Top AEW star set to undergo surgery

Ospreay is one of the top stars in AEW. He's a fan favorite and, in recent months, has become a face of the company. Neck surgery is never a quick recovery. He could easily miss 12-18 months of ring time, meaning AEW will be without one of its biggest draws for the foreseeable future.

The other concern is that Ospreay won't be the same wrestler when he returns. He addressed that issue during the same interview. 

"I know what lies ahead and I know what's going to be coming after this," Ospreay said. "I just don't know what that looks like. People that have said after this, like, there's things that you're gonna have to say no to and there's things that you're gonna have to turn tone down on with my style... If there's even the smallest chance that I'm not going to be the exact same afterwards, I'm just going to go in there (at Forbidden Door) and just be Will Ospreay for one last night."

Losing Ospreay, for however long is necessary, is a painful reality. Not knowing what version of him you're getting on the other side is even worse. Still, AEW fans will get to see him one more time before he goes under the knife. 

After that, everything moves into the area of the unknown. Ospeay will return, and he's young enough to reinvent himself. But we may need to accept that "Forbidden Door" is the last time we see Ospreay, "the Aerial Assassin." And for wrestling fans everywhere, that's a bitter pill to swallow.