It’s crazy to think that Will Ospreay’s father, who introduced his son to the art of pro wrestling by channel surfing one evening, will now take his seat to watch the gifted grappler main event Wembley Stadium. “I think he was, like, flicking between a Chelsea game and maybe Star Trek,” recalls the future fighter. “And, I just got fascinated by it, and just kept tuning in.”
As a kid, Ospreay first found the spotlight by attending his mother’s drama academy. “She would bring in dance teachers, so I got a sense of rhythm straight away,” he tells M&F. “I understood how to time things.” This sense of timing would be met with a natural flair for agility, setting the foundations for Ospreay’s wrestling toolset, before even stepping foot into the ring. But as a wrestling fan, Ospreay had spent hours watching his favorite aerial specialists on screen. “Watching WCW, and seeing Billy Kidman do a shooting star press, I’d pause it, rewind it,” he recalls. “Where do his arms go? I broke down little bits about it, and then I would just go into my garden and try it on the trampoline.”
When Mom saw her son doing backflips in the yard, she steered him toward an organized trampoline class, but the skills that he had already taught himself made the class redundant. “I was there for one day, and then I passed,” he explains.
Will Ospreay Was Kicked Out of His First Wrestling School
While in high school, Ospreay was peer pressured into demonstrating his agility on a solid floor. “Thank God they did,” he reflects. “Because all the things that I could do with springs, I can do without them now.” But while the young upstart was certainly honing his skills, this risk heavy approach would not be welcomed at his first wrestling school. In fact, Ospreay shares that he was kicked out of the Dropkixx Wrestling academy in London, “Because I was doing some backyard wrestling outside the facility while they were training,” explains Ospreay. “Honestly, looking back now, I would have kicked me out too.”
At age 17, Ospreay would take a more professional approach to his second opportunity to learn the ropes, joining the London School of Lucha Libra, and the high-flying Mexican style of wrestling would prove to build his toolset even further. Traditionally, Mexican wrestler’s work each other from the right-hand side, whereas other regions like the U.S., U.K., and Japan attack each other from the left. While Ospreay’s school predominantly taught the left-handed approach, they also brought in some big names to teach the right-handed style. “We had Lucha Libre stars come over, like Cassandro and Juventud Guerrera,” he recalls.
As Ospreay’s skills evolved, he went from wearing a mask in his debut, to getting his face recognized across the U.K. independent wrestling scene and was even recommended by the legendary A.J. Styles as a potential fit for Japan. Already a fan of the Japanese style, particularly the fast-paced Super Junior weight class, Ospreay became an international superstar in New Japan Pro Wrestling, winning his first “Best of Super Juniors” title in 2016. But while 2017 brought Ospreay the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, the increasing attention around him would prove to be a significant challenge outside of the ring.
Will Ospreay Developed Body Dysmorphia and Feared the Gym
“I first discovered my body dysmorphia, and I won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, in October of 2017,” recalls of Ospreay of a time that brought both darkness and light. “And I remember one tweet was saying ‘he is in the worst shape,’ and they were right,” says the wrestler. “I didn’t understand working out, why you do sets, and why you focus on one body part, and macro counting. I would go to the gym, but I really didn’t know what I was doing, I’ll be honest, and I was so embarrassed to ask the boys, they’re all jacked, I felt like such an idiot, to try and (ask) ‘could I workout with you?’ so I never went to the gym”
Fortunately, while wrestling in New Zealand, Ospreay discovered MusclePharm’s weekly workouts. “I just said, alright, I’m gonna do these for the next six weeks,” he explains. “Within four weeks, I packed on so much muscle mass, and I started to understand how it worked. And then I invested in a personal trainer, his name is Iestyn Ress, and he really broke down macro counting, and how to count my calories, and why I do a push day and a pull day. It was so simple, but I just never had the courage to ask for help. And I always tell people now, the people in the gym, they’re fighting the same demons that you’re probably fighting.”
Will Ospreay Now Harnesses ADHD as a Wrestling Superpower
Will Ospreay is one of those authentic pro wrestlers whose on-screen persona comes very close to the man himself. This athlete is the first to admit that he’s often found himself embroiled in online spats and is working hard to resist burner accounts that are set up to trigger celebrities into getting wound up. Of course, having a thick skin or scrolling past the trolls is easier said and done, but Ospreay has also learned that ADHD plays both a positive and negative role in his life. The positives come from his hyper focus around wrestling, but his ability to filter himself is still a work in progress.
“I was on the spectrum for autism, but I didn’t find out I had ADHD until I was 27,” he explains. “I was like, five years into Japan, I had already made a bunch of mistakes, like a lot of issues going on. At first, they thought it was depression. They thought I had insomnia because I couldn’t sleep. (The ADHD diagnosis) opened my eyes and gave me a lot of insight into why I’ve been making these mistakes and how I could mitigate them. I still have triggers, I had one a little while ago on Twitter (X), where I just went back at somebody, and I wish I didn’t do that, but on the positive side, wrestling is something that I have been able to lock in and focus on.”
Will Ospreay Has Built Back Stronger for AEW All in 2026
While Ospreay’s mental health has become a clearer picture for the star, a serious neck injury in 2025 required major surgery, and threatened the grappler on a physical level. Fortunately, AEW, the major U.S. promotion that he signed with in 2022, was of huge support, paying for the scintillating star’s surgery, and helping him to make a triumphant return just six months later. “Five months removed from surgery, and I was able to do a 440-pound (200kg) deadlift,” shares Ospreay. “I think my weight was sitting at 202 pounds (92kg) at the time, so for me, that was a huge lift.”
Of course, the next thing that Will Ospreay is hoping to lift is the AEW World Championship, and he’ll be facing another international superstar, Kenny Omega for this dream match in London. And, true to form, the Brit has long studied his Canadian opponent with serious intent.
“Watching his timing, his pacing, was so inspiring,” Ospreay tells M&F. “The stakes cannot be any bigger for me. It’s one of the most important moments, not only of my career, but of my life.”
Will Ospreay challenges Kenny Omega for the AEW World Championship, live on pay-per-view, at “All In” on Sunday, Aug. 30, at London’s Wembley Stadium. For ticket information, click here.
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