Kyle Fletcher looks back on shaving his head.
Shortly after betraying Will Ospreay at AEW WrestleDream 2024, Kyle Fletcher stood in the ring on Dynamite and shaved his head. Flanked by Don Callis, ‘The Protostar’ has seen a huge rise in prominence since the drastic change to his look in October of last year. Now, the 26-year-old has reflected on losing his hair as part of his storyline with Will Ospreay and the comparisons he got in response.
Speaking with Chris Van Vliet on Insight, Kyle Fletbjer first talked through the idea to lose his blonde hair on Dynamite.
“So it started off that we knew we were going to do this Ospreay feud, and that was what we were leaning towards. It was just one of those things where I was getting sick of my hair, my blonde hair, and I was wanting to change it anyway. So I just broached the idea. I can’t remember who I said it to originally, it might have been in the room with Tony. I was like, ‘Hey, I want to get rid of my hair. Is there some way we could use it in this storyline?’ The way we landed on was me shaving it myself. It felt like a definitive change, a definitive moment to me, I was literally shedding the skin of being in Ospreay’s shadow, I was trying to get out of that. So yeah, it started with me, but then it was, oh yeah, that’s a pretty good idea, let’s run with it. So yeah, it was cool the way it came off in the end.”
-Kyle Fletcher
As mentioned by Fletcher, the shaving of his head was symbolic of him stepping away from his ties to Will Ospreay. Yet, after going bald, some fans remarked that the Australian resembled Randy Orton. On this, the star went on to discuss how he wants to carve his own path.
“It’s one of those things where for a hot second you take it as a compliment, and it’s like, at surface level it’s like, Oh, thanks. I think Will’s incredible at what he does. So I take that as a compliment. But then I feel like, the more I sit with it, and the more I hear it, the more it makes me go, No, I don’t want to be anyone else. I don’t want to be the second coming of Will Ospreay. I think after shaving the head, I got a lot of Randy Orton [comparisons], and it’s like the same feeling of at first, that’s really cool, that’s a great comparison. But I really want to start carving my own path, and I don’t want to be the second anybody else. So, yeah, I think that’s kind of what I’m focusing on, and just trying to carve my own path.”
-Kyle Fletcher
Fletcher spent 114 days as TNT Champion earlier this year, defeating Dustin Rhodes on July 31 and keeping it until Full Gear 2025. The young star has long been talked about as someone who could be a major name in AEW for years to come, with many still touting him as a future world champion. For now, ‘The Protostar’ is looking to build momentum in the Gold League of the Continental Classic.
Elsewhere in the interview, Fletcher discussed why The Miz is one of his inspirations. You can read more about that here.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on Kyle Fletcher as soon as we hear more.
