aspiration of moving over.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Let's say, hypothetically speaking, you did come to America for
some reason, you were forced to live here for a
whole year. Is there any at least city that you
look at and go, you know what, I could live
there for a year.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
I don't know, Like I mean, it's all circumstanced, because
I do I want to go somewhere that's heartless Orlando,
But I just don't want to be in here any
of the other people that live in Orlando. I just
I quite enjoy that type of space between us. I
like seeing you every now and again, Like if I'm
over at a Disney Park and you come over.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
And say hello, all right, I say hello. But I
want to get back to Disney.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Chicago would be good, just because like I've got mates
over in Chicago, so then I could I could go
pitching with them, and then that way we've got a babysitter.
Who else I don't know California. Just I like California.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Do you have any fond memories of New York City?
Speaker 4 (03:13):
Oh, in New York City, mate, I've got loads of
memories of rested in Madison Square Garden. Me and the
missus went there a little while ago. We just we
just maximized our minutes. We were there for like two days,
and we just did everything we've done. We've done dinners,
We've done like crazy restaurants, we've done sightseeing.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Our mate, I love New York City.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
So I noticed in a recent Instagram post you were
rocking a Yankees jersey.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Are you a fan? Is that a fashion thing or
a fan thing?
Speaker 4 (03:38):
No more fashion, mate, Like, I don't keep up with
any like any type like. So for example, this is
a crazy one that not many people know about. I've
never gone to a football game in England or soccer
for you lot. My first ever football game was over
at Philadelphia and it was like Philadelphia versus Orlando, and
(03:59):
I had so much on it was so good. But like,
I'm not going to like attach myself to any American
team just because I'm not from here. But I just
I enjoyed the sports of it. I enjoy the fans,
fandom of it. I just I enjoyed that stuff, and like,
I'll be honest with you. When I'm in Greece, I
don't like wearing I in like hot countries, especially Greece.
I don't like wearing baggy shirts. I just feel awkward.
(04:21):
I feel horrible. So I just want to like something
like I like a vest and I like something over
the top. And I've got a New York j Yankees
jersey like wearing it. Please don't look into.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
It, Fair, you know what.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
I'm just a diehard Yankees fan, so I see, well
Lastway Rock in the Yankee jersey.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
It gets me hype.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
But I get and I'm glad I got your hyped.
I like, but there's no emotional connection I am. I
am officially like I don't know, like a little slag.
I dip in and out of all the different teams.
I just like the shirts. Give me all your shirts.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Fair, A w beach break is happening this week you
and Hangman against Takeshita and Josh Alexander, leading into double
or Nothing the owen Hart Foundation Tournament Finals again hang Man,
where the winner becomes the number one contender for the
All Elite Wrestling Heavyweight Championship. Have you sought far ahead
of what that could look like and what that could
mean for your career winning the Owen or do you
(05:11):
just take it Beach Break first, get that done with,
and then focus on double or nothing.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
No, Honestly, Matt, I always forward thinking. I because like,
if I can see myself being that guy and the champion,
then like I tend to work harder for it. Like
I look at what we're going to be doing at
Beach Break, in this tag match, and like, I'm excited
to do that because you've got genuinely four of the
greatest professional wrestlers. Like I look towards Hangman and this
(05:38):
is like one of those epic clashes where it could
go either way. Like both of us have like firm
reasons why to be in not only in the final,
but contending for the World Heavyweight Championship. So I think
that's the reason why it gets exciting. We have no
idea who's actually going to be holding that world titled
by the time we get there. It could be Moxley,
it could be someone with Joe. It's got that cage
match to find out. I think though, I just I
(06:00):
want to be in that main event so bad. And
one of the main reasons is and like, this is
a crazy thing for me to even say. I've done
the media a little while ago for Forbidden Door coming
out in the O two arena. The two arena is
legitimately like thirty five minutes from my house. I could
probably get a thirty minute train and be at the
(06:22):
O two. I've just looked at that ticket page. That
is it wrestle Tics.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
That is that them?
