Will Ospreay is in disbelief that one of the best technical wrestlers in the world has gotten even better.
Having one of the best years of his career in 2023, Ospreay is set to defend the IWGP UK Championship against Zack Sabre Jr. at Royal Quest 3 in London on October 14th. The match could well be a match-of-the-year contender due to the high ring IQs of each competitor. Will Ospreay has 29 matches rated 5* or higher by Dave Meltzer, and 3 of those were against Sabre Jr.
Ahead of the battle to find out who is the best British wrestler, Ospreay spoke to Metro to discuss the upcoming pay-per-view at The Copperbox Arena. Ospreay noted how he has followed the career of Sabre Jr. closely and while there is a lot of respect for his opponent, the result of the match won’t come into question:
“I’ve always looked up to him him a weird way, we’ve had this incredibly friendly rivalry that’s stretched across England, America and Japan and it’s scary to say that he’s gotten even better. He’s put on weight, he’s now a real life heavyweight style wrestler, but he hasn’t lost any of his fluidity or flexibility as a performer. But I don’t think there’s anybody in the world that can compete with me right now,”
Royal Quest 3 is the latest overseas event hosted by New Japan. The promotion was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, and forced to shut down when it was white hot. Ospreay now feels that it is up to him to generate more buzz around NJPW once again:
“It’s now a huge responsibility to get New Japan back to where it was before COVID hit. This is about promoting New Japan on a global stage, and there’s no better two wrestlers to main event,”
Could Will Ospreay Go To WWE?
Being very vocal about his contract situation in 2024, Ospreay looks set to be one of the hottest free agents when his contract with New Japan expires. With the most likely destination being AEW, Dave Meltzer has commented on the possibility that WWE would sign Will Ospreay.