Will Ospreay was revealed as the “blockbuster signing” at Saturday night’s AEW Full Gear pay-per-view.
According to Fightful Select, Ospreay’s is for three-years. However as Ospreay noted Saturday night, his current deal with NJPW is not done yet. He is still with NJPW until January 2024.
Fightful Select also notes NJPW gave their blessing to Ospreay for him to sign with AEW given the relationship between the two promotions. The report further states that Ospreay told NJPW earlier this year he was not going to re-signing with the them after his contract expired.
The report further notes that contract negotiations began in the early fall and that AEW was “optimistic” they would sign Ospreay. He stated that he has previously wanted to remain in the UK, but had then said he was open to exploring other options, such as moving to the United States. As part of his deal with AEW, he will be able to still remain with his family in the United Kingdom. It was also said that Ospreay arrived at the KIA Forum just before the start of Full Gear.
Fightful Select again confirmed that WWE did have interest in signing Ospreay and had been in contact with his agent, Barry Bloom in recent weeks to see if he was interested in joining WWE. It is also believed that the the talks between Ospreay and WWE were not a secret , as they were attempting to see what relocation might have taken place. It was also said WWE sources told Fightful they were not given any notice or word that Ospreay had signed with the company and had guessed that he would most likely sign with AEW.
IMPACT Wrestling, which is rebranding back to TNA this January, also expressed interest in signing with the promotion. Ospreay also expressed his own interest in possibly signing a deal with IMPACT/TNA Wrestling.