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Great account by the way, I'm a huge fan of
the account.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
Yeah me too sometimes, but like I just I looked
it up today, man, and there's over eleven thousand seats
sold and it's just like everyone's face on it. But
I'm like front and sent on the poster boy, and
that that's crazy to me to see all these posters
and this sees me like as like that's like the
(06:51):
firm base, like you know what I mean. I've looked
the branding off for Bidden Door New Japan and aw,
I'm the branding of that now. And then the idea
of walking into the O two as the World heavyweight
champion Brave like they might need to reinforce the flipping
walls it's going to.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Be a party.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
Like I don't know if you've ever seen England play
in the in the World Cup. When we get to
the qualifying rounds, we riot. When we get to the semis,
we riot. When we lose, we riot. We're not a
civilized country.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
We are not.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
And now you're going to be bringing if that is possible,
If I win that world title and bring it to
the forbidden Door, it's going to be chaos. It's going
to be but like I can't wait to be in
the center of it.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Now.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Would you what would you say is your like dream match,
dream opponent, dream scenario?
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Would it? Would it be oh too?
Speaker 4 (07:48):
It?
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Would it be Wembley?
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Oh for sure, Wembley, Like I I don't enjoy like
I don't enjoy this, Like Wembley is iconic, man, Wembleeze
is such an iconic arene stadium. It's the biggest one,
I think in Europe, and it's just been like the
heart of like so many great spectacles and great like
(08:14):
iconic moments.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
The fact that I get to be there is always ridiculous, right.
If there was ever a.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Time to like walk into that building in a main event,
would be ridiculous, but like I can't tell you enough
like it. So the O two is special because I
remember going to a wrestling event that was promoted by WWE.
I think it was a SmackDown taping. Matt side Hour
was wrestling on it. Like I was sat in a
(08:43):
nosebleed seats, Like it was crazy. But the idea of
going like if I could like just pause and quickly
go back there, just pop over and just be like
in this amount of time, you're not only like you're
not only going to be in this building for that
a company that isn't WWE, Like you're the poster boy
(09:04):
for it, Like you're the reason why eleven thousand seats
have sold already and more are going to come. That
that's crazy to me, that's honestly, that's that's mind blowing
the fact that there's that level of support out there
for me is truly like I understand the responsibility, and
(09:24):
I'm so grateful and I'm so thankful and I do
not want to drop this ball.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
So when you bring up like going to the O
two when you were younger, I mean it sounds like
just wrestling consumed your entire life since childhood.
Speaker 4 (09:34):
Right, oh, mate, we had to bring in our back garden.
We were known as the neighbors from Hell. Mate, like
we it's always it's been my life since I could remember.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Now, going back a little bit, there was an interview
did with Renee Piquette years ago which actually, I've always
been a huge fan of you, and then this is
what made me go, fuck it, this guy is number
one to me. You spoke about your ADHD diagnosis and
and potentially being autistic. What was your immediate reaction when
you got that confirmation.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
Hey, you do have adhdre Ah, Mate, it's kind of
a weight off my shoulders, But it wasn't. It was
never a weight I wanted lifted. While I was over
in Japan. It was the nicest place to find that out.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
So while it was like hard, it was one of
those things.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
Where like it, I kind of had like a moment
of realization and like an understanding and ways where I
could find out what my triggers were whenever I got
like overstimulated, and I could try and figure out how
to counterbalance it.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
So it was good for that reason. Wasn't nice?
Speaker 4 (10:40):
Wasn't nice finding out where I did, Like I'll be
honest with you. I think that was that was hard,
and it's harder when you tell some of your mates
and then they go like, oh, yeah, of course, it's
kind of like, oh, like at twenty seven years old,
it's not nice, you know what I mean. It's like
there's so many things where like I took wrong turns
and my immaturity like showed through and I don't really understand,
(11:02):
like I get overstimulated and I don't really know how
to handle situations. But now knowing what it was, I
could have done things to counterbalance it. It's just never nice,
do you know.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
What I mean?
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (11:13):
No, And the reason why I like the autism thing
is that's just so important to me is because I
have a five year old nonverbal autistic nephew, for example,
and to see someone like you who's like, hey, I'm
potentially autistic because you said it took a long time
to find a diagnosis, which is a major issue across
on the spectrum.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Yeah, it's on the spectrum of it.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Yeah, even in America, it takes forever to find that diagnosis.
