In late July, AEW star Will Ospreay revealed that he had long been coping with two herniated discs in his neck. With doctor's approval, "The Aerial Assassin" still pushed through to perform once more at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door on August 24. Nearly one month later, he finally underwent neck surgery.
"The road will be long, but it'll be worth it to see you all again," Ospreay wrote on Instagram. "Surgery was a success." Paired with the update was an image of Ospreay wearing a ring jacket that read "Attack for the next generation." Under the IG post, a number of Ospreay's wrestling peers wished him a speedy recovery, including AEW ring announcer Justin Roberts, STARDOM's Bozilla, TNA's Myla Grace, and former TNA Knockout Gisele Shaw.
As of now, an exact timetable for Ospreay's return to AEW is unknown, though he is hoping to be back in the ring by AEW All In on August 30, 2026. That pay-per-view will emanate from Ospreay's hometown of London, England.
Ospreay wrestled at Forbidden Door and earned a Lights Out Steel Cage match victory over Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, The Young Bucks, and Gabe Kidd. Afterward, however, Moxley and Castagnoli attacked Ospreay with a Paradigm Shift and steel chair-wrapped stomp to his neck. This scene served as Ospreay's final act before taking time off for his surgery.
Ospreay became a full-time AEW roster member in 2024. Since then, he's become a two-time AEW International Champion and a finalist in the 2025 Men's Owen Hart Foundation Tournament.
