Kyle Fletcher returns home to Australia for AEW Grand Slam
“The table is set for this to be legendary… those high expectations, they fuel me even more”
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Kyle Fletcher on wrestling Will Ospreay: “For me, that’s wrestling heaven”
The past, present, and future of AEW will be on display later tonight in the company’s maiden voyage to Australia.
When Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay team against Konosuke Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher, it is as much of a race as it is a tag bout. All four wrestlers are candidates to become AEW world champion by the end of the year, with Omega–the lone former champ of the group–leading the charge. There is every reason to believe Takeshita and Ospreay will also eventually wear the crown.
Though he is far more of an unknown commodity, Fletcher has catapulted himself into that discussion–and he wants nothing more than to win this race.
Ever since transitioning from a tag team wrestler–starring beside Mark Davis in Aussie Open–to a singles performer, Fletcher has progressed at a rapid pace. Only 26, he has carved out a place as one of the pillars of the company.
Fletcher’s breakout moment occurred this past November at Full Gear, when he delivered a spectacular bout against longtime friend/now foe Will Ospreay.
“A year into my training, I knew who Will Ospreay was, and I thought it would be so cool to wrestle him,” said Fletcher. “The first time we wrestled was in the UK in 2019, then again in 2020. I love being in the ring with someone who I’m so intertwined with and who I know so well. We have all this experience together.
“Will is a wrestling soulmate. For me, that’s wrestling heaven.”
Fletcher got the win at Full Gear, then Ospreay evened the score a month later at the Worlds End pay-per-view. Now they take their blood feud to Australia, where Fletcher will have the chance to lock up again with the newly-returned Omega.
“I’m coming back home to Australia,” said Fletcher. “Imagine the moment when I pin Kenny in my home country. It’s going to be special.”
Well-versed in the tag team realm, Fletcher has flourished in the more acute style of singles wrestling. That was again evident last week on Collision when he bludgeoned Mark Briscoe, avenging a Continental Classic defeat from two months prior.
Part of The Callis Family faction, Fletcher is able to have a tremendous mouthpiece in Don Callis. He is a unique heel, one who can be sinister, aerial, technical, brawl, and cut a convincing promo. Remarkably, he isn’t close to hitting his prime.
“I know I’m only 26, but I’ve wrestled in 14 different countries–and that’s helped build my versatility,” said Fletcher. “That’s experience that a lot of people under 30 don’t have. It’s worked to my benefit.
“And it’s all about believing in yourself. I’ve always believed in my own abilities. When I turned 18, I moved to the UK because I knew this was what I wanted to do. Professional wrestling is for me. My drive hasn’t wavered at all. I believe I was put on this earth to be the best professional wrestler in the world.”
Surrounded by Omega, Takeshita, and Ospreay, proving he is the best in the world will be a hefty task for Fletcher at Grand Slam. Yet his confidence is buttressed by the fact that he is downright exceptional in the ring.
So perhaps this moment will belong to him. If it does, that would send Fletcher on a trajectory that rockets him straight to the world title.
“The table is set for this to be legendary,” said Fletcher. “All four of us expect it to be great. Those high expectations, that fuels me even more. I have that chip on my shoulder. When these opportunities come, I know I need to smash them out of the park.”