AEW announcer Tony Schiavone has admitted that he has expressed concerns about Will Ospreay’s in-ring style.
With big moves performed at high speeds, The Ariel Assassin has established a reputation as one of the most exciting wrestlers in the modern era. However, with multiple high-risk moves performed in a match and Ospreay constantly looking for ways to top his last performance, there are concerns that his luck may run out and a serious injury may occur.
At AEW Dynasty, Ospreay put on his latest standout performance as he defeated Bryan Danielson at the first-ever Dynasty pay-per-view. Exceeding the already lofty expectations, the match was easily the best on the entire show.
Discussing the match on the What Happened When podcast, Schiavone stated everyone knew that the match was going to be a high-calibre encounter and had high praise for both performers:
“Yeah, didn’t we expect it, though? Didn’t we all know that it was going to be a great match? Listen, to me, Bryan Danielson not only is to me one of the greatest performers ever, but one of my favorite people of all time. You can sit and talk to Bryan Danielson for a long, long time about wrestling, just like you can with Chris Hero. Just sit and talk wrestling with them and just pick their brain and talk about the history of wrestling or moves or the business.
So I knew it was going to be a great match. Will Ospreay to me has become like the…I don’t know, I don’t know how to describe him. If I say, ‘Oh, the greatest of all time,’ that would be wrong to say that. But I don’t know anybody that has come in in such a short period of time and captured the excitement of the fans as Will Ospreay has. Not only with what he can do in the ring, but his promos, with the exception of some of the things he said, his promos have been great, wonderful. So I’m just amazed at him.”
Ending his thoughts, Schiavone revealed that he had warned Ospreay about causing serious harm:
Every time I see Will Ospreay, I say, ‘Slow down, dude. You got a lot of wrestling ahead of you, you don’t want to kill yourself.’ He said. ‘I don’t know how to do it any other way.’ So yeah, the match was wonderful. I wasn’t on the call, but Okada and PAC was wonderful as well,”
The topic of Ospreay’s exciting in-ring style was also used in storyline when The Ariel Assassin feuded with Chris Jericho, which led to their match at All In.
Tony Schiavone Previously Warned Another AEW Star
Another star who is known for taking risks and always having fast-paced matches is Darby Allin. Taking bumps onto the steel steps, diving off ladders and crashing through panes of glass, many of Allin’s matches make fans wonder how many more times the former TNT Champion can compete before he seriously injures himself. On a previous episode of his podcast, Tony Schiavone discussed Darby Allin’s daredevil wrestling style.
In recent news, Tony Schiavone has been critical of the production team behind the “Who Killed WCW?” docuseries.
H/t to Fightful.