With New Japan’s Wrestle Kingdom 17 rapidly closing in, co-headliners Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega have been upping the psychological warfare ahead of the Tokyo Dome spectacular.
Although the pair were hardly friends prior to Omega’s challenge to Ospreay, recent weeks have seen a series of increasingly spikey comments exchanged between the two.
Will Ospreay Questions Kenny Omega’s Mental Toughness
Now, speaking exclusively with Inside The Ropes’ Liam Wyatt, the brash Brit has questioned whether the AEW star would have been able to endure the challenges of competing for New Japan throughout the restriction-heavy pandemic era:
“I think the one thing that people can’t take away is that Kenny never wrestled in pandemic era New Japan Pro Wrestling – and it was hell. It wasn’t even just the wrestling – it was not being able to hear the fans, it was whenever we flew over that we had to do two weeks isolation in a room no bigger than the wrestling ring that we compete in. It was restaurants not being open till late, so then you’d finish a match and not eat, so you’d have to wake up super early to find like some convenient food and stuff like that.
I don’t think Kenny had the mental state to be able to endure that. I have. And not only have I endured that, I’ve surpassed any expectations that people had of me. I was able to win the New Japan cup, I was able to win the World Heavyweight Championship, I’ve done a phenomenal job in the G1, and now I’m standing as the United States Champion.”
Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega most recently met in the ring on the August 31st, 2022 episode of AEW Dynamite. On that occasion, Omega teamed with the Young Bucks to defeat Ospreay, Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher in the semi-finals of the AEW World Trios Title tournament.
Wrestle Kingdom 17 is set to be a noteworthy event for the premier puro promotion, with crowds permitted to cheer for the first time since the pandemic, Karl Anderson returning to defend the NEVER Openweight title and potentially, the debut of Sasha Banks.
You can watch all of the action from Night One of Wrestle Kingdom 17 on January 4th with English commentary on New Japan’s streaming service, NJPW World.
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