Will Ospreay: ‘Didn’t know how bad my neck really was until they told me I couldn’t wrestle’
Will Ospreay revisited his neck injury that kept him out of in-ring action for nearly six months. He also touched points on his NJPW return and the current talents on the promotion.
In an exclusive interview with NJPW, Ospreay discussed his in-ring return to the promotion in April, a month after his AEW comeback. He underestimated the extent of his neck injury until informed of the severity of it.
“I’d always said to myself that I would be back in NJPW after two years away, but being back in Ryogoku was so special, especially to do it with the United Empire boys. I didn’t know how bad my neck really was until they told me I couldn’t wrestle. Coming back, the key thing for me was I didn’t want to be a shadow or a parody of myself in any way, so it made it all the more important to be able to show I could hang in Japan, at the same level of work ethic, both physically and in terms of my psyche.”
Ospreay gave insight on the flow of events and new talents in NJPW during his time away from the promotion, focusing on AEW.
“There’s a huge shift in young blood now. The Knockout Brothers have been great, Shota Umino is finally coming into his own skin. Getting in the ring with Uemura was cool, and then you had Tsuji as the captain of the ship, now getting taken down by Callum Newman, it’s a young person’s game now.”
Ospreay was asked about AEW wrestlers who he thought would fare well in NJPW. He instantly responded with Jon Moxley, Swerve Strickland and MJF.
“On the top end, obviously Moxley, Omega would pull in big houses. I would love to see Swerve Strickland in Japan. I really would. And MJF- is he just a great American TV wrestler, or would he be really successful in Japan as well? That’s a whole different animal he’s never done. And then as well, I love Mike Bailey and I think he could do more in the junior heavyweight space, because he is such an exciting wrestler in that mould. And Daniel Garcia I think could learn so much from a good few months in Japan.”
Ospreay returned to AEW at Revolution in March. He targeted the Death Riders which ultimately led to a singles match against Moxley for the Continental Title at Dynasty.
Rosanne Raphael is a wrestling writer with over three and a half years of experience covering all things related to the industry. From a kindergarten teacher to PR Associate to turning her lifelong passion for the industry into a career, Rosanne is currently writing for F4W Online where she focuses on wrestling news, analysis, and storytelling.
Rosanne previously contributed to Sportskeeda as an Assistant Content Manager.
When not consumed by wrestling, Rosanne is a musician and an aspiring artist.