Will Ospreay Headed For WWE Future, Predicts Hall Of Famer

A WWE Hall of Famer believes that Will Ospreay will be a WWE superstar at some point in his career.

Will Ospreay officially announced he was joining AEW in November 2023, while still under contract to NJPW. In early 2024, his NJPW obligations were behind him, and Ospreay quickly became one of the most popular AEW wrestlers thanks to his incredible talent in the ring.

During his AEW career so far, Ospreay has been a 2-time International Champion, he’s headlined many major events, and faced off against the biggest names in the company.

Unfortunately for Ospreay, he underwent major neck surgery in September, and AEW’s owner, Tony Khan, has stated that he hopes Ospreay can return to the ring in the first half of 2026.

While Ospreay remains under contract to AEW, WWE Hall of Famer John Bradshaw Layfield (JBL) told Videogamer.com that he believes Ospreay will be in WWE at some point.

“Probably yeah. The temptation is just too great for these guys to go do big stadium shows and the money I guess probably a little bit better. But the temptation is just too big to have that platform. I mean, WWE is on every freaking platform in the world right now. In a huge way.

You know, AEW’s got a good presence, but I mean, there’s, there’s no comparison. I mean,  they’re way up here and, you know, AEW’s not close yet. Maybe they will be one day, but that temptation to be on all those platforms is pretty cool. I saw Seth Rollins at one of the weekend football games. A huge game. You don’t get that unless you’re with WWE and you have a deal with ESPN.

And the opportunities from WWE are so much more vast than anywhere else in the world that yeah, I think he probably ends up going there.”

Will Ospreay Isn’t A WWE Fan

In May 2025, Will Ospreay made some controversial remarks about how he didn’t like the WWE product.

“I think deep down, we know WWE is a machine and an animal. They’re in giant stadiums and doing so good. A lot of people look at us and think we’re doing it wrong because WWE is doing this. No, there are different ways of doing it. I got into WWE when I was a kid, but when I became a teenager, I thought it was lame.

There were certain guys I enjoyed like Eddie Guerrero, Edge, Randy Orton is sick. After a while, I was like, ‘This is so pantomiming.’ People would go, especially coming up in wrestling, ‘less is more.’ Is it? I’m bored. It’s the same stuff recycled over and over again. Every now and again, you’d get something cool like the CM Punk pipebomb promo.

WWE are on fire now, but not even as a viewer, as a wrestler, I just don’t enjoy it. I haven’t watched WrestleMania. From what I’ve heard, it wasn’t the best Mania. Maybe IYO, Rhea, and Bianca was the only sick match. The three of them are sick. They are three of the best wrestlers, period.

For me, I was just never a WWE guy. I respect it, and I respect the guys doing it. That schedule is crazy, and they are commendable for doing it.”

Considering he is 32 years old, Will Ospreay likely has many years left as a wrestler as long as he maintains his health, and that also means there could be a day down the road when he wants to be in WWE. Then again, Ospreay may be loyal to AEW and could avoid going to WWE like so many wrestlers do.