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Will Ospreay and Swerve Strickland went head-to-head before the final of the Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament at All Elite Wrestling’s (AEW) Forbidden Door PPV on June 28.
The winner will get a shot at the AEW World Championship at All In at Wembley Stadium. Ospreay has vowed to finally wrap AEW’s top title around his waist. Strickland hopes to taste gold once again, having had just as good a run as Ospreay.
Strickland said he didn’t like what he was seeing from Ospreay, adding that Ospreay has changed. Ospreay said something changed in Strickland.
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Will Ospreay competes in the ring during AEW Dynamite at the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on October 2, 2024. (Frank Jansky/Sportswire Icon)
“It’s the way you look at me. Do we have a problem? Do we need to talk about something?” Ospreay asked.
Strickland remembered him and Ospreay fighting the Horsemen of Death and now Ospreay is loosely aligning himself with the faction to get back into shape. He demanded an explanation as to why Ospreay was surrounding himself with that team.
Ospreay maintained that he has neither forgiven nor forgotten what the Horsemen of Death did to him. Ospreay said that people like Kenny Omega, The Opps and Darby Allin were trying to get him out of the cage while the Death Riders attacked him, but Strickland was injured and nowhere to be found.
Ospreay said he was going to help Adam Page win the AEW World Championship at All In: Texas before getting injured. But he saw that Strickland had Page’s back.
“Where were you and why didn’t you help me?” Ospreay asked Strickland.
Before Strickland could respond, Ospreay grabbed the microphone from Strickland’s hand and said he didn’t need to hear what Strickland had to say. He pointed to the Forbidden Gate sign and said that was more important than any explanation Strickland could offer.
Referee Aubrey Edwards raises Swerve Strickland’s hand after he defeated Shelton Benjamin during AEW Dynamite at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio on October 30, 2024. Prince Nana celebrates nearby. (Frank Jansky/Sportswire Icon)
He reminded Strickland of his dream of performing at Wembley Stadium and he was one match away from achieving his dream with Strickland standing in his way.
Strickland said he wasn’t going to let anyone get past him to get the championship, not even Ospreay. He said that Ospreay had never been able to beat him and that things weren’t going to change at Forbidden Door.
Ospreay hit Strickland with a forearm, sending him to the canvas. Strickland was handed a chain and began passing it around the ring. Then, The Horsemen of Death came out and seemed to back Ospreay.
“You’re wrong, Will. You’ve really changed,” Strickland said, having the last word.
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MJF and Mark Briscoe choose their teams
Maxwell Jacob Friedman prepares for a match at AEW Revolution on March 15, 2026. (AEW)
AEW World Champion MJF opened “Dynamite” by destroying potential challengers to his title, including Swerve Strickland, Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega. He then turned his attention to Mark Brisoe, against whom he will lead a team in a 12-man tag team steel cage match at Forbidden Door.
“Do you know what the difference is between you and everyone I just mentioned on this list? Everyone I just mentioned are top artists, stars. You’re not,” MJF said. “They love you, Mark. Do you want to know why they love you? They feel bad for you because your brother died. That’s horrible, man.”
“To be honest, that’s not why I feel bad for you. I feel bad for you because you’re actually delusional enough to think you have a prayer to get the triple B. Tonight, none of those prayers will be answered but all of ours will because we’ve invented the most dangerous team that ever existed.”
Don Callis then named the members of his faction who will support MJF in the match: Kevin Knight, Kyle Fletcher, Jake Doyle, Kazuchika Okada and Andrade El Idolo.
Andrade seemed upset that he was chosen to be included.
Briscoe later responded
“I heard what you said. You said I’m not fit to be world champion. Well, I’ve heard it before, Max,” Briscoe said. “People say, Mark Briscoe, you have a glass ceiling. Well, that gives me even more motivation to break through that thing.”
Briscoe said he will team with Orange Cassidy, Kyle O’Reilly, Roderick Strong, Konosuke Takeshita and Darby Allin.
If Briscoe’s team wins at Forbidden Door, he will earn a title shot against MJF.
Mercedes Moné gets her ticket to the Owen Cup final
Mercedes Mone Varnado fights in the first AEW match at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 16, 2025. (Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald via Getty Images)
Mercedes Moné burst onto the AEW scene again as a wild card entry to the Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament. He defeated Alex Windsor in the first round and faced Hazuki in the semi-finals.
On Wednesday night, Moné edged out Hazuki to become the first person to reach the women’s final. Moné is an accomplished wrestler but has never held the AEW Women’s World Championship.
She is the longest-reigning TBS Champion and has been one of the biggest stars in the industry for several years. Adding the AEW Women’s World Championship to her list of accomplishments would put her in a different stratosphere among female professional wrestlers.
Moné will face the winner of Mundo Maya and Atenea in the final. The winner gets a shot at the Women’s World Title at Forbidden Door.
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Results of the “Dinamita” match:
- Kenny Omega defeated. Tony Nese
- Bandido and Brody King defeat. Daniel García and Jon Moxley.
- MJF, Kazuchika Okada, Jake Doyle, Kyle Fletcher, Andrade El Idolo and Kevin Knight defeated. Roderick Strong, Mark Briscoe, Kyle O’Reilly, Konosuke Takeshita, Orange Cassidy and Darby Allin.
