England’s iconic Wembley Stadium isn’t simply the country’s most famous sports and entertainment venue. It’s one of Britain’s great cultural landmarks, where generations of dreams have been realized.

From England lifting its only World Cup to Arsenal raising a record 14 FA Cup wins and Oasis launching its long-awaited reunion tour, Wembley has long served as a stage where history is made. For AEW’s Will Ospreay, chasing greatness has always led back there.

Wrestling at Wembley was at one point deemed too big of a dream to have. Getting into wrestling, much less getting signed, felt at times unrealistic. English representation on television was limited to the likes of the British Bulldog and William Regal. 

Instead, Ospreay has spent his career kicking down doors that at one point felt impossible to open. Now, one victory separates him from competing for AEW’s richest prize on the grandest sporting stage England has to offer.

The AEW World Championship is the prize, but the main event at Wembley is the dream.

“This is kind of like the semifinals to my World Cup,” Ospreay tells Uncrowned ahead of Sunday’s AEW Forbidden Door pay-per-view. 

“I understand this is the finals for the Owen [Hart] Cup, but to have this as something that will put me in a spot as important as the main event of [AEW All In at] Wembley Stadium, fighting for the championship, it is something that I hold with so much pride that I want to be able to give the best performance physically possible.”

A win over Swerve Strickland on Sunday night at AEW Forbidden Door from the SAP Center in San Jose will earn Ospreay the AEW World Championship opportunity he’s spent the better part of a year chasing.

The spot is familiar territory for Ospreay, who fell just short in the Owen Hart Cup Tournament final last year against “Hangman” Adam Page. This time around, he’s hungry, more motivated, and has been through too much to get this close to glory without reaching the top of the mountain. 

Neck surgery sidelined Ospreay for nearly six months over the past year, forcing him to watch his former protégé Kyle Fletcher earn his first title shot, while his former rival Kenny Omega regained top form.

When he returned, there was no speeding up the process to get back to the top. He simply wanted to feel the rush of energy that comes with lighting up the squared circle. 

“I just want to feel the breath come out of the audience, I want to feel the arena change temperature,” Ospreay says. 

“I don’t put much pressure on that. I just free flow, and just allow whatever feels natural to come to me.”

Through it all, the destination never changed. AEW’s biggest show of the year at Wembley Stadium remained the focal point. 

Carlo Paloni via Getty Images

Upon his return to the ring, Ospreay was expected to step right back into the main-event scene, marching unopposed to Wembley. Instead, he stumbled into a program with the Death Riders after suffering an unexpected loss at the hands of Jon Moxley, halting his progress toward AEW’s top prize. 

Rather than continue fighting the Death Riders, Ospreay ultimately aligned himself with the group, allowing for a slower, more deliberate climb. Ospreay didn’t rush back into the title picture, and the alliance shaped his presentation, giving his return greater purpose. 

“I've enjoyed being in that locker room with those guys because I feel like I've leveled up my game. I've got to create small bonds within that group just to know that we're fighting for something more, and we're always doing things that are best for the wrestling fans,” Ospreay says.

“I have nothing but respect for Jon and it's taken a while to obviously get to that position. But it's cool to understand his methodology and his thoughts about what pro-wrestling is. In the dealings that we've had prior to this, it was almost like I couldn't see what he was saying because he's a man that loves a little riddle. Being by his side now, I’m starting to understand more and more.”

Ospreay’s climb back to the top has forced him to confront chapters from his past. First came Samoa Joe and The Opps. Then former partner-turned-foe Mark Davis. Now comes perhaps the most emotionally complex opponent of all: Strickland. 

The former AEW World Champion spent the past year fighting alongside men like Ospreay and Page to reclaim AEW from the Death Riders and the Young Bucks. Now, Ospreay’s standing shoulder to shoulder with the crew he at one point actively tried to eliminate. 

Despite all of that, Ospreay says his relationship with Strickland is “very real.” The two have looked after one another for nearly a decade, and there’s a genuine bond between them. There’s also a level of competition that drives them to be at the top of their respective games. 

"We're just two human beings fighting for something bigger than our friendship," Ospreay says.

“He's just extremely motivated to want to be back at that top spot. And I genuinely have nothing but love for the guy.

“When it gets to this point where the stakes are higher, the friendship with us does get put to one side, and we will always do battle. Because his methodology is what's best for AEW and my methodology is best for AEW. But there can only be one winner.”

Everything Ospreay has worked toward over the past year now comes down to one night. Beat Strickland on Sunday, and the walk through Wembley Stadium’s tunnel with a chance at the world title becomes a reality. 

Ospreay knows what it feels like to wrestle at Wembley. He performed before more than 80,000 fans there at the inaugural AEW All In show in 2023, then successfully defended the AEW International Championship against Pac there the following year. 

Neither compares to what could await him this summer.  

“To have the story culminate in that incredible venue and to win the most important championship in all of professional wrestling, the AEW World Championship, which to me is the symbol of professional wrestling,” Ospreay says. 

“And to be able to hold that with pride, being one of the first Englishmen to ever win a world championship on home soil, it would fill my heart with so much pride and gratitude knowing that I got it by not compromising on who I am, never sacrificing, never changing what my morals were.”

Sunday isn’t the finish line. It’s the final hurdle before the dream Ospreay’s spent his career chasing.