Will Ospreay spoke about his decision to sign with AEW during an appearance on AEW Unrestricted.
Ospreay mentioned during the podcast that in the lead-up to his free agency, he received a call from WWE's AJ Styles, someone who he has long considered a hero.
Ospreay said
AJ was on the phone to me when he was trying to, I guess the right word would be 'sway' in making my decision on which company I should (sign with). And it flatters me because AJ is my hero, everything I wanted to become.
Ospreay has frequently spoken about the influence AJ Styles' run in TNA Wrestling had on him. He continued to say that he believes Styles has always kept an eye on him throughout his career.
Ospreay continued:
I feel like he's always kept an eye on me. I feel like even now, I guess that's what the phone call was about, but he always keeps an eye on me every now and again but for me, coming (to AEW) was the right thing to do. I just knew coming here, I wanted to make a difference, I wanted to be part of a change in the culture.
Ospreay and Styles have wrestled twice, both in 2015 before Styles left NJPW for WWE in January 2016. Styles defeated Ospreay at RevPro High Stakes 2015 and then beat both Ospreay and Marty Scurll in a triple-threat match eight months later at RevPro Uprising.
Up next for Ospreay is an International title match against Roderick Strong at AEW Double or Nothing later this month. Styles will challenge Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship at Backlash on Saturday.
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