Ahead of his triumphant victory in front of his countrymen to capture the AEW World Championship, Will Ospreay had to fight to get back in the ring, after undergoing neck surgery in September. In addition to chronicling his journey in a vlog that was released ahead of AEW All In, Ospreay also spoke about the injury and his recovery on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” He said he knew something was off when the 2024 Continental Classic began, when he started feeling numbness in his hand.
“I thought maybe it was a vibration of the hand where I’d been chopping people or bumping and my hand was hitting the mat too much,” he explained. “…as it went on, it just got a little bit worse, a little bit worse, and then there would be moments where I would just take a plain old back bump off a shoulder tackle or off a clothesline and I’d completely lose my arm.”
He said he had no idea how severe it was until the doctor called him to explain ahead of him taking his son to Epic Universe. Ospreay found out he’d need surgery ahead of the Orlando vacation.
“It’s daunting and it’s scary because it’s one of those ones where surgery is no laughing joke,” Ospreay said. “It’s something that genuinely kept me up at night for so long because I didn’t know what I was going to look like after the surgery… Being able to get on the other side of it now, and I’m so happy that I went through that journey because it makes me appreciate the struggle that I put my body through.”
He said that it could be used as a lesson for others who watched his earlier work in Japan. He said while he used to be a “rubber ball” who bounced back, that wasn’t the case here.
Ospreay outlines recovery
Ospreay had AEW All In at Wembley Stadium on his mind right before going under the knife. He said that doctors told him if he did his recovery right, he would be back in six months. Ospreay credited John Cena’s triumphant return, well ahead of schedule after a pectoral injury, at the 2008 Royal Rumble as part of his “drive.”
“The first six weeks were hell because being such an active person and just to be told, ‘Stop. Don’t do anything. Don’t pick anything up,’ was crazy to me,” he said. “Having ADHD, I’m buzzing all around the place… I’m just wanting to do things. So, the first six weeks just stopping doing anything was hard. But then afterwards, I kind of found a little bit of enjoyment in trying to get to know my body again.”
Ospreay said that after a few months of repeating the same workouts, when he was able to bench press again, he felt much better about himself. He explained his only limitation now has to do with physically looking up. He struggles to put his head back too far, but it shouldn’t limit him in the ring, as he’s dropped moves where that part is difficult.
“When I would execute moves like a shooting star press, I throw my whole body into it,” he said. “I have to bridge my neck backwards to be able to get the rotation underneath me. It’s easy doing a moonsault, but pushing yourself forward and doing a backflip is way more difficult. I think I’ve just lost it. I’ve lost the confidence about it, so there’s no point in entertaining that anymore.”
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “The Ariel Helwani Show” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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