Will Ospreay Beats Kyle O'Reilly In First AEW International Title Defense On Collision

Will Ospreay's first AEW International Championship defense is in the books, three days after he won the right to challenge for the world title at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door.

Ospreay defeated former ROH World Champion and NXT Tag Team Champion Kyle O'Reilly on the June 1 episode of "AEW Collision." The match was extremely hard-hitting and competitive, and O'Reilly kicked out of the Hidden Blade not once but twice, but in the end, as it usualy does, the Stormbreaker got it done for Ospreay, who pinned O'Reilly to retain the title. It should be noted that Ospreay was heavily selling an arm injury after the match as a result of an O'Reilly submission; it remains to be seen whether that will be part of Ospreay's storyline going forward.

Ospreay won the International title by beating Roderick Strong in the opening contest of Double or Nothing 2024, securing his first championship since joining AEW. Three days later, on "AEW Dynamite," Ospreay won a Casino Gauntlet match to determine the No. 1 contender for the AEW World Championship, though technically whether Ospreay faces reigning champion Swerve Strickland at Forbidden Door remains to be seen, as Strickland will defend against the actual No. 1 contender, Roderick Strong, on the June 5 episode of "Dynamite." Strickland cut a pre-recorded promo on both Ospreay and Strong to close out the June 1 "Collision."