Will Ospreay was looking to avenge his April loss via stoppage against former United Empire protege Mark Davis in the Owen Hart Cup this week. A bout that continued to tell the story of Ospreay’s honing under Jon Moxley and the Death Riders, the expansion of the Don Callis Family, and the enemies the group has cultivated in the meantime. One that added to the history of Ospreay, Davis, and even eventually Kyle Fletcher once he made his presence known. And just a really fun main event.

The match began with the perfect juxtaposition of size and speed that Davis and Ospreay are, pitting the explosive power and strength of one against the “Aerial Assassin” and “Death Ground” style of the other.

Davis went back to the well of what had worked before, continually isolating the neck and spiking Ospreay on it several times throughout the contest. But he ultimately found that well to have run dry as Ospreay continued to fight on, kicking out and battling through to almost the win on several occasions.

Then all hell broke loose in a really fun way; the referee went down, and Ospreay had Davis beat with no one to make the count, prompting Trent Beretta and El Clon to run down and attack him.

They were met by Daniel Garcia and Wheeler Yuta, who were in turn wiped out by Lance Archer, who then got dropped by Claudio Castagnoli. Casatgnoli was removed from the equation by Brian Cage, who was then himself removed by PAC. Ospreay had Davis beat with an Os-Cutter. Jake Doyle then entered the equation to prevent him from winning; Doyle was jumped by Marina Shafir, but he managed to cast her aside before finally getting dropped by Moxley with the Paradigm Shift.

PAC then wiped out everyone on the outside with a moonsault, and the match was free to continue – albeit without a referee. Only then did Fletcher make his appearance to attack Ospreay and brandish the DCF’s signature weapon, the screwdriver. But there would be one last twist as Konosuke Takeshita, Fletcher’s scorned lover and former DCF member, came out to meet Fletcher and remove him from the equation. (And breathe).

Davis then almost had the match won anyway, dropping Ospreay on his neck one last time. But Ospreay kicked out at the last fraction of a second, displayed one of the flushest maneuvers into an armbar, and got his submission win.

Ospreay goes through for what one presumes will be an Ospreay versus Swerve Strickland final, and where the second-best option is an Ospreay versus Brody King final. It was a really fun viewing experience and promises better in the future, what’s not to love?

Written by Max Everett