Anthony Ogogo wants to show the AEW fans how great he can be.
Speaking with Fightful (full interview above), the AEW star and former Olympian shared that it was Cody Rhodes who scouted him, adding that he has been with the company since day one.
"So Cody found me. He scouted me essentially. True story. He’s counseled me. We met each other through DDP. I joined AEW at the very beginning. Before they ever had a show, I was signed from May 1st, with everyone else, the originals—the Jungle Boys, the MJFs, all those guys, the pillars, Darby Allin—I was here then. It took seven months to get a visa," Ogogo said.
Unfortunately for Ogogo, his introduction to the wrestling world was put on hold when the pandemic hit in early 2020, commenting on how he couldn't even train during lockdown.
"Your life’s on hold. You're not doing anything. You don’t dare go out and get in trouble ‘cause if you get in trouble, you get arrested for whatever reason, you get mistaken for somebody, you get nicked, you get arrested, your visa’s gone. I sat there for so long, scared to do anything. I managed to get a visa, I was in the US for three weeks—it’s January, 2020—COVID happens. I’m back ‘cause the world’s gonna end. I’m back in the UK for six months, did nothing. Everything was shut, I couldn’t even train. Couldn’t even lock up, couldn’t even put an arm wringer on somebody," he said.
Things got even worse when he arrived in the USA and issues with his passport and visa presented themselves.
"Then eventually I got to the US, then I’m there for a few months, then there’s problems after problems and then my passport got nicked, my visa got stolen. Which meant my visa was essentially revoked, had to leave the US to get a new visa, then go back to America. It’s been a fucking nightmare. Then the issue with having my three year visa, that then expired in September of last year. So I had to come back again, take another four months to get them to renew my visa. So it’s like, there’s so much shit, frustrations, that nobody could control. You can’t control, I can’t control. ‘Cause I can’t control when my passport gets stolen, get sent back to the UK. I can’t control my passport getting stolen by somebody that’s in the USPS—the United States Postal Service—you know what I mean? I can’t control how long it takes to get a new visa appointment," he said.
Ogogo made his AEW Dynamite debut in March 2021, attacking Cody Rhodes. This would eventually lead to a match between the two at Double or Nothing. That said, he hasn't competed in an AEW ring since August 2022, when he defeated Luke Kurtis on an episode of AEW Dark.
Continuing on, Ogogo would share that he has renewed his contract with AEW, stating that he is motivated to show what he is capable of.
"So it’s been really frustrating. So essentially I wanted to renew my contract because no one’s seen what I can do yet. No one’s seen a snippet of what I can do. I’ve had one real match in AEW against Cody Rhodes. That’s my first real match and that was after 50 training sessions. I had a pay-per-view match, I had 50 training sessions, I had two squash matches before that. I was so brand, brand, brand new. I was so new I was still in the cellophane in the box. No one’s seen what I can do. No one’s seen how luminous my potential is," he said.
Furthermore, Ogogo likes the people in AEW and hopes he gets a path to show what he can do.
"I could have been off, I could have went elsewhere when my contract expired last year. But I feel I owe it to AEW, I owe it to Tony Khan, I owe it to AEW fans that have invested in me thus far to show them what I can do and how big I can get. So essentially, I like it here. I like the people here. I hope, I really hope that here I can get on the path to show what I can do," he said.
Ogogo stated that he is ready to go and is waiting for the phone to ring.
"Now they’ve got two shows, there’s more TV time. I’m ready to go. I’m by the fire, waiting for the phone to call. When it calls, I’m gonna answer it, show up, do my job. I genuinely believe I’m one of the most enigmatic wrestlers in the world. I think there’s nothing out there like me. You’ve got British guys like Will Ospreay, who’s unbelievable. I don’t do what he does. Pac, I don’t do what he does. What I can do and the legitimacy that I bring from my former career, I think there’s a gap in the industry and I think it can be filled by a handsome, 6’2, 228 pound figure. I know you’re busy, so you can’t do it. So I’ll do it instead," Ogogo said.
As for why he signed with AEW in the first place, Ogogo detailed his experience meeting Tony Khan and being taken by his love and passion for the business.
"Bare in mind, we’d never had a show by this point. This is before the first ever Double or Nothing. It’s brand new. I think it was something like May 20th, Fulham Ground. That was the last game of the season. They played Newcastle, they lost. It wasn’t a good day for Fulham. We sat there the whole game, talking wrestling, watch football, talking wrestling, watch football, talking wrestling, watch football. He had some big agents. Last game of the season, all the agents come to the game, watch the game, ‘Hey, Tony, can we talk about this player and that player,’ and the whole time he spoke to me about wrestling. He had big, big, big stars leaving in the summer. He could have been renewing their deal or whatever, but he was talking to me about wrestling.
That energy, his vision, his passion for the business—I saw first hand his passion for the business and by this point, they’d never done a show. I had no idea what the concept was gonna be, but his vision, and his vision for me, and where he saw me fitting in and what he wanted to achieve. It’s easier to convince somebody to do something when they can see what it is. ‘We’re gonna do that, that, that,’ you go, ‘Cool. Yeah. Sweet.’ When you can’t see anything, it’s a blank canvas, and they’re convincing somebody, it can be harder to get them to do it. But when he speaks, when Cody speaks, the two who initially approached me, I was like, ‘Oh, yeah. I’m in. I want to be a part of this. This new, young, exciting, sexy venture. I want to do this. I want to be a part of this.’ I’m glad I did," he said.
Ogogo would conclude by reiterating his desire to show the world his talents and how he believes AEW is the right place for him right now.
"So circling back to your previous question. I haven’t felt like I’ve shown the world how good I can be yet through no fault of my own, not through AEW’s fault. But COVID’s fault, from passport stealer’s fault, from post office’s fault, from things out of my control. In life we can lose control of things you can control and I can control that by working hard, getting really good, get really, really good at wrestling really, really quick and I just want to show the world what I can do. I think this is the right place for me right now and whilst I’m here, I want to give it my all. I’m here right now, so I’m going to give it my all," he said.
Ogogo made his return to AEW programming at AEW All In. He, alongside Paul Wight and Grado, confronted Jeff Jarrett, Satnam Singh, Jay Lethal, Sonjay Dutt, and Karen Jarrett. Speaking on his My World podcast, Jarrett had high praise for Ogogo. Click here to read more.
