There was a time when many people wondered how influential video games would be on a large scale. Often touted as “just for kids,” those kids eventually grew up, and they still love video games to this day. One such person who felt that way is AEW wrestler Will Ospreay, who, throughout his career, has modeled himself after the Ubisoft franchise Assassin’s Creed. He’s dressed like various characters from the series, adopted the “Hidden Blade” as one of his finishing moves, and continues to promote the franchise when he can. That included on August 25th when, at AEW All In at Wembley Stadium, he had a special crossover entrance with Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
I had the true honor of talking to this “believer of the creed,” and got to discuss his entrance, his love of gaming, and everything in between.
Gameranx: So, Wembley Stadium, All In, you did an incredible Assassin’s Creed entrance, featuring both the upcoming Shadows game, and having Roger Craig Smith reprising his role as Ezio Auditore de Firenze. How awesome was it to do that?
Will Ospreay: Mate, honestly, when we started getting the pieces put together, man. Because, we had done one previously at WrestleKingdom back in January, and they (Ubisoft) said it had gotten crazy numbers on their social media platforms. So, they were so happy with it that they wanted to do it again at Wembley.
They asked me vision of “how I see it,” and I was like, “I just wanna see some parkour guys running around, I wanna see something that is like this generation of Assassin’s Creed fans,” and I truly feel like if you were to like make an Assassin’s Creed game right now, I do feel it would be more like a youth-style parkour freerunning era. Then, when we were putting it together, and they were like, “We want to induct you into the Brotherhood,” I was like, “there’s only one guy for the job.”
At first, they were like, “We don’t want to do it because he’s not in Shadows,” but I was just like, “No, anyone who knows Assassin’s Creed, Ezio’s the guy. It has to be him.” When we got all the voice tracks for it, I was losing my flipping mind.
Will Ospreay: It was a huge group effort. Ubisoft, my team, AEW, it was such a collaborative effort. I have never felt more cool in my entire life, Bruv. This was the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life.
Gameranx: Personally, I feel you’re cool every time you make an AEW entrance, but I can see why you think this was…on…another…level… (that’s his catchphrase if you didn’t know)
Will Ospreay: Mate, I have never felt more like I left a footprint within the British wrestling circle. Sometimes, you do this for the betterment of your pocket, or you do it because it was fun when you were a kid, but with this, I felt like I left a true footprint in wrestling. I got emotional watching it, because it felt like I left something behind that people will genuinely remember. I’ve never going to forget this day, it was one of the most special nights of my life.
Gameranx: With Roger Craig Smith returning as Ezio, would this mean you’re canonically “Bruvs”?
Will Ospreay: I guess so! We are now bruvs, me and Rog.
Gameranx: Going now to the other side of your entrance, Assassin’s Creed Shadows. How pumped are you for the upcoming title?
Will Ospreay: Dude, I’m very excited for it, just because this game could’ve have come at a better time. Eight years of my life was in Japan, the whole game franchise is the reason behind the character (his wrestling persona), so these two coinciding with one another at the same time? Crazy coincidence.
To see the gameplay already, it looks stunning. It reminds me of when I would go into the countryside of Japan and see the beauty that Japan has and the culture it brings out.
It has been hard finding a balance between work, family, and finding time to do things like gaming. But I’ve told the wife, “Listen, when this game comes out…I’m going to be away for a while.”
Gameranx: So, how old will your child need to be before you pull down the chart and say, “Here is the entire Assassin’s Creed timeline…” lol.
Will Ospreay: I can’t go that point yet. I started playing Mirage in front of him. I hopped on a camel, and he wanted to ride the camel! Then, at one point, I swear I was about to kill this guy, and I went, “I can’t play this in front of you!” It’s going to take a while. Assassin’s Creed will have to wait, maybe when he’s 12.
Gameranx: Back to Shadows, one of the game’s hooks is that you play as two characters: Yasuke and Naoe. Do you think you’ll have a preference as to who you might play more?
Will Ospreay: No, I don’t think I have a preference. When I do my gaming, I’m more excited to see the journey of the character. So the fact that the two have their own unique individual stories, I’m very much looking forward to seeing where it takes them. It’ll be just like Jacob and Evie in Syndicate. I know that wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I loved it because it was so close to home.
Gameranx: Alright, so, I know this one isn’t your call, but I’ve seen this comment made many times, including for your Wembley entrance. Have you ever considered asking Ubisoft to make you a DLC character in Assassin’s Creed?
Will Ospreay: I feel like this Shadows entrance got super popular, it did crazy numbers for them. So, I hope we can source something out along those lines. That would mean the world to me. If I can’t be a character, then bare minimum, I would love to get the jacket (the one he wears to the ring) into the game. I think that would be like a cool thing for me.
Gameranx: I think that could happen, maybe as a cosmetic item or a pre-order bonus.
Will Ospreay: The dream right now is that I want my own Assassin’s Creed game. Like “Assassin’s Creed: Billy,” I don’t know.
Gameranx: You did talk earlier about the parkour youth that you felt is representative of today’s world. That could be your take!
Will Ospreay: There’s definitely a lot going on in England culture right now, almost like a youth uprising. That’s be a cool Assassin’s Creed game to play. If it does happen…? What a crazy world we live in.
Gameranx: In many ways, you are the perfect spokesperson for the Assassin’s Creed franchise. You love the games and play them all, and then you dress up as the various assassins when you can. You clearly love this stuff, and that makes you the perfect person to promote it.
Will Ospreay: It just resonated with me, man. I can’t tell you all the reasons, but when I was growing up, I loved parkour, and there was this game that had these historical stories that kind of bent the truth in weird ways to fit their narrative. It’s almost like alternative reality and that’s what I liked about it.
It’s designed to take you on a little journey, and I just think it’s taught me a lot and it spoke to me as a kid and influenced me and it’s literally the sole reason that I have a career. Anytime I get to promote it, anytime I get to talk about it, I hope people do see my passion, because it’s something that’s been with me since I was 18-19 years old. It speaks to me, it just makes me feel like there’s a community out there that enjoys these games. I’m connected with that community.
Gameranx: Alright, so, we’ve talked about Assassin’s Creed, but what about other franchises that connect with you or resonate with you?
Will Ospreay: Uh…right now me and my little are playing Spider-Man 2, and while it’s a complex game he’s doing well with that. He LOVES the LEGO games. He loves them. We also played Super Mario Bros Wonder. Again, finding the balance between wrestling and my family life is challenging, but the days I do get to just play games with him are the ones we’re going for.
Gameranx: One last Assassin’s Creed question. One of the best parts about Shadows is we’re FINALLY going to Feudal Japan. However, we’ve been to many other periods including the UK Industrial Revolution, the Italian Renaissance, the Viking age, and more. Is there another period you’d love to see a game focus on?
Will Ospreay: You know what I would love to see? I don’t know if this is possible, but an Assassin’s Creed in the year 3000. A futuristic one. It might bend away from what the game franchise is, but I like the idea of a cyber-looking assassin game.
Gameranx: Alright, another I know that people are asking about is, do you have any inkling of when you might show up in AEW Fight Forever?
Will Ospreay: You know what? I’m sure I’ve taken some photos for it, though I’m not entirely sure. I’ll have to double-check. I believe it is in the pipeline.