And my sister and her husband is dedicated now their
life to autism and families kind of going through the
asd and yeah, it's it's incredible. But to hear and
see someone like you who's essentially living out their dream
and saying like.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Yo, this is a superpower.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
This isn't a hindrance on me, I think just quite honestly,
I just think that's dope as fuck.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Dog Like, yeah, like that's what I'm talking about. Honestly,
that makes me happy.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
Dude, like anyone that like comes through his jour and
the amount of kids that come up to me now
just being like, like, my kid's autistic and what you're
doing is crazy.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
It's such a.
Speaker 4 (12:10):
Cool outreach, and I like I wish I like sometimes
I do like keeping my head down about it because
like I never want to be like front and center
of these situations. But like, I feel like it is
so cool that there are young boys now that are
like coming up to me live trying to live out
somewhat of their dream. So I take it with great
(12:30):
pride and great responsibility, and I just hope I don't
let anybody down when I when I do any of
this is it's crazy, man, it's crazy.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
You do have a lot of fans. I have some
fan questions here.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Matt wanted to know where do you rate your ricochet
matches today?
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Oh it's hard, Like I still rate them highly because
it's what got me into a lot of people's eyesight
in the first place. I think that's the first thing
that blew me up. But like I look at that
now and while I see why I wrestles like that,
today's me would never wrestle like that.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
If that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
No, it does.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Has anybody in aw since you've been there, it kind
of taken you under their wing to be like, hey,
that was cool looking. Don't ever do that shit again
or you could die.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
A load of people have tried to convince me out
of doing stuff that could potentially kill me. But where
it goes in one ear and like and out of
the other. Like you ever heard that saying where there's
no sense, there's no feeling. I have zero sense. So
it's all good. I'll go through it. But like, backstage,
I've been working a lot with Jerry Lynn, and I like,
(13:44):
I'm fascinated from his knowledge and his tenure, and he's
really been helping me understand and break down a lot
of things where like I feel like I lacked and
needed those like fine tuning pieces. So like getting to
work with the legend that is Jerry Lynn has been beautiful.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
I love that, David.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
You might have wanted to know a wrestler in Japan
that you wish you wrestled but never had the chance
to get in the ring with.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Strangely the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion right now, go to
we never wrestled one another and look forbidden doors coming up,
So be doing that.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Will You wanted to know if you were offered in
a perfect scenario where nobody gets hurt, nobody gets offended,
if you were offered to become a Paul Hayman guy,
what would your response be, listener?
Speaker 4 (14:31):
Yeah, sure, Like Paul gave me that incredible moment once
upon a time where he offered me an evolve deal
years ago. I didn't take it. The money was shit,
to be honest with.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
You, Oh no, but it was lovely. But I appointment.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
I grew up watching him man like I just I've
always admired his ability to evolve his character and to
get into certain roles.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
He's the man.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
A Lastly, with the fan questions, Brasco wanted to know
All in Texas is happening July twelfth, According to some
report WWE is running Saturday Night's main event, which will
be on NBC Free TV in Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
That same exact night.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
What would make AW the better product on that night, Saturday, July.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
Twelfth, because we smoke them in every field of wrestling, Like,
oh mate, we're just better. Like I respect them, I
respect every single one of them there. They're all vets,
they all know what they're doing. They're great at their job,
they understand getting people on their feet. But we are
so much more of a better wrestling company than them, Like,
our guys smoke them every single day of the week.
(15:39):
They've got good guys like Gunfa, They've got great guys
like all They've got good guys like Chad Gable. I
respect all of them, but on our worst day, we
smoke all of you guys.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
What music do you listen to to get you hyped
for a match?
Speaker 4 (15:55):
Oh? My, I don't listen to music before I get
into a match. Like there's certain things that do get
me home, like like if I listened to Bonfire by
Knife Party, But like, I'm not one of those type
of guys that listen to music to get into get
into a certain zone, Like I get me there myself.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
I like it.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Two final questions. Most improved over the last few years
in your mind.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
I'll has Kyle Fletcher has just I think taken the
ball and run with it, and I think that that
should be applauded hugely.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Most underrated in your mind.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Oh mm hmmmmmmm in.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
A w Yeah, yes, sir.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Maybe you know someone you know, someone you've watched in
another company that you want to put on the map list.
