United Empire: More names to follow Speedball Mike Bailey & the Brawling Birds into Will Ospreay’s AEW branch

AEW

This week has been a big week for Will Ospreay and the United Empire.

After announcing following All In London that he would be starting up an AEW branch of the faction, we have seen several new members be confirmed for the group this week.

Speedball Mike Bailey was officially added to the group on this week’s Dynamite show, with Alex Windsor and Jamie Hayter of the Brawling Birds joining last night at All Out, as well as Andrade El Idolo confirming his loyalty to the group.

Coming out of the show, here are more names we could see join AEW’s United Empire.

Buddy Matthews

Buddy Matthews has been out of action for over a year and a half, with his last match coming against Kazuchika Okada at AEW Grand Slam Australia in February 2025.

Prior to the match, Buddy faced off against Will Ospreay on AEW Dynamite, with Ospreay putting over Matthews ahead of the demise of the House of Black.

With Matthews ready to make a return, he would make for the perfect Australian member of this version of the United Empire, given the group’s prior Australian additions worked out well.

Grizzled Young Veterans

The Grizzled Young Veterans’ run in AEW thus far has been incredibly uneventful, with them spending most of their time in ROH after debuting at All In in 2024.

With the United Empire likely requiring tag team members and trios members, James Drake and Zack Gibson would make for great additions, with the group serving as a way to finally spotlight them in AEW’s tag team division.

Ilja Dragunov

Since his WWE departure was confirmed last month, fans have been waiting with baited breath for the potential AEW arrival of Ilja Dragunov.

With it recently being reported that Dragunov was expected to land in AEW, it seems inevitable that the Mad Dragon may soon be All Elite.

To immediately make Ilja have a key role on the roster, him debuting as the latest member of Ospreay’s AEW United Empire, setting up tag matches with Andrade El Idolo, Speedball and even Ospreay himself, as well as marquee singles matches, would shoot Dragunov straight to the top of the company.

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