PARKS’S TAKE: The United Empire coming to Ospreay’s aid was an example of booking a babyface with elements too often missing

Last night’s AEW Dynamite introduced New Japan’s United Empire group into AEW canon when they came to the aid of their former leader, Will Ospreay, as he fended off an attack from the Death Riders. The leader of that group, Jon Moxley, faces Ospreay Sunday night at AEW’s Dynasty pay-per-view.

First, it’s nice to see a babyface both (a) shown to have some friends, and (b) outsmart the heels by not playing into the numbers game. Too often we get babyfaces willingly tackling heels in situations that puts them down a man (or more). That makes babyfaces look dumb. Here, Ospreay showed he knew that when opposing Moxley, he was really opposing the entirety of the Death Riders. He even got his fiancée, Alex Windsor, to fight beside him against the Death Riders’ female, Marina Shafir.

Part of the “going it alone” strategy is the unsaid message that babyfaces don’t have friends that want to help them. That often rears its head with heel beat-downs as well when no other babyfaces come to that person’s aid. The idea that faces have friends should not be a novel one, yet in wrestling, too often it is.

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While everything is copacetic between the key players with United Empire right now, it may not stay that way. There was tension earlier in the year between the group’s new leader, Callum Newman, and Ospreay, when Ospreay visited NJPW. The fact that Newman just won the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship puts him on a level closer to Ospreay than ever before. Could we see a Newman turn, as early as Sunday, leading to an eventual Newman vs. Ospreay match in New Japan?

Regardless of where things end up, it was great seeing United Empire recruited by Ospreay to help him. A smart babyface doing smart things is refreshing in the world of pro wrestling.

(Tune in Sunday night after AEW Dynasty as Greg will be hosting the PWTorch Wrestling Night in American post-show on YouTube. Participate live by joining in on the conversation in the chat.)