And when we'll ask Ray speaks, people listen right, So.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Underrated in a flipping ow.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
That's that's hard because every I'm sick and I think
everyone's like, I'd love to see Kyle o'reiley up the
card more. I think he gets slept on quite a lot,
and I think Kyler Riley's actually he's up there like
one of my favorite wrestlers.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
I'll be honest with you, I just I love how
he wrestles, and I think he's sick.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
One more time, we'll ask Ray, I appreciate you go
to sleep because you have a ridiculous travel schedule. I
thought I had a bad traveling, like two weekends a
month to see my daughter an hour and a half
flight away, and then I hear your story and I'm like,
I'm never going to bitch to anyone again.
Speaker 4 (17:34):
I blessure man. Well, look, I love doing it. It's honestly,
a lot of people would say like it's it's crazy
what I do, and I agree it is super crazy,
but I love it. I love my job. I love
coming to work in the morning. I feel like it
is proper awake in something in me of just pure
passion and wanting to see how far I can take this.
(17:54):
I'm honored to be a part of the team. Honestly,
sometimes even overwhelmed, but I just cannot believe how lucky
I am that I've got this support and that I
just I'm living out my dream.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Man,
Hey, Yo, What up?
Speaker 2 (00:00):
I'm Josh Martinez of the Superstar Crossover podcast on iHeartRadio
Z one hundred in New York City, one of three
five Kiss FM in Chicago with my.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Guest, the Aerial Assassin, Will Aspar. What's going on?
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Man? Hello, I'm doing well. How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
I'm chilling, Malison. I'm gonna be honest and upfront real quick.
You are my favorite wrestler right now. So I was
very excited, very.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Very hard, too kind. Thank you, mate.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
So let's just jump into it. Some big news popped
off today.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
There's a Chicago residency popping off at the end of July,
six different shows for aew How exciting is that for
you to just stay in one city for a few
weeks in a unique venue like the Aragon Ballroom.
Speaker 4 (00:41):
My every time I've been to Chicago, it's always been
just like one of the best nights in wrestling. Their
fan base is just out of this world that some
of the best fan base in the entire of North America.
So the fact that we get to like make a
little home there for a little bit and like deliver
regular bangers and quality TV while we get to be
(01:04):
in front of an audience that cares.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
I'm really looking forward to it.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
And correct me if I'm wrong. Do you still live
in England?
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Dog? Yeah? Mate, I mean now.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
So okay, So we'll timestamp this real quick. It is
currently four thirty three in New York City where I
am and you are.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
What time?
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Nine?
Speaker 4 (01:24):
Nine thirty three? Yeah, and then I'll I'll go to
bed after this. I'll wake up at about five thirty
in the morning. I'll get me an hour and twenty
uber over to Heathrow. I'll sit on a plane for
about seven to eight hours. I'll land, I'll clear customs,
I'll have to get me bag. I'll go over, I
get picked up, go straight to the arena. I'll shower
(01:45):
in one of the locker rooms, make myself smell pretty,
and then get on with the show.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Do the show.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
The show starts at seven pm, right, that's enough time
to get warmed up, get the trainers to look at me.
We'll do a two hour show. We'll go back home
to the hotel. I'll check in, I'll eat some food.
I'll leave the I'll leave the airport in the morning.
I'll get back to England in the evening Thursday.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
And the reason why you do all this is because
of a personal reason, right with your family?
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Yeah, mate, family likes staying there. And I've made up
such a little life, a lot, my kids doing well
at school. Like, I'm just I'm happy. I don't really
have any aspiration of moving over.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Let's say, hypothetically speaking, you did come to America for
some reason, you were forced to live here for a
whole year. Is there any at least city that you
look at and go, you know what, I could live
there for a year.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
I don't know, Like I mean, it's all circumstanced, because
I do I want to go somewhere that's heartless Orlando,
But I just don't want to be in here any
of the other people that live in Orlando. I just
I quite enjoy that type of space between us. I
like seeing you every now and again, Like if I'm
over at a Disney Park and you come over.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
And say hello, all right, I say hello. But I
want to get back to Disney.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Chicago would be good, just because like I've got mates
over in Chicago, so then I could I could go
pitching with them, and then that way we've got a babysitter.
Who else I don't know California. Just I like California.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Do you have any fond memories of New York City?
Speaker 4 (03:13):
Oh, in New York City, mate, I've got loads of
memories of rested in Madison Square Garden. Me and the
missus went there a little while ago. We just we
just maximized our minutes. We were there for like two days,
and we just did everything we've done. We've done dinners,
We've done like crazy restaurants, we've done sightseeing.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Our mate, I love New York City.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
So I noticed in a recent Instagram post you were
rocking a Yankees jersey.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
Are you a fan? Is that a fashion thing or
a fan thing?
