Will Ospreay Explains Why He's 'Never Liked' AEW All In Opponent MJF

With the American Championship on the line at AEW All In, the rivalry between Will Ospreay and Maxwell Jacob Friedman has gotten both personal and physical in recent weeks. Ahead of their title match, Ospreay appeared on "Close Up With Renee Paquette," outlining his disdain for the current AEW American Champion.

According to Ospreay, even his most personally disliked opponents, such as Kenny Omega, can draw an ounce of respect from him. In the case of MJF, however, that respect does not exist.

"Max has said some awful things, like my nan passing away a little while ago. It's still kind of fresh and still kind of raw to me, and the fact that he wants to kind of bring that stuff up into the public to get a cheap pop from the audience, stuff like that just does not sit right with me," Ospreay said. "I've never really liked him as a professional wrestler. I just feel like the way that he got in here was he kissed the right asses. We all know the geezer we're all talking about is not here anymore to protect him, but still, [for] some reason, we're catering to him and he still is. So I've got to clean up the mess."

The American Championship match between Ospreay and MJF comes after the latter defeated the former for the AEW International Championship on the special 250th episode of "AEW Dynamite." One week later, MJF re-designed and renamed the International Championship into the American Championship. Since then, MJF has defended the title across Mexico, the United States, and United Kingdom, all while becoming an enemy to Ospreay and somewhat of one to AEW President Tony Khan.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Close Up With Renee Paquette" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.