The Sky King, Will Ospreay, has made his intentions clear after leading his CHAOS stablemates to victory yesterday over the Suzuki-Gun team of Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, and Takashi Iizuka. Ospreay would hit his signature move, The Stormbreaker, onto current NEVER Openweight Champion, Taichi, before securing the win.
Speaking backstage post-match, Taichi was dismissive over the loss and, in particular, the man who gave it to him.
“We don’t have to fight again. I beat you twice. We are done” Taichi said. “So don’t get carried away. You aren’t on my list.”
Ospreay was later interviewed and could barely contain his excitement over what he had just achieved, his attention firmly towards the future.
“I Want To Take That Championship And I Want To Take It Forward”
“You guys see that? I just pinned the Never Openweight champion. That makes me the challenger, right?”
The Aerial Assassin pressed on, demonstrating a knowledge of not only New Japan history but also of the belt he held aloft at the end of the match.
“Every single one of those letters in NEVER means something, but the ’N’ is the most important. The ’N’ means New Blood. And that’s what that title was built upon. It was built on the next generation, the guys that will carry the company forward.”
“But imagine what we could do with that now, imagine what that championship could be like in the hands of me,” he proclaimed. “[…] I want the best. I want to take that championship and I want to take it forward. They say a Junior Heavyweight can’t last with a Heavyweight – I just picked a Heavyweight up and gave him the Stormbreaker and pinned his shoulders one, two, three.”
“[…] Right now I’m 91 kilos. I’m still a Junior Heavyweight right now,” he stressed. “But in time I will progress, progress, progress, evolve and I will do my best to carry that championship to newer heights. To make it what it really is, and that is an Openweight champion.”
Bulking Up
It’s worth noting that it is still a rarity for Junior Heavyweights to be able to come out on top over their Heavyweight opponents, despite Taichi only recently making the switch in weight classes.
That being said, Ospreay has noticeably bulked up over the past few months, and looks prepped to eventually leave the Junior Heavyweight division. Winning the NEVER Openweight championship may be the first step in that journey – a journey that previous Juniors like Kenny Omega have already taken.