Speaker 4 (03:38):
No more fashion, mate, Like, I don't keep up with
any like any type like. So for example, this is
a crazy one that not many people know about. I've
never gone to a football game in England or soccer
for you lot. My first ever football game was over
at Philadelphia and it was like Philadelphia versus Orlando, and
(03:59):
I had so much on it was so good. But like,
I'm not going to like attach myself to any American
team just because I'm not from here. But I just
I enjoyed the sports of it. I enjoy the fans,
fandom of it. I just I enjoyed that stuff, and like,
I'll be honest with you. When I'm in Greece, I
don't like wearing I in like hot countries, especially Greece.
I don't like wearing baggy shirts. I just feel awkward.
(04:21):
I feel horrible. So I just want to like something
like I like a vest and I like something over
the top. And I've got a New York j Yankees
jersey like wearing it. Please don't look into.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
It, Fair, you know what.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
I'm just a diehard Yankees fan, so I see, well
Lastway Rock in the Yankee jersey.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
It gets me hype.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
But I get and I'm glad I got your hyped.
I like, but there's no emotional connection I am. I
am officially like I don't know, like a little slag.
I dip in and out of all the different teams.
I just like the shirts. Give me all your shirts.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Fair, A w beach break is happening this week you
and Hangman against Takeshita and Josh Alexander, leading into double
or Nothing the owen Hart Foundation Tournament Finals again hang Man,
where the winner becomes the number one contender for the
All Elite Wrestling Heavyweight Championship. Have you sought far ahead
of what that could look like and what that could
mean for your career winning the Owen or do you
(05:11):
just take it Beach Break first, get that done with,
and then focus on double or nothing.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
No, Honestly, Matt, I always forward thinking. I because like,
if I can see myself being that guy and the champion,
then like I tend to work harder for it. Like
I look at what we're going to be doing at
Beach Break, in this tag match, and like, I'm excited
to do that because you've got genuinely four of the
greatest professional wrestlers. Like I look towards Hangman and this
(05:38):
is like one of those epic clashes where it could
go either way. Like both of us have like firm
reasons why to be in not only in the final,
but contending for the World Heavyweight Championship. So I think
that's the reason why it gets exciting. We have no
idea who's actually going to be holding that world titled
by the time we get there. It could be Moxley,
it could be someone with Joe. It's got that cage
match to find out. I think though, I just I
(06:00):
want to be in that main event so bad. And
one of the main reasons is and like, this is
a crazy thing for me to even say. I've done
the media a little while ago for Forbidden Door coming
out in the O two arena. The two arena is
legitimately like thirty five minutes from my house. I could
probably get a thirty minute train and be at the
(06:22):
O two. I've just looked at that ticket page. That
is it wrestle Tics.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
That is that them?
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Great account by the way, I'm a huge fan of
the account.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
Yeah me too sometimes, but like I just I looked
it up today, man, and there's over eleven thousand seats
sold and it's just like everyone's face on it. But
I'm like front and sent on the poster boy, and
that that's crazy to me to see all these posters
and this sees me like as like that's like the
(06:51):
firm base, like you know what I mean. I've looked
the branding off for Bidden Door New Japan and aw,
I'm the branding of that now. And then the idea
of walking into the O two as the World heavyweight
champion Brave like they might need to reinforce the flipping
walls it's going to.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Be a party.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
Like I don't know if you've ever seen England play
in the in the World Cup. When we get to
the qualifying rounds, we riot. When we get to the semis,
we riot. When we lose, we riot. We're not a
civilized country.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
We are not.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
And now you're going to be bringing if that is possible,
If I win that world title and bring it to
the forbidden Door, it's going to be chaos. It's going
to be but like I can't wait to be in
the center of it.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Now.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Would you what would you say is your like dream match,
dream opponent, dream scenario?
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Would it? Would it be oh too?
Speaker 4 (07:48):
It?
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Would it be Wembley?
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Oh for sure, Wembley, Like I I don't enjoy like
I don't enjoy this, Like Wembley is iconic, man, Wembleeze
is such an iconic arene stadium. It's the biggest one,
I think in Europe, and it's just been like the
heart of like so many great spectacles and great like
(08:14):
iconic moments.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
The fact that I get to be there is always ridiculous, right.
