Michael Oku made a shock appearance for AEW last year when he debuted for the company at their first-ever UK Dynamite.
The OJMO surprised the crowd in Cardiff by wrestling a dark match against Serpentico at the AEW Dynamite tapings.
Michael Oku was the Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion at the time and was heavily rumoured to be signing for the promotion in the near future.
He won that match and just days later dropped his title to Luke Jacobs in RevPro. It seemed certain he would be the newest member of the AEW roster, following Will Ospreay to the US, but the rumours about his debut are not as clear as first thought.
Chris Hero told Michael Oku he was debuting for AEW in Cardiff
Oku had no idea he was going to be wrestling at the AEW Dynamite Cardiff tapings until he turned up at the arena on the day.
Indie legend Chris Hero came up to him after an impromptu photoshoot to tell him he was wrestling on the show, despite no talks between the two parties occurring prior to that point.
“With the Cardiff thing, there was the Fightful Select report saying there had been discussions to have Michael on the tapings.” Michael Oku told Pursuit Pro Wrestling.
“I was like, ‘If there have been, they haven’t been with me.’ And then it happened. We were told, ‘Okay, get out of your suits. Speedy, our main photographer, is here, and he’s happy to take promo pictures with all of you, so get in your gear.'”
“So we all did that. We took our suits off, put our wrestling gear on, got photos taken. Then I took my wrestling gear off and put my suit back on.””
“I’m in the queue, getting some more food, and then Chris Hero just comes up to me. He’s like, ‘You’re wrestling against Serpentico in half an hour.'”
Oku won that match but didn’t wrestle at AEW All In later that week. He was in the crowd to watch the show, compared to his brief appearance as security on the pre-show at Wembley Stadium in 2023.
Oku will have to contend with a huge American star in his next RevPro match
While his aspirations may lie in AEW in the future, Michael Oku has to look closer to home for his next big match.
The Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion is set to defend his title against American star 1 Called Manders at RevPro’s next big event, Epic Encounter 2025.
Michael Oku has shared a backstage video of him and Amira on Instagram just as they're about to make their AEW debuts in Cardiff, and Chris Hero is so fucking wholesome with them and look at their reaction to the pop too!! 🥹🥹🥹 pic.twitter.com/VAFSjqC4Yq
— Ciarán (@CiaranRH93) August 21, 2024
They have been battling back-and-forth in the last few months and Oku will need to pull out all the stops to beat his much bigger and much stronger opponent.
If he can outlast Manders in their match at Epic Encounter, then a title defence against one of Ricky Knight Jr or JJ Gale follows for him.
It will be a tough ask for Britain’s top champion, but if anybody can manage it, it’s Michael Oku.
