Will Ospreay recently took some time to answer a series of fan questions via social media. The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion revealed his favorite moment of his career to date, as well his favorite G1 memory. During the course of the Q+A session, he also divulged the current expiration date for his New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) contract. 

Aerial Assassin Q+A

One fan was eager to know if Ospreay would ever wrestle WWE Superstar Ricochet again. The two have had previous memorable matches in NJPW. Will responded “Never Say Never. But for the next 5 years Will Ospreay is property of the Lion Mark.”

When it comes to the G1 Climax Tournament, Ospreay was quick to name his favorite moment from the gruelling competition: being in the ring with NJPW’s Ace, Hiroshi Tanahashi.

As for his top all-time career moment, Ospreay admitted that there were many highlights for him to choose from, but one homecoming moment in particular sticks with him:

“First time I won Super Jrs and came home to York Hall to such an incredible reception. I remember standing in the ring looking to my left, to the centre of the balcony and saw @BeaPriestley just lip read “I love you.”

New Japan Pro-Wrestling has announced the full lineup and schedule for their Super J-Cup 2019. The Super J-Cup 2019 will be a single-elimination tournament between 16 junior heavyweight wrestlers. It is an historic tournament having taken place on an inconsistent basis since 1994, but this will be the first time that it is held in the United States. The field is as follows:

• Will Ospreay (CHAOS)
• Robbie Eagles (CHAOS)
• El Phantasmo (Bullet Club)
• Rocky Romero (CHAOS)
• Clark Connors (NJPW)
• Jonathan Gresham (ROH)
• Soberano Jr. (CMLL)
• Amazing Red
• YOH (CHAOS)
• BUSHI (Los Ingobernables de Japon)
• Ryusuke Taguchi (NJPW)
• Taiji Ishimori (Bullet Club)
• Caristico (CMLL)
• TJP
• SHO (CHAOS)
• Dragon Lee (CMLL)

These are the first round matches for the tournament, to take place on August 22, 2019 at the Temple Theater in Tacoma, Washington.

• Rocky Romero vs. Soberano Jr.
• Clark Connors vs. TJP
• Caristico vs. BUSHI
• Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Jonathan Gresham
• Robbie Eagles vs. El Phantasmo
• YOH vs. Dragon Lee
• SHO vs. Taiji Ishimori
• Will Ospreay vs. Amazing Red (main event)

Second round matches will take place on August 24 at the San Francisco University Student Life Events Center, in accordance with the bracket image above. The semifinals and final match will be at the Final event on August 25 at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California.

Will Ospreay’s G1 Climax 29 has not gone as he wanted it to. After winning the Best of the Super Juniors tournament earlier this year, Ospreay was coming into the tournament with a lot of momentum but a neck injury would hamper his win/loss record in the G1.

Ospreay submitted to Zack Sabre Jr. on night 11 of the tournament, dropping his record to 2-4 and mathematically eliminating him from advancing from Block A. Kazuchika Okada leads the block with a perfect 6-0 record.

Ospreay was interviewed in the back following his loss to ZSJ and commented on being mathematically eliminated from the tournament:

Despite being eliminated from the tournament, Ospreay promised to put in some great performances in his final 3 matches.

“Every bone in my f-n body feels like glass breaking right now,” said Ospreay who has been dealing with a neck injury as of late. “There’s no way mathematically I can win this thing now.”

“Still got 3 more matches left,” Ospreay continued.

“I’ll put in some stand-up performances, you watch me.”

G1 Climax 29 Updated Standings

Block A (6 matches each):

• Okada – 12
• KENTA – 8
• Kota Ibushi – 8
• Hiroshi Tanahashi – 8
• EVIL – 6
• Lance Archer – 4
• Will Ospreay – 4
• Sanada – 4
• Zack Sabre Jr. – 4
• Bad Luck Fale – 2

Of the wrestlers not mathematically eliminated from Block A, Ibushi has the best bet of catching Okada. KENTA and Tanahashi have already dropped their round-robin match to Okada, so the champion holds the tie-breaker against both of them.

Ibushi and Okada meet on the final night of the tournament. If Ibushi wins his next two matches and Okada goes 1-1 in his next two, their match on the final night of the round-robin would be to determine who advances to the finals. Okada also has matches against Evil and Sanda left in addition to his final match against Ibushi.

Block B (5 matches each):

• Jon Moxley – 10
• Ishii – 6
• Juice Robinson – 6
• Shingo Takagi – 4
• Toru Yano – 4
• Taichi – 4
• Tetsuya Naito – 4
• Jeff Cobb – 4
• Hirooki Goto – 4
• Jay White – 4

• Jon Moxley Comments On Undefeated Streak In NJPW

Welcome to our results of NJPW G1 Climax 29 Day 11. New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s 29th G1 Climax tournament continues today and will run until Day 19 on August 12.