If there was ever a.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Time to like walk into that building in a main event,
would be ridiculous, but like I can't tell you enough
like it. So the O two is special because I
remember going to a wrestling event that was promoted by WWE.
I think it was a SmackDown taping. Matt side Hour
was wrestling on it. Like I was sat in a
(08:43):
nosebleed seats, Like it was crazy. But the idea of
going like if I could like just pause and quickly
go back there, just pop over and just be like
in this amount of time, you're not only like you're
not only going to be in this building for that
a company that isn't WWE, Like you're the poster boy
(09:04):
for it, Like you're the reason why eleven thousand seats
have sold already and more are going to come. That
that's crazy to me, that's honestly, that's that's mind blowing
the fact that there's that level of support out there
for me is truly like I understand the responsibility, and
(09:24):
I'm so grateful and I'm so thankful and I do
not want to drop this ball.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
So when you bring up like going to the O
two when you were younger, I mean it sounds like
just wrestling consumed your entire life since childhood.
Speaker 4 (09:34):
Right, oh, mate, we had to bring in our back garden.
We were known as the neighbors from Hell. Mate, like
we it's always it's been my life since I could remember.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Now, going back a little bit, there was an interview
did with Renee Piquette years ago which actually, I've always
been a huge fan of you, and then this is
what made me go, fuck it, this guy is number
one to me. You spoke about your ADHD diagnosis and
and potentially being autistic. What was your immediate reaction when
you got that confirmation.
Speaker 4 (10:04):
Hey, you do have adhdre Ah, Mate, it's kind of
a weight off my shoulders, But it wasn't. It was
never a weight I wanted lifted. While I was over
in Japan. It was the nicest place to find that out.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
So while it was like hard, it was one of
those things.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
Where like it, I kind of had like a moment
of realization and like an understanding and ways where I
could find out what my triggers were whenever I got
like overstimulated, and I could try and figure out how
to counterbalance it.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
So it was good for that reason. Wasn't nice?
Speaker 4 (10:40):
Wasn't nice finding out where I did, Like I'll be
honest with you. I think that was that was hard,
and it's harder when you tell some of your mates
and then they go like, oh, yeah, of course, it's
kind of like, oh, like at twenty seven years old,
it's not nice, you know what I mean. It's like
there's so many things where like I took wrong turns
and my immaturity like showed through and I don't really understand,
(11:02):
like I get overstimulated and I don't really know how
to handle situations. But now knowing what it was, I
could have done things to counterbalance it. It's just never nice,
do you know.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
What I mean?
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (11:13):
No, And the reason why I like the autism thing
is that's just so important to me is because I
have a five year old nonverbal autistic nephew, for example,
and to see someone like you who's like, hey, I'm
potentially autistic because you said it took a long time
to find a diagnosis, which is a major issue across
on the spectrum.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Yeah, it's on the spectrum of it.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Yeah, even in America, it takes forever to find that diagnosis.
And my sister and her husband is dedicated now their
life to autism and families kind of going through the
asd and yeah, it's it's incredible. But to hear and
see someone like you who's essentially living out their dream
and saying like.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Yo, this is a superpower.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
This isn't a hindrance on me, I think just quite honestly,
I just think that's dope as fuck.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Dog Like, yeah, like that's what I'm talking about. Honestly,
that makes me happy.
Speaker 4 (12:01):
Dude, like anyone that like comes through his jour and
the amount of kids that come up to me now
just being like, like, my kid's autistic and what you're
doing is crazy.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
It's such a.
Speaker 4 (12:10):
Cool outreach, and I like I wish I like sometimes
I do like keeping my head down about it because
like I never want to be like front and center
of these situations. But like, I feel like it is
so cool that there are young boys now that are
like coming up to me live trying to live out
somewhat of their dream. So I take it with great
(12:30):
pride and great responsibility, and I just hope I don't
let anybody down when I when I do any of
this is it's crazy, man, it's crazy.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
You do have a lot of fans. I have some
fan questions here.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Matt wanted to know where do you rate your ricochet
matches today?
