Will Ospreay has officially turned his back on CHAOS leader Kazuchika Okada after defeating ‘The Rainmaker’ in controversial fashion during today’s G1 Climax show.
In the closing moments of their gruelling 17:04 match, Ospreay’s long-time girlfriend Bea Priestley appeared at ringside and distracted the referee whilst both men were down. From the other side of the ring Tomoyuki Oka (aka Great O-Kharn) delivered an Iron Claw Chokeslam to Okada behind the referee’s back, allowing Ospreay to hit the Stormbreaker for the win and dashing Okada’s hopes of becoming the A block winner of this year’s G1.
Ospreay would celebrate ringside with Priestley before running back into the ring and hitting a downed Okada with the Hidden Blade. He then swore at Okada, gave him the middle finger and told him that he’d held Ospreay back before exiting the arena. Okada would be helped to the back by multiple young lions in the aftermath.
試合後、オスプレイがグレート-O-カーン、ビー・プレストリーとの“共闘”を宣言！
「俺はもうCHAOSのメンバーじゃない！ オカダに尽くすのなんてもうまっぴらゴメンだ！ 俺が中心になって新しいユニットを立ち上げる！」
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⇒https://t.co/OUgthFQCoa#G1CLIMAX30pic.twitter.com/x5ENOENiPp— 新日本プロレスリング株式会社 (@njpw1972) October 16, 2020
This marks the first time Ospreay has been a heel in the promotion since making his debut in April 2016, where he also joined the CHAOS faction by invitation of Okada himself. Since then Ospreay has been a force to be reckoned with across both the junior and heavyweight divisions, winning the Best of the Super Juniors tournament twice; defeating Kota Ibushi to win the NEVER Openweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 13 last year and competing in both this and last year’s G1 Climax tournaments.
Priestley has been competing in Stardom since returning to Japan with Ospreay last month: Interestingly, Priestley was wearing a Stardom shirt throughout her appearance, suggesting new developments in New Japan’s partnership with the joshi promotion after parent company Bushiroad purchased Stardom last October.
Oka, meanwhile, has been on excursion with UK-based promotion Revolution Pro Wrestling since mid-2018, last defeating Sean Kustom in the promotion on March 8th earlier this year. His appearance on the G1 show today marks his first NJPW appearance under his original name in over two years.
Keep up-to-date with all the results from the G1 and other NJPW news right here at Inside The Ropes.