Twenty wrestlers, divided into two blocks of ten, compete against every other member of their block. They gain 2 points for a victory and 1 point for a draw. The wrestler with the most points in each block will move on to a final match, with the winner getting an opportunity to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 14 in the Tokyo Dome in January 2020.

View the full tournament schedule here.

Watch this event on NJPW World with commentary in either English or Japanese.

Day 11 Undercard

Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Yota Tsuji defeated Tomohiro Ishii, Tomoaki Honma & Yuya Uemura
YOSHI-HASHI submitted Yuya Uemura with the Butterfly Lock at 9:24. CHAOS stablemates Hirooki Goto and Tomohiro Ishii face each other for B Block points in the main event of Day 12.

Toru Yano & Ren Narita defeated Jon Moxley & Shota Umino
Yano attempted to sell his DVD to Jon Moxley. Shota Umino took 5,000 yen from the ring announcer and gave it to Moxley, who then paid for it, and then tried to roll Yano up as he was counting the money. Toru Yano rolled Shota Umino up for the win at 4:08. Afterward, he took back the DVD and fled. The undefeated Jon Moxley faces Toru Yano on Day 12.

Bullet Club (Jay White, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens) defeated Suzukigun (Taichi, Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
Chase Owens pinned Yoshinobu Kanemaru at 7:39 after countering the Deep Impact and hitting a package piledriver. Taichi tried to confront Jay White after the match, but Gedo made sure Taichi was unable to get his hands on White. It’s Taichi versus Jay White on Day 12.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI) defeated Juice Robinson, Jeff Cobb & Toa Henare
Shingo Takagi pinned Toa Henare after a Pumping Bomber at 9:27. Shingo Takagi and Tetsuya Naito face Jeff Cobb and Juice Robinson, respectively, on Day 12.

Day 11 G1 Matches

G1 Climax 29 A Block Match: Kota Ibushi defeated Bad Luck Fale
Fale used his backup, Chase Owens and Jado, to weaken Ibushi from the outset, having them attack him on the outside, and then grinded Ibushi down with his weight when he managed to make it back into the ring. Ibushi’s comebacks were foiled time and again by the Bullet Club until the referee had had enough, and Ibushi could finally rally. Kota Ibushi pinned Bad Luck Fale at 9:27 after a Kamigoye. Fale 2 points, Ibushi 8 points.

G1 Climax 29 A Block Match: Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Will Ospreay
Notably, this was the first ever all-British G1 Climax match. Zack attacked Ospreay’s taped up neck and shoulder early on. Eventually, Ospreay rallied, and came close on several occasions, but Zack was able to catch him with submissions at crucial moments to get the win. Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Will Ospreay by submission at 20:02 with Hurrah! Another Year, Surely This One Will Be Better Than the Last; The Inexorable March of Progress Will Lead Us All to Happiness! Ospreay 4 points, Sabre 4 points.

G1 Climax 29 A Block Match: Kazuchika Okada defeated Lance Archer
Archer dominated the match early on, attacking Okada before the bell and hitting him hard with unexpectedly athletic offense for his size. Okada fought back from underneath, but Lance was never subdued for long. It certainly was not a decisive victory, but Okada was able to catch him for the win. Kazuchika Okada pinned Lance Archer after a Rainmaker. Archer 4 points, Okada 12 points and currently undefeated.

G1 Climax 29 A Block Match: SANADA defeated KENTA
This was a high-speed fight between two outsiders. Despite being the larger man, SANADA often seemed outmatched when it came to striking and used more high-flying offense and creative counters to turn the match around. SANADA pinned KENTA after the Skull End into the top rope moonsault.

G1 Climax 29 A Block Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL
EVIL immediately went after Tanahashi’s knee to neutralize the High Fly Flow, which Tanahashi used to win his previous match against SANADA. It didn’t have a strong effect at first, but after a bad landing on a frog splash to the outside, he was noticeably slowed down. This was an all-out contest that had the crowd going wild. Hiroshi Tanahashi pinned EVIL after a High Fly Flow at 23:02. EVIL 6 points, Tanahashi 8 points.

G1 Climax 29 Standings

Wrestlers whose names are in italics cannot make it to the Final.

Randy Orton offered up some advice for IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion Will Ospreay on Twitter recently. Orton was responding to a Tweet of Ospreay’s when he made his comments. By the end of their interaction, the two were teasing a match with one another.

Orton offered up the following in response:

Ospreay then seemed amazed another WWE wrestler was responding to his comments:

Orton then invited Ospreay to attend Smackdown.

Ospreay wasn’t interested in going to a WWE show, however.

Randy Orton vs Will Ospreay in 2017

This isn’t the first time these two have traded jabs on Twitter. They did so back in 2017 as well. Orton re-Tweeted some comments about independent wrestling made by Rip Rogers that started a stir online.

