AEW’s United Empire: Which international stars could join Will Ospreay in faction’s AEW branch

AEW

After winning the AEW World Championship at AEW All In: London, Will Ospreay announced on the first Dynamite following the show that he would be starting the ‘AEW branch’ of his United Empire stable.

While the members of the New Japan Pro Wrestling portion of the group have come to Ospreay’s aid over the past few months, the group will likely consist of AEW signed talent instead of those signed with NJPW.

The group was initially created with an international flair, and there are a number of international stars we could see join the AEW branch of the United Empire.

Brawling Birds (Jamie Hayter & Alex Windsor) (England)

The United Empire would stand out from the rest of the top factions in AEW if it ended up having a number of women’s stars in it’s ranks.

Of the current women’s stars in AEW, the most obvious choice to join the group would be Alex Windsor, the wife of Will Ospreay, and her Brawling Birds tag team partner Jamie Hayter.

Both Jamie and Alex frequently appear in Pro Wrestling EVE which is run by Ospreay, so they would make obvious choices to join the line up.

Ilja Dragunov (Russia)

Speaking of obvious choices, when Ospreay first announced that he was forming an AEW version of the United Empire, the first name most thought of was Ilja Dragunov.

With Ilja a free agent and reportedly set to sign with AEW, the Russian would make an obvious choice to join the United Empire group, and it would instantly make him a key player on the roster.

KAIRI & Charlie (Japan & New Zealand)

Ilja Dragunov isn’t the only recently departed WWE star that reportedly has interest from AEW, as there have also reportedly been talks between the company and KAIRI (Kairi Sane) following her release.

On top of KAIRI, Charlie (Dakota Kai) competed in her first match since her WWE release back in March as part of Pro Wrestling EVE’s Wrestle Queendom event after Ospreay himself reached out to book her on the show.

If the Brawling Birds are going to be the tag team of the women’s branch of the group, KAIRI and Charlie could also sub in to work tag team matches, as well as chase singles gold in the division.

Leon Slater (England)

The contract status of Leon Slater became a big talking point heading into TNA Lockdown, when the company threatened to remove his X-Division Championship reign from history.

While Slater did win to keep his reign in the history books, the stipulation got a lot of people speculating about Slater’s future when his TNA contract comes up at the end of the year.

If Slater ends up joining AEW at the end of his contract, him becoming Ospreay’s new number two in United Empire would be a great spot for him.

Buddy Matthews (Australia)

In January 2025, Will Ospreay faced off against Buddy Matthews on AEW Dynamite, with Ospreay taking to the microphone after the match to put over Matthews ahead of the end of the House of Black faction.

Buddy has been out of action for a long time, with his last match taking place at AEW Grand Slam Australia back in February 2025, so him returning to stand alongside Ospreay as a show of respect would help re-establish him among the AEW fans.

Grizzled Young Veterans (England)

While AEW’s tag team division is stacked with world class and legendary teams, one team currently left out of the mix are the Grizzled Young Veterans, who have been signed to AEW since 2024.

Spending most of their current time in ROH, Zack Gibson and James Drake have been waiting for their big moment in AEW for years now, with the United Empire serving as a great way to get them into the mix with the rest of the division.

They’d serve as the group’s resident tag team, as well as potentially forming a trio with a certain other red headed Liverpool supporter…

Sheamus (Ireland)

On October 1, Sheamus will officially no longer be under contract with AEW, with the Celtic Warrior’s first steps outside of WWE in 20 years being an exciting prospect for fans.

Sheamus would slot right into the AEW roster, and would make for a killer threat in the United Empire upon his arrival to the company, specifically to help combat the Death Riders and his former partner Claudio Castagnoli.

Sheamus running singles matches, trios with GYV or tag matches with any of the other names on this list would make for a lot of must see AEW television.

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• AEW
• Will Ospreay
• United Empire

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