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Oh it's hard, Like I still rate them highly because
it's what got me into a lot of people's eyesight
in the first place. I think that's the first thing
that blew me up. But like I look at that
now and while I see why I wrestles like that,
today's me would never wrestle like that.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
If that makes sense.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
No, it does.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Has anybody in aw since you've been there, it kind
of taken you under their wing to be like, hey,
that was cool looking. Don't ever do that shit again
or you could die.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
A load of people have tried to convince me out
of doing stuff that could potentially kill me. But where
it goes in one ear and like and out of
the other. Like you ever heard that saying where there's
no sense, there's no feeling. I have zero sense. So
it's all good. I'll go through it. But like, backstage,
I've been working a lot with Jerry Lynn, and I like,
(13:44):
I'm fascinated from his knowledge and his tenure, and he's
really been helping me understand and break down a lot
of things where like I feel like I lacked and
needed those like fine tuning pieces. So like getting to
work with the legend that is Jerry Lynn has been beautiful.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
I love that, David.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
You might have wanted to know a wrestler in Japan
that you wish you wrestled but never had the chance
to get in the ring with.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Strangely the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion right now, go to
we never wrestled one another and look forbidden doors coming up,
So be doing that.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Will You wanted to know if you were offered in
a perfect scenario where nobody gets hurt, nobody gets offended,
if you were offered to become a Paul Hayman guy,
what would your response be, listener?
Speaker 4 (14:31):
Yeah, sure, Like Paul gave me that incredible moment once
upon a time where he offered me an evolve deal
years ago. I didn't take it. The money was shit,
to be honest with.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
You, Oh no, but it was lovely. But I appointment.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
I grew up watching him man like I just I've
always admired his ability to evolve his character and to
get into certain roles.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
He's the man.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
A Lastly, with the fan questions, Brasco wanted to know
All in Texas is happening July twelfth, According to some
report WWE is running Saturday Night's main event, which will
be on NBC Free TV in Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
That same exact night.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
What would make AW the better product on that night, Saturday, July.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
Twelfth, because we smoke them in every field of wrestling, Like,
oh mate, we're just better. Like I respect them, I
respect every single one of them there. They're all vets,
they all know what they're doing. They're great at their job,
they understand getting people on their feet. But we are
so much more of a better wrestling company than them, Like,
our guys smoke them every single day of the week.
(15:39):
They've got good guys like Gunfa, They've got great guys
like all They've got good guys like Chad Gable. I
respect all of them, but on our worst day, we
smoke all of you guys.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
What music do you listen to to get you hyped
for a match?
Speaker 4 (15:55):
Oh? My, I don't listen to music before I get
into a match. Like there's certain things that do get
me home, like like if I listened to Bonfire by
Knife Party, But like, I'm not one of those type
of guys that listen to music to get into get
into a certain zone, Like I get me there myself.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
I like it.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Two final questions. Most improved over the last few years
in your mind.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
I'll has Kyle Fletcher has just I think taken the
ball and run with it, and I think that that
should be applauded hugely.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Most underrated in your mind.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Oh mm hmmmmmmm in.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
A w Yeah, yes, sir.
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Maybe you know someone you know, someone you've watched in
another company that you want to put on the map list.
And when we'll ask Ray speaks, people listen right, So.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
Underrated in a flipping ow.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
That's that's hard because every I'm sick and I think
everyone's like, I'd love to see Kyle o'reiley up the
card more. I think he gets slept on quite a lot,
and I think Kyler Riley's actually he's up there like
one of my favorite wrestlers.
Speaker 3 (17:12):
I'll be honest with you, I just I love how
he wrestles, and I think he's sick.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
One more time, we'll ask Ray, I appreciate you go
to sleep because you have a ridiculous travel schedule. I
thought I had a bad traveling, like two weekends a
month to see my daughter an hour and a half
flight away, and then I hear your story and I'm like,
I'm never going to bitch to anyone again.
Speaker 4 (17:34):
I blessure man. Well, look, I love doing it. It's honestly,
a lot of people would say like it's it's crazy
what I do, and I agree it is super crazy,
but I love it. I love my job. I love
coming to work in the morning. I feel like it
is proper awake in something in me of just pure
passion and wanting to see how far I can take this.
(17:54):
I'm honored to be a part of the team. Honestly,
sometimes even overwhelmed, but I just cannot believe how lucky
I am that I've got this support and that I
just I'm living out my dream.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
Man,
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