WWE's Cody Rhodes vs. AEW's Will Ospreay: 2024 run breakdown by veteran
WWE's Cody Rhodes and AEW's Will Ospreay are undoubtedly two of the biggest pro wrestling stars in the world today. Veteran wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer recently compared the two athletes and their respective runs in 2024 so far.
Since he left All Elite Wrestling to return to the Stamford-based company in 2022, Cody Rhodes has emerged as one of the top names in the sports entertainment juggernaut. The American Nightmare finally succeeded in dethroning Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania XL and is currently feuding with Kevin Owens in a widely acclaimed program.
On the other hand, Will Ospreay has also had a notably successful debut year in AEW. He held the International Title briefly, pushed Swerve Strickland to the limit for the AEW World Championship, and had well-received matches against stars like PAC, MJF, and Bryan Danielson.
Both Rhodes and Ospreay have often come up in fan discussions regarding who the wrestler of the year could be. Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer commented on the subject by claiming that Cody, as a top draw in WWE, would rank above the Englishman on the metric of records.
“WWE is by far the dominant promotion. Cody (Rhodes) is drawing great, he won the world title on the biggest show of the year, he’s defended it all year, he’s been pushed hard, he’s been drawing great. Record drawing. So I would say by that standard, he’s number 1."
Meltzer then commented on The Aerial Assassin's performance since signing with the Tony Khan-led company.
"The other one is that Will Ospreay had a better year this year than last year. It’s like he hit 400 for a mid-level team. The other guy was the superstar quarterback for a championship team. You could argue either way,” said Meltzer. [H/T - WrestlePurists on X]
What is Will Ospreay up to in AEW now?
Will Ospreay lost the International Championship to Konosuke Takeshita in a three-way match also featuring Ricochet at WrestleDream 2024. Since suffering a shocking loss to Kyle Fletcher at Full Gear last month, The Commonwealth Kingpin is currently focused on winning the 2024 Continental Classic, starting his campaign successfully with a Gold League victory over Juice Robinson on AEW Collision last week.
Ospreay is scheduled to face Claudio Castagnoli on the Winter is Coming edition of AEW Dynamite next week. Furthermore, he will take on Darby Allin in a much-anticipated bout on Dynamite: Holiday Bash the week after.