With the final of the Men’s Owen Hart Tournament set to pit Swerve Strickland against Will Ospreay at Forbidden Door, one year on from teaming to remove the Young Bucks as EVPs of the company, this week saw them come face-to-face to hash things out.
Ospreay was out first to talk about his wedding and how he was supposed to be on his honeymoon, but Alex Windsor understood how much the tournament meant to him and encouraged him to go. He then said that he “smashed her” and hopped on the flight to come and, presumably, tell us all about his escapade and how it ties to his wrestling journey.
Eventually, Strickland came out to anchor the segment and stop Ospreay from delving deeper into wherever it is his mind was headed. Things picked up from here, with Strickland outright telling Ospreay that he had changed; after all the time they spent together to bring down the Death Riders, he was now working with them and had yet to articulate why.
Ospreay said he hadn’t forgotten nor necessarily forgiven them, but he let go and accepted help to take that next step and become World Champion. He saw a number of guys trying to help him as the Death Riders attacked him at last year’s Forbidden Door, but none of them were Strickland. He said he would have run through a brick wall for Strickland and expected the same.
Strickland cut all through that and gave his own take on the history, recalling when Ospreay told him to stand back because it was Hangman Page’s time to become World Champion. He asked where Page is now and said everything they did on Ospreay’s word was ultimately for nothing.
Now, he said, Ospreay expects him to stand back and let him become World Champion. “F*** that,” he yelled, going on to say that whenever they meet in the ring, it ends up the same: Strickland beats Ospreay and his fragile neck.
Then they got into a fight, and Strickland looked to use a chain before the Death Riders emerged to show how the game had changed. Or, as Strickland went on to say before leaving, Ospreay had changed.
This was an essential segment to lay out the stakes and the context behind the final bout between Strickland and Ospreay. Neither man was particularly wrong from their perspective, but have grown naturally opposed due to their pursuit of the title.
Of the three men leading the charge against the Death Riders, these are the only two left to fight for the title. They have taken two different paths where morality can be questioned on either side, only demonstrating how much the title, and thus this match, means to them.
Written by Max Everett
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