The Tweets by Orton in 2017 are below:

Ospreay responded to Orton and Rogers’ comments with the following:

Ospreay also decided to market some shirts with “…dive” written on the front:

Orton then issued an apology:

Ospreay would later comment on the …dive controversy with Orton:

• Will Ospreay: “I would like to show people that what I do is professional wrestling”

“I thought it was really funny, I do agree a bit, quite a lot of it. I do feel like wrestling has become very similar [in style], but just listen to that crowd from New York. It is that format, and everyone was going insane. I don’t know what to say but … dive.”

Welcome to our results of NJPW G1 Climax 29 Day 5.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s 29th G1 Climax tournament continued today and will run until Day 19 on August 12. Twenty wrestlers compete in blocks of ten against every other wrestler in their block. They gain 2 points for a victory and 1 point for a draw. The wrestler with the most points in each block will move on to a final match, with the winner getting an opportunity to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 14 in the Tokyo Dome in January 2020.

One can watch this event on NJPW World with commentary in either English or Japanese.

Undercard Matches

Jon Moxley & Shota Umino defeated Tomohiro Ishii & Yuya Uemura
Shota Umino pinned Yuya Uemura with a bridging fisherman suplex at 5:46. Afterwards, Moxley and Ishii got into a brawl until being broken up by young lions and staff. As Ishii left, Moxley took a chair and sat down in the middle of the ring, taunting Ishii. Ishii found his own chair and did the same on the outside.  Jon Moxley versus Tomohiro Ishii is the main event of Day 6 of the tournament, tomorrow.

Jeff Cobb, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI defeated Juice Robinson, Toa Henare & Yota Tsuji
YOSHI-HASHI submitted Yota Tsuji with the Butterfly Lock at 9:30. Juice Robinson and Jeff Cobb shook hands after the match. Their G1 match against each other is tomorrow.

Bullet Club (Jay White, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens) defeated Toru Yano, Tomoaki Honma & Ren Narita
The main theme of the match was Toru Yano antagonizing Jay White with his wily chicanery. Chase Owens pinned Ren Narita after a package piledriver at 8:49. Jay White and Toru Yano are against each other in a G1 Climax match tomorrow.

Suzukigun (Taichi, Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI)
Minoru Suzuki pinned BUSHI after a Gotch-style piledriver at 8:35. It’s Shingo Takagi versus Taichi in the G1 Climax tomorrow. Although they were not in the same match, Tetsuya Naito fights Hirooki Goto tomorrow as well.

G1 Climax Matches

G1 Climax 29 A Block Match: KENTA defeated Lance Archer
KENTA defeated Lance Archer by submission with the Game Over (omoplata crossface) at 11:58. This was the first time KENTA has used the Game Over since joining NJPW. A highlight of the match was Archer yelling “You’re not KENTA, you’re f**king Hideo!” which KENTA slapped him for. KENTA 6 points, Lance Archer 4 points.

G1 Climax 29 A Block Match: EVIL defeated SANADA
This match heavily centered around these stablemates being very competitive and familiar with each other, countering each other’s offense at every turn and using each other’s moves. After a hot finishing stretch, EVIL defeated SANADA by pinfall with the EVIL at 18:11. EVIL 4 points, SANADA 2 points.

G1 Climax 29 A Block Match: Kazuchika Okada defeated Bad Luck Fale
Bad Luck Fale came out dragging Kazuchika Okada from the backstage area, denying him the ability to make his entrance. Chase Owens and Jado interfered on Fale’s behalf, but Okada managed to take them out on his own. Kazuchika Okada defeated Bad Luck Fale by pinfall with a prawn hold at 10:15. This was the first time Okada has ever defeated Fale in the G1 Climax. Okada 6 points, Fale 2 points.

G1 Climax 29 A Block Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Zack Sabre Jr.
This was an unexpectedly frantic match, with both men immediately going for pinning combinations against each other, and Zack targeting the hurt arm of Tanahashi. After a technical match that kept the crowd on edge, Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Zack Sabre Jr. by pinfall with a jackknife hold at 13:56. Tanahashi 2 points, Sabre 0 points.

G1 Climax 29 A Block Match: Kota Ibushi defeated Will Ospreay
Ospreay’s neck and shoulder were heavily taped up and Ibushi attacked those areas with strikes, holds, and suplexes. Early on, Ospreay tried to wear down Ibushi’s hurt ankle, then transitioned to delivering his trademark offense, but was overwhelmed by Ibushi’s physicality. Kota Ibushi won by pinfall after a Kamigoye at 27:16. Ibushi 2 points, Ospreay 2 points.

G1 Climax 29 Standings

A Block

• KENTA – 6
• Kazuchika Okada – 6
• Lance Archer – 4
• EVIL – 4
• Bad Luck Fale – 2
• Kota Ibushi – 2
• SANADA – 2
• Will Ospreay – 2
• Hiroshi Tanahashi – 2
• Zack Sabre Jr. – 0

B Block

• Tomohiro Ishii – 4
• Jon Moxley – 4
• Juice Robinson – 4
• Hirooki Goto – 2
• Shingo Takagi – 2
• Taichi – 2
• Toru Yano – 2
• Jeff Cobb – 0
• Tetsuya Naito – 0
• Jay White – 0

Will Ospreay has announced that New Japan Pro-Wrestling has medically cleared him to continue in the G1 Climax 29 tournament. After his match with SANADA on July 14th, NJPW stated that Ospreay had sustained a neck injury and would be taken off the card for Day 4 of the tournament on July 15th. He was originally scheduled to compete in a six man tag team match with Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura against Kota Ibushi, Jushin Thunder Liger, and Shota Umino.

