As part of his promotion of the House of Hardcore Show on August 19, Tommy Dreamer spoke about Will Ospreay’s and Ricochet's stiff build before their match on the fifth anniversary of AEW in the Dynamite event. In particular, the latter ended with a character-revealing backstage promo, in which the audience was made to anticipate Ospreay’s and Ricochet’s match.
On August 25, he saw himself making his AEW debut for the All In pay-per-view and gave more reason why many would be eager for a Will Ospreay match. AEW put those questions to bed on the 18th September episode of Dynamite, one week after Ricochet had defeated The Beast Mortos. Ospreay came out and stole Ricochet’s spot promo, and therefore, the establishment of their match at the anniversary show was cemented.
Also, during an interview for Busted Open Radio, Tommy Dreamer explained how he enjoyed the promo segment in terms of its freshness and execution, which, ‘felt more real than the usual wrestling promos.’ “I thought AEW did some different things which I liked,” Dreamer said. “And then during this promo, in walks somebody, and it just had a more real feel to it that, you know, something happened. When you are speaking to someone, someone interjects.”
Backstage Authenticity Highlighted
Further, he continued, this style tends to replicate what occurs in reality in wrestling organizations' locker rooms. “Anytime you shoot, or cut, a backstage interview or promo within a major promotion, people bump the set talking or walking through, and a bell has to be yelled, ‘quiet please’ because fundamentally, you can no longer just order people to shut up,’” Dreamer continued.
But as some observers have pointed out, it would appear that AEW may have moved too quickly in its plans to book the match Ospreay and Ricochet, mainly on account of the key WrestleDream pay per-view looming only ten days after the anniversary of Dynamite's inception, Tommy Dreamer heard such reasoning. Instead, he insisted, this match was precisely what AEW seeks to make this special occasion significantly different from the standard workflow. “If a match was made for a special episode of Dynamite, it would be this Ricochet and Will Ospreay clash,” Dreamer finished.