AEW Star Will Ospreay Opens Up About Tribalism In The Pro Wrestling Fandom

AEW International Champion Will Ospreay has become the latest performer to weigh in with an opinion on tribalism. The need to see one company succeed over the other has existed for decades, and reached a fever pitch during the Monday Night Wars of the 1990s. However, in the age of social media, it seems that more and more fans have planted their flag on a particular side and dismissed any and other praise that the side they aren't rooting for has earned.

During an interview with Adrian Hernandez, Ospreay admitted that his comments about Triple H on a recent edition of "AEW Dynamite" was the first time he saw how severe the tribalism between WWE and AEW fans has become. "That's the first time I experienced it properly because once again, I like both shows, I love both shows," Ospreay said. "I hope everyone does well in pro wrestling, but obviously there was that and I was wanting to fire back; I wanted to put it under the carpet now like we're all good."

Ospreay also noted that the main problem with picking one side over the other is simple: it makes enjoying a particular part of wrestling more difficult than it should be. 

"I hate the tribalism just because I just like it makes wrestling so much more difficult for everybody else. If we all just sat down and enjoy wrestling — like if you don't enjoy AEW that's absolutely fine. Your opinion is wrong, but all in all, man, I just want people to enjoy pro wrestling. I enjoy every little bit of pro wrestling, so I just wish everybody could do it as well."

Please credit the original source when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.