One of AEW's top superstars isn't a big fan of WWE and he's made no secret about it. Speaking to the Daily Star (video embedded below) to promote the upcoming Forbidden Door PPV, Ospreay made it clear that while he respects WWE and acknowledges that they are the top promotion in professional wrestling, he isn't a fan of the product.
Ospreay went onto speak of WWE's thriving business, while specifically calling out the work of Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, CM Punk, IYO SKY, Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair as well as past wrestlers such as Eddie Guerrero and Edge. However, he stated that he feels the AEW roster is better overall.
"I think deep down, we know WWE is a machine and an animal. They're in giant stadiums and doing so good. A lot of people look at us and think we're doing it wrong because WWE is doing this. No, there are different ways of doing it. I got into WWE when I was a kid but when I became a teenager, I thought it was lame. There were certain guys I enjoyed like Eddie Guerrero, Edge, Randy Orton is sick. After a while, I was like, 'This is so pantomiming.' People would go, especially coming up in wrestling, 'less is more.' Is it? I'm bored. It's the same stuff recycled over and over again. Every now and again, you'd get something cool like the CM Punk pipe bomb promo."
"WWE are on fire now, but like I still as not only just as a viewer but as a wrestler, I just don’t enjoy it. I haven’t watched WrestleMania. What I’ve heard is it wasn’t the best Mania. Maybe like IYO, Rhea, and Bianca was the only sick match on there, which the three of them are sick, three of the best wrestlers period. But for me, I just never was a WWE guy. I respect it and I respect the guys doing it. That schedule is like crazy, and I commend them all for doing it. I just didn’t like it. I don’t like the show, I don’t like the style of wrestling, I don’t like the presentation. It’s gotten better. I love the one-shots that they’ve been doing. But I’ve just, I’ve never been a big fan of it. So that’s why when like AEW came along and they went with more like the sports-based style of it, it was something that I could sink my teeth into."
"Of course like I respect WWE. And I admire everyone there. A lot of people think I hate Triple H, and I really don’t. I’ve never met the guy before in my life. But for me, there’s always this little bit of rivalry where I’ll just be like, ‘Yeah, you guys are the biggest. Yeah, you guys are drawing the bigger houses. Yeah, you guys have got the bigger deals.’ But the moment the bell rings, I think we’re better than all of them. Like, I think honestly on my worst day, I’m better than a lot of the guys in-ring. In-ring. Promos, you guys have got a bunch of guys. Punk’s sick. Reigns is sick. There’s still things that I need to catch up on. But in-ring, I generally don’t think there’s anyone from that side that like matches any of our guys."