NJPW did not specify the injury, but shared that Ospreay was not suffering from any skeletal or nervous issues. On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer stated that Ospreay sustained a stinger during the match against SANADA, and Ospreay tweeted that he was in a “huge amount of pain.”

Will Ospreay currently has 2 points in the G1 Climax after two of his nine tournament matches, consisting of a loss against Lance Archer on Day 1 and a victory against SANADA on Day 3. Ospreay’s next singles matches in the G1 Climax are Kota Ibushi on July 18th and Kazuchika Okada on July 20th. View the full G1 Climax tournament schedule here.

Welcome to our ongoing Live Results of NJPW G1 Climax 29 Day 3. This will be updated with results and new points standings throughout the event.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s 29th G1 Climax tournament continued today and will run until Day 19 on August 12. Twenty wrestlers compete in blocks of ten against every other wrestler in their block. They gain 2 points for a victory and 1 point for a draw. The most dominant wrestler in each block will move on to a final match, with winner getting an opportunity to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 14 in the Tokyo Dome in January 2020.

One can watch this event on NJPW World with commentary in either English or Japanese.

Juice Robinson, Toa Henare & Yota Tsuji defeated Hirooki Goto, Tomoaki Honma & Yuya Uemura
Toa Henare came out sporting a beard, but it’s not very full yet. Young lions Uemura and Tsuji came out showing aggression against each other before the match began, but did not fight for long. Goto and Juice, who have a match tomorrow in Sapporo, laid into each other with hard strikes and simultaneous lariats sent them both crumbling to the floor. Toa Henare was uncharacteristically fired up, ending Uemura’s comebacks with body shots and finishing him off swiftly. Toa Henare pinned Yuya Uemura after a Toa Bottom at 6:31.

Jeff Cobb & Ren Narita defeated Jon Moxley & Shota Umino
In their first tag team match together, Jon Moxley and Shota Umino came out through the crowd, with Umino wearing a Moxley t-shirt and carrying the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship on his behalf once again. Early on, Moxley and Umino beat down Ren Narita, with Moxley verbally instructing him for tag team moves. When Cobb tagged in, Moxley tried to catch him with the Death Rider, but Cobb stuffed his lift attempts. At one point, Umino managed to lift Cobb for a suplex, but this was only a minor victory. Jeff Cobb pinned Shota Umino after a Tour of the Islands at 4:53.

CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI) defeated Bullet Club (Jay White, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens)
Jay White pretended that he would begin the match across from his opponent tomorrow, Tomohiro Ishii, but allowed Yujiro Takahashi to start instead. All members of Bullet Club took turns bullying YOSHI-HASHI until he managed to get the hot tag to Ishii. When Jay White tried to roll out of the ring and away from Ishii, Yano forced him back into the ring, which pleased the crowd. After Toru Yano removed the turnbuckle pad, Chase Owens took it from him and tried to hit him with it, but nearly hit the referee instead, giving Yano the opportunity to sneak in the victory. Toru Yano pinned Chase Owens with a roll up after a low blow at 9:23.

Suzukigun (Taichi, Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI)
Suzuki and Kanemaru attacked Takagi and BUSHI before the bell, as they are apt to do, leaving only Naito and Taichi in the ring. They are the main event of G1 day four tomorrow, and the majority of this match was Taichi working Naito over while their teammates slugged it out on the outside. Later, Shingo got the hot tag and ran wild before Suzuki cut him off. Shingo managed to tag BUSHI in, only for him to get finished off quickly. Minoru Suzuki pinned BUSHI with a Gotch-style piledriver at 8:33. After the match, Taichi pulled the Iron Finger from Hell out of his bag, teasing using it in his G1 match tomorrow.

G1 Climax 29 A Block Match: Lance Archer [4] defeated Bad Luck Fale [2]
Archer wasted little time, immediately tackling Fale to the outside. They fought in the crowd area, throwing each other into chairs. In the ring, Archer’s shoulder tackles failed to knock Fale off his feat, but Archer climbed to the top rope and hit a turning crossbody on him. Fale hit likely one of the heaviest superplexes to ever occur in an NJPW ring, with Archer bouncing on impact. Fale hit the Grenade for a near fall. Jado attempted to interfere on Fale’s behalf, but Archer fought him off. Lance hit a football tackle and an impressive chokeslam on Fale. Lance Archer pinned Bad Luck Fale at 10:12 with the EBD Claw. Archer 4 points, Fale 2 points.

