Will Ospreay Wins First Singles Title in AEW Career at Double or Nothing

In the opening match of AEW Double or Nothing, the International Champion Roderick Strong went one-on-one with Will Ospreay for the first time in seven years. Ospreay has quickly become one of AEW’s greats with many of the current crop of top guys out injured. Ospreay had the first match of his AEW career at Revolution back in March where he defeated Konosuke Takeshita. Strong, meanwhile, has been competing in one of the best conditions of his career since his return from injury. Strong won the International Championship at Revolution and has only defended it one other time — against his former Undisputed Elite stablemate Kyle O’Reilly at AEW Dynasty. 

Early on into the match it seemed as though Ospreay might take the title early. He attempted to sneak up on Strong with a Hidden Blade but the Undisputed Kingdom stopped him in his tracks. Ospreay spent the next few minutes battling the group as they tried to get involved and provide a distraction for Strong to retain. That didn’t happen, though, as the intensity of the match only got higher. At one point, Strong hits Ospreay’s chest with heavy and loud chops. They are both down in the center of the ring, They began trading blows as Strong goes for the Styles Clash but Ospreay counters. 

He hits the Oscutter off the ropes but is unable to capitalize quickly, which allows Strong a second to collect himself. Don Callis gets involved to give Ospreay encouragement and tells him to go for the Tiger Driver 98, the move Osprey vowed to retire after what happened to Danielson. When he considers it, he just can’t pull himself to do it, so the match continues. Ospreay then hits the Hidden Blade out of nowhere and follows it up with the Stormbreaker for the win.

“I still feel like I was learning the trade,” Ospreay reflected to ComicBook about his in-ring history with Strong. “If you watched those matches, I didn’t win the match, I just survived it personally. Now is the point where I’m a fully grown man. I have all these accolades under my belt. Roderick is without doubt one of the best wrestlers in the world today. He’s a Ring of Honor legend, he’s a wrestling legend, and he’s now entering this new stratosphere of who he is as a professional wrestler. Now finally I feel like I’m at my peak and he’s at his peak, and we’re going to probably put on one of the best matches on that card.”