Will Ospreay recently reflected on the overwhelming sense of validation he felt from the crowd’s reaction to his match against Bryan Danielson at AEW Dynasty 2024. The highly anticipated bout received a thunderous response before it even began, a moment Ospreay discussed during his appearance on Insight With Chris Van Vliet.

“We’re standing in there looking at one another, he’s got this big smile on his face,” Ospreay recalled (per Wrestling Inc). “I just couldn’t help but look around just being like ‘Man, there’s 7,000 people in here.’ I thought for the life of me I would have been just a kid in Japan for the rest of my life. I thought that was going to be me, and then just to stand there and look at him and just be like ‘Oh my God, here it is.’”

Ospreay went on to describe the moment before the match officially began, emphasizing how special it was for him to experience that level of crowd support.

“I said ‘Sir, this is going to be a pleasure,’ and then we backed up and the bell rang. I was just like ‘Let’s go.’ I felt like I finally did it. When Bryan and Kenny stood in the ring, the bell rang and the place stood up, I always wanted to be one of those guys. At that moment I was like, ‘Oh s**t, I finally did it. I’m one of those guys now.’”

Ospreay went on to defeat Danielson in the match, further cementing his place among the top names in professional wrestling.