G1 Climax 29 A Block Match: Will Ospreay [2] defeated SANADA [2]
Fast-paced wrestling began the match, with Ospreay soon trying to put SANADA in the Paradise Lock, but didn’t know how to do so and SANADA just kicked him away. SANADA then put Ospreay in the Paradise Lock, but Ospreay simply kipped up out of it, only to get it reapplied on him while getting tied up in the ropes, which he was unable to escape. Ospreay and SANADA seemingly had answers for each other at every turn, with neither one of them ever getting the upper hand for a long period. The fast-paced periods of match were impressive but difficult to describe in text. Will Ospreay pinned SANADA after a Stormbreaker at 17:06. Ospreay 2 points, SANADA 2 points.

G1 Climax 29 A Block Match: Kazuchika Okada [4] defeated Zack Sabre Jr. [0]
In between periods of Okada using his greater weight to keep Sabre in the positions he wanted, ZSJ attempted to end the match quickly using pin attempts including a bridging Japanese leg-roll clutch. Okada asserted his dominance and hit the tombstone piledriver inside of ten minutes, but Sabre went after his right arm with kicks and submissions to turn the tide. It wasn’t enough, though, as Okada hit a rolling lariat followed by the Rainmaker to pin Zack Sabre Jr. at 12:01. Okada 4 points, Sabre Jr. 0 points.

G1 Climax 29 A Block Match: EVIL [2] defeated Kota Ibushi [0]
After a fiery opening exchange of strikes, EVIL grounded Ibushi through attacks at his bruised left ankle. This is to be expected, since Ibushi stated in an interview that this would be the only way to defeat him. Ibushi fired back with kicks using his right leg, but his trademark flying offense was visibly a struggle. After a stomp to the ankle which elicited a negative response from the crowd, EVIL went for a Scorpion Deathlock but Ibushi got the rope break. Ibushi soon pulled down his left kickpad and hit a Boma Ye for a near fall, then pulled down the right one as well, but EVIL cut him off. EVIL pinned Kota Ibushi after an EVIL at 19:11. EVIL 2 points, Ibushi 0 points.

G1 Climax 29 A Block Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi [0] vs. KENTA [2]
Katsuyori Shibata joined the Japanese commentary table for this match. KENTA wrestled Tanahashi to the ropes and landed a slap to the face, only for Tanahashi to return the favor. KENTA continued to hold Tanahashi down with hard kicks and holds as the crowd rallied behind the NJPW flagbearer. Tanahashi had short bursts where he was making a comeback, but KENTA would continually deny him until Tanahashi caught his leg on a Go 2 Sleep attempt and attacked both with dragon screws. He went for the High Fly Flow and succeeded once, then went for it once more KENTA blocked it with his knees, and that was the beginning of the end. KENTA pinned Hiroshi Tanahashi with the Go 2 Sleep at 18:35. KENTA 4 points, Tanahashi 0 points.

G1 Climax 29 Standings

A Block

• Lance Archer – 4
• KENTA – 4
• Kazuchika Okada – 4
• Bad Luck Fale – 2
• SANADA – 2
• Will Ospreay – 2
• EVIL – 2
• Kota Ibushi – 0
• Zack Sabre Jr. – 0
• Hiroshi Tanahashi – 0

B Block

• Hirooki Goto – 2
• Tomohiro Ishii – 2
• Jon Moxley – 2
• Juice Robinson – 2
• Toru Yano – 2
• Jeff Cobb – 0
• Tetsuya Naito – 0
• Taichi – 0
• Shingo Takagi – 0
• Jay White – 0

Sean Waltman recently shared his thoughts on the opening night of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s G1 Climax and named the wrestler he believes to be the “guy” to help propel their global expansion plans.

Speaking on his podcast X-PAC 12360, Waltman pointed to Will Ospreay as the individual that NJPW shoul push to help them grow and reach a wider audience. From his in-ring ability to his physical look, Waltman is clearly a fan of what Ospreay can bring to the table.

“As someone that’s specialty was that style of match, a David and Goliath match, I just thought it was done really well,” Waltman said. “Ospreay, I think he’s the best guy they have especially for the global expansion here in the States. You know, a blond-haired f*****g kid with blue eyes. Good looking f****r, too. His gears are all on point – I was hoping he would win. Lance [Archer] did great though, I was really happy for Lance. I hope they use Lance more moving forward. I hope they use him better.”

The G1 Climax continues on July 13th with the opening night of B Block action. Ospreay will be competing in a tag team match alongside Young Lion, Yuya Uemura, and an injured Kota Ibushi. They will face off against Los Ingobernables de Japon members BUSHI, EVIL, and SANADA.

Will Ospreay will become the first wrestler to participate in the New Japan Cup, Best of the Super Juniors, and the G1 in the same year when he competes in his first G1 match in Dallas tonight. Ospreay will take on Lance Archer to kick-off round-robin in the G1 tonight.

Every competing wrestler in the G1 minus Jon Moxley took part in a pre-tournament press conference to promote the first night in Dallas. During the press conference, Will Ospreay said that he plans on representing the junior heavyweights in the G1 this year.

“I’m not going to lie, I’m not great with public speaking and I’m used to doing this in front of Japanese reporters, so this makes me nervous!” Ospreay began. “This is my first G1 and I’m probably the lightest person in this tournament, but I hear I’m having a hell of a year. I never said I’m going to be the best, I said I’m going to do my best. I’m the first person to ever do the New Japan Cup, Best of the Super Juniors and G1 in the same year.”

Will Ospreay On Competing In The G1

Ospreay then said he’s going to climb to the top of both weight divisions.

“I now bear the responsibility of the junior heavyweight division. My heart is here, and I will fight as hard as I can with every bit of heart I have. The juniors belong on the main stage and I am going to show that. You guys will be with me every step of the way. I will make you proud, hold the G1 trophy with the title and main event in the Tokyo Dome. I’ll be the king of both weight divisions.”

KENTA On Competing In The G1

The former Hideo Itami will enter the G1 for the first time this year as well. He had the following to say at the press conference:

“(In English) What’s up Dallas? I’m so excited to be here and be part of G1. I came here to show the world who I am. I am f***ing KENTA. Tomorrow, I’m going to kick Ibushi’s ass. See you tomorrow.” 

• KENTA: “If This Doesn’t Pan Out, I’m Done”

The full press conference recap from NJPW1972.com can be read here.

WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins has offered up an apology to Will Ospreay regarding some comments he made on Twitter last week. Rollins says he’s had time to reflect on the situation and believes his tweets do not align with his values.

“After a few days to sit on it, I’d like to apologize to @WillOspreay for the tweet I sent his way about comparing bank accounts,” Rollins wrote. “It was dumb of me & not in line with my values. The moment I pressed the send button I knew it was trash, but I’m too stubborn for my own good.”

“I stand firm in my sentiments that @WWE is the best pro wrestling on the planet and that I’m the best of the best doing it right now. After a helluva week of travel, our crew didn’t waver for a second. Top level humans busting their asses for the love of the game.

“I couldn’t be more proud to be a champion with this company and represent @WWE and the entire industry in the way it deserves. No more garbage tweets. I can and will be better.”

Seth Rollins and Will Ospreay

The online conflict between the two began after Will Ospreay responded to a Tweet of Rollins’. The WWE Universal Champion stated that it would be impossible to find another wrestler who performs at his level as often as he does.

“Ahhhh I’m sorry little guy,” Rollins Tweeted back. “We already have a better version of you here and he just won his first US Title tonight (Congrats @KingRicochet). Keep working hard though buddy!”

• Seth Rollins & Will Ospreay Continue Their Online Rivalry

Ospreay then Tweeted out that he had, in fact, wrestled more matches in 2019 than Rollins had.

“I mean if you wanna talk numbers we can compare bank accounts too,” Rollins responded. “P.S. That’s counting a month off with a broken back…”

Baron Corbin then decided he wanted to be part of the conversation as well:

Will Ospreay has been involved in an online dispute with Seth Rollins in the last few days. Rollins said on Twitter that he’s the best wrestler on the planet and Ospreay noted that he should be involved in that conversation as well.

• Seth Rollins & Will Ospreay Continue Their Online Rivalry

Ospreay appeared on Wrestling Observer radio recently and went into further detail regarding his opinion on who the best in the world is.

“I don’t care about being the best in the world, I just care about doing the best of my abilities,” Ospreay said when asked if he thought he was the best wrestler in the world. “If you ask me my genuine opinion who the best wrestler in the world is, I genuinely think it’s a toss-up between Okada and AJ Styles.”

Ospreay also mentioned that Kenny Omega should be included in that group as well.

“There is a list of guys that you could probably call the best in the world,” Ospreay said.

He would continue to say he just wants to do the best he can each night. Ospreay stressed he doesn’t want to let things like star-ratings matter to him.

“I just want to wrestle and I want to prove that I do belong there in that list of guys,” he concluded.

Will Ospreay In New Japan Pro Wrestling

Ospreay won the recent Best of the Super Juniors tournament and then regained the IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship at Dominion. Next up for Ospreay is NJPW’s 2-night tour in Australia and then he will enter his first-ever G1 tournament.

“This is going to be different for me but I’m willing to take the challenge,” Ospreay said regarding entering the G1. “I’m excited, I’m actually looking forward to getting in the ring with some of these guys.”

Seth Rollins has been saying he is the best wrestler alive lately on Twitter. He first made the comments this weekend and then doubled-down on his comments during the Stomping Grounds PPV Sunday night. Will Ospreay has taken exception to Rollins’ comments and the two have gone back-and-forth again recently.

• Seth Rollins “Doubles Down” On WWE Best Wrestling Claim, Will Ospreay & Others Respond

Baron Corbin Chimes In

Baron Corbin also offered his opinion on this matter. He mentioned that he does not know who Will Ospreay is but just wanted to be part of the conversation.

Ospreay then responded to Corbin:

Chris Jericho Comments

Chris Jericho also offered his comments regarding Rollins calling Ospreay a “little guy.”

More wrestlers also offered their opinions of the Seth Rollins Will Ospreay debate. Tama Tonga, who is never one to shy away from online debate, offered up the following:

What’s Next For Will Ospreay and Seth Rollins?

Will Ospreay is going to be traveling to Australia for 2 shows with NJPW on June 29th and 30th. NJPW will be in Melbourne on the 29th and Sydney on the 30th. He will look to defend his IWGP Junior Heavyweight title against Robbie Eagles in Melbourne and then team with Tanahashi and Okada against Bullet Club in Sydney.

As for Rollins, he could be on Smackdown tonight due to the wild card rule. Last night on RAW, Rollins and Becky Lynch were confirmed to be defending their titles in a mixed-gender tag match at Extreme Rules.

New Japan Pro Wrestling announced several matches today for their upcoming shows this month. NJPW will present the Kizuna Road tour from June 14th to June 25th. The promotion will then run two back-to-back shows in Australia on June 29th and 30th.

3 shows from the Kizuna Road tour will air on New Japan World. Here are the lineups and dates for those shows:

Sunday, June 16th – Korakuen Hall – Tokyo, Japan

1. Yota Tsuji vs Yuya Uemura
2. Ren Narita, Tomoaki Honma, Tomohiro Ishii vs Douki, Kanemaru, and Taichi
3. Taguchi, Mikey Nicholls, Juice Robinson vs Jado, Tanga Loa, Tama Tonga
4. Shota Umino, Tiger Mask, Jushin Liger, Yuji Nagata, Kota Ibushi vs BUSHI, Shingo Takagi, SANADA, EVIL, and Tetsuya Naito
5. Toru Yano, Togi Makabe, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi, Jay White
6. Toa Henare, YOSHI-HASHI, Kazuchika Okada vs Lance Archer, Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki
7. IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Championships: SHO & YOH (c) vs El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori

Monday, June 17th – Korakuen Hall – Tokyo, Japan

1. Yota Tsuji vs Yuya Uemura
2. Shota Umino & Yuji Nagata vs Toa Henare & Tomoaki Honma
3. Hiroyoshi Tenzan Comeback Match: Tiger Mask, Jushin Liger, Satoshi Kojima, Kota Ibushi vs BUSH, Takagi, SANADA, EVIL, & Tetsuya Naito
4. Ren Narita, Mikey Nicholls, Juice Robinson, Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Taiji Ishimori, Tanga Loa, Tama Tonga, Jay White
5. NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships: Ryusuke Taguchi, Toru Yano, & Togi Makabe (c) vs El Phantasmo, Chase Owens, & Yujiro Takahashi
6. Elimination Match: Sho, Yoh, Tomohiro Ishii, Yoshi-Hashi, Kazuchika Okada vs Kanemaru, Taichi, Lance Archer, Zack Sabre Jr, & Minoru Suzuki

Tuesday, June 25th – Sendai Sunplaza Hall

1. Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Yota Tsuji & Yuji Nagata
2. Ren Narita, Shota Umino, Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe, & Kota Ibushi vs BUSHI, Shingo Takagi, SANADA, EVIL, & Tetsuya Naito
3. Mikey Nicholls & Juice Robinson vs Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa (non-title)
4. SHO, YOH, Toa Henare, & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Taiji Ishimori, Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi, & Jay White
5. Tiger Mask, Jushin Liger, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, & Kazuchika Okada vs DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi, Lance Archer, & Minoru Suzuki
6. British Cruiserweight Championship: El Phantasmo (c) vs Ryusuke Taguchi
7. British Heavyweight Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs YOSHI-HASHI

The lineups for NJPW’s two shows in Australia to close out June are as follows:

Saturday, June 29th – NJPW Southern Showdown In Melbourne Australia

1. Ren Narita, Shota Umino, & Toa Henare vs Michael Richards, Andrew Villabos, & Mark Tui
2. Aaron Solow vs Slex
3. SHO, YOH, & Toru Yano vs Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, & Gino Gambino
4. YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii vs Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi
5. Rocky Romero vs El Phantasmo
6. Mikey Nicholls & Juice Robinson vs Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa (Non-title)
7. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Will Ospreay (c) vs Robbie Eagles
8. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada vs Jay White & Bad Luck Fale

Sunday, June 30th, NJPW Sothern Showdown in Sydney, Australia

1. Michael Richards & Andrew Villabos vs Stevie Flip & Tome Flip
2. Rocky Romero vs Tony Kozina
3. Jack Bonza vs Mick Moretti
4. Aaron Solow vs Chase Owens
5. Toru Yano, Mikey Nicholls & Juice Robinson vs Gino Gambino, Tanga Loa, & Tama Tonga
6. Tomohiro Ishii vs Toa Henare
7. Will Ospreay, Hiroshi Tanahashi, & Kazuchika Okada vs Robbie Eagles, Bad Luck Fale, & Jay White

• NJPW Bringing Super J-Cup To USA In August

For the second time in his career, Will Ospreay has won the Best of the Super Juniors tournament. He defeated Shingo Takagi today in the finals of the Best of the Super Juniors 26 tournament.

With the win, Ospreay earns a title shot against IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion, Dragon Lee. Ospreay becomes just the 5th wrestler to win the BOSJ more than once.

Following the match, Ospreay announced he would be moving to Japan full-time.

Best of the Super Juniors 26 Round Robin Standings

Block A:

1. Shingo Takagi – 18pts
2. Taiji Ishimori – 14pts
3. Dragon Lee – 14pts
4. Sho – 10pts
5. Marty Scurll – 10pts
6. Jonathan Gresham – 8pts
7. Titan – 6pts
8. Yoshinobu Kanemaru – 6pts
9. Tiger Mask – 4pts
10. Taka Michinoku – 0pts

Block B:

1. Will Ospreay – 14pts
2. Ryusuke Taguchi – 12pts
3. El Phantasmo – 12pts
4. Bushi – 12pts
5. Yoh – 12pts
6. Bandido – 10pts
7. Robbie Eagles – 10pts
8. Rocky Romero – 6pts
9. Douki – 2pts
10. Ren Narita – 0pts

Best of the Super Juniors Previous Winners

1. 1994: Jushin Liger
2. 1995: Wild Pegasus
3. 1996: Black Tiger II
4. 1997: El Samurai
5. 1998: Koji Kanemoto
6. 1999: Kendo Kashin
7. 2000: Tatsuhito Takaiwa
8. 2001: Jushin Liger (2)
9. 2002: Koji Kanemoto (2)
10. 2003: Masahito Kakihara
11. 2004: Tiger Mask IV
12. 2005: Tiger Mask IV (2)
13. 2006: Minoru
14. 2007: Milano Collection A.T
15. 2008: Watru Inoue
16. 2009: Koji Kanemoto (3)
17. 2010: Prince Devitt
18. 2011: Kota Ibushi
19. 2012: Ryusuke Taguchi
20. 2013: Prince Devitt (2)
21. 2014: Ricochet
22. 2015: Kushida
23. 2016: Will Ospreay
24. 2017: Kushida
25. 2018: Hiromu Takahashi
26. 2019: Will Ospreay (2)

New Japan Pro Wrestling will present the finals of their Best of the Super Juniors tournament tomorrow. The promotion released the full lineup for the event today.

Previously, Jon Moxley vs Juice Robinson for the US title, Jay White vs Hiroshi Tanahashi, and the tournament finals had been announced. The event will air live on New Japan World.

Check back early Wednesday morning for results from NJPW BOSJ 26 Finals.

NJPW BOSJ 26 Finals Lineup

1. Shota Umino, Titan, & Dragon Lee vs Ren Narita, Jonathan Gresham, & Bandido
2. Ryusuke Taguchi & Roppongi 3K vs Robbie Eagles, El Phantasmo, and Taiji Ishimori
3. Tiger Mask, Jushin Liger, Yoshi-Hashi, Toru Yano, and Tomohiro Ishii vs Douki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Zack Sabre Jr, Minor Suzuki, Taichi (Suzuki-Gun)
4. Toa Henare, Tomoaki Honma, Togi Makabe, and Kota Ibushi vs Bushi, Sanada, EVIL and Tetsuya Naito
5. Rock Romero & Kazuchika Okada vs Brody King & Marty Scurll
6. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Jay White
7. IWGP United States Championship: Juice Robinson (c) vs Jon Moxley
8. Best of the Super Juniors 26 Finals: Will Ospreay vs Shingo Takagi

Jon Moxley To Debut For New Japan

New Japan GM, Michael Craven recently stated that their signing of Moxley was made independent of his deal with all AEW. He made the comments in a statement to SI.com.

• NJPW GM Clarifies Promotion’s Relationship With AEW

“New Japan and Jon Moxley came to terms on an agreement some time ago, completely independently of All Elite,” Craven said in a statement. “Our understanding is that he is free to wrestle in Japan. We wish AEW well, but have no working relationship as of now.”

New Japan Pro Wrestling’s annual tournament to determine the best junior heavyweight single’s wrestler in the world begins next month. The promotion announced all but 1 of the 20 wrestlers who will compete in the tournament this year.

NJPW Best of the Super Juniors

The tournament will run from May 13th to June 5th, 2019. Announced for the 26th edition of the Best of the Super Juniors are:

• Ryusuke Taguchi (16th appearance)
• Tiger Mask (18th appearance) (won in 2005 & 2005)
• Rocky Romero (7th appearance)
• Sho (2nd appearance)
• Yoh (2nd appearance)
• Will Ospreay (4th appearance) (2016 winner)
• Taiji Ishimori (3rd appearance)
• El Desperado (4th appearance