Will Ospreay’s post-All Out comments about WWE and AAA’s Worlds Collide got plenty of people talking, and now Jonathan Coachman has weighed in. While Coachman understands why AEW’s World Champion wanted to fire up the crowd, he believes Ospreay picked the wrong moment to throw that kind of challenge at WWE.
While speaking on Two Count Tuesday, Jonathan Coachman said the first thing that came to mind when he heard Will Ospreay’s speech was a simple piece of advice: read the room before talking trash.
“There’s a saying that I like, and it is, ‘Read the room and put your toe in the water.’ When you’re talking trash, normally you do it from a place of power, and not a one-off show when you’re going against WWE. I couldn’t believe he said it.”
Coachman made it clear he isn’t criticizing AEW for celebrating what it accomplished at All Out. In fact, he said the company had every reason to be proud of drawing close to 10,000 fans despite going head-to-head with WWE and AAA. His issue was with Ospreay taking that success and turning it into a challenge directed at WWE.
“To me, the only reaction to this from the AEW side, unless you’re Tony Khan—because, to me, I want to see him fight more—but if I’m one of the talent, I’m celebrating what we did. I’m celebrating almost 10,000 people.”
Coachman then pointed to what he viewed as the biggest number from that night. He noted that WWE’s competing event still drew roughly 5,000 more fans than All Out, which is why he doesn’t think Ospreay’s “don’t step up to us again” line landed the way it was probably intended to.
“The most important thing you said was they almost had 5,000 people more than what AEW did in attendance. So, yes, they got what they wanted out of it. But if you only have 9,500 and say, ‘Don’t step up to us again,’ that can’t happen, and he’s gotta understand that.”
Coachman said he understands Ospreay’s role as AEW World Champion. He expects a world champion to hype up his company and speak with confidence, but he also thinks there are smarter ways to do it. As an example, he pointed to someone else on the AEW roster.
“I understand he’s world champion and he’s supposed to say that. But he could probably talk to MJF. MJF knows how to do that without stepping backwards into it.”
Coachman’s comments come just days after Ospreay celebrated AEW going head-to-head with WWE by telling the Chicago crowd they had “made the right choice” before warning rivals not to “step to us ever again.” While Ospreay clearly saw the night as a statement victory for AEW, Coachman believes celebrating the company’s own success would’ve made a stronger statement than taking a shot at WWE.
Do you agree with Jonathan Coachman, or do you think Will Ospreay’s comments were exactly what an AEW World Champion should have been saying after All Out? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
