Will Ospreay has given his thoughts on the Dave Meltzer star rating system and the fan discourse associated with the ratings.
Ospreay’s victory over MJF at All In was the latest of his matches to be given the 5* rating by Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. With 41 matches to his name, the International Champion has more top-rated matches than anyone in the history of the rating system and is leading second-place wrestler Kazuhika Okada by a considerable margin as The Rainmaker has 27.
Despite the fact that the ratings are the opinion of Dave Meltzer, certain matches, wrestlers and promotions are brought up frequently, with one claim that there is an alleged bias towards Ospreay.
Speaking with Kenny McIntosh for Issue 48 of Inside The Ropes Magazine, Ospreay was asked how he feels about being the most accomplished five-star wrestler of all time:
“I just think it is a guy’s opinion. With the wealth of knowledge that he has about wrestling, it’s always nice to hear his opinion, but I don’t think everyone should hang their hat on it. I think it’s more funny when it’s kind of like, oh, I appreciate it, and then there’s this whole line in the sand where people say that’s bulls—t. I love how now it’s called the Ospreay tax. [laughs] So anything that I do now there is an extra star or an extra half a star put on top of it.
What makes me laugh even more is that there are wrestlers that are signed, that will get on their phone, hit the record button and go, “He’s a numpty. He doesn’t know anything about wrestling.” You’ve got on your phone, you’ve seen something, you’ve seen a star rating, and you think it should be more! You talk s—t on the phone. The only people that I respect are the guys backstage. You can tell those wrestlers are hurt and it’s just like guys, relax, it’s just some geezer’s opinion, it doesn’t matter.”
“I’m Not Better Than Kurt Angle Or Shawn Michaels”: Will Ospreay
Another common criticism of the ratings is that while Will Ospreay has 41 five-star matches, Kurt Angle never received one in his entire career. Referencing this in the interview, Ospreay once again stated that he doesn’t have much of an opinion on the ratings but in no way believes he is better than some of the all-time greats:
“Do you honestly think I think I’m better than Kurt Angle? Because I can tell you now I’m not. Do you think I’m better than Shawn Michaels? I can tell you that I’m not. He has a certain taste, and I appeal to that level of taste. I don’t really have any opinion on it. But I do enjoy seeing what happens and the discourse between people; it is hilarious at this point. But any wrestlers that say it either in promos or on their phone about how it doesn’t matter, deep down it hurts them. It really does.”
During the interview, Ospreay asked what the difference is between Dave Meltzer’s star rating system and the PWI 500, where it was stated that the PWI 500 is more of a kayfabe list and takes into account where a wrestler is on the card, whereas Meltzer’s ratings focus more on the wrestling itself:
“It’s like work rate versus booking? Gotcha. I don’t know. I just, I guess it’s like two different flavours of ice cream, but I don’t get why we celebrate one and then tarnish the other. It is such a weird mindf—k where I think, I just really like wrestling and I’m just going to promote what I enjoy.”
Also in the interview, Will Ospreay gave his thoughts on Kenny Omega.
The full interview with Will Ospreay is available in Issue 48 of Inside The Ropes Magazine, which can be ordered here.
If you use any quotes from this article please credit Inside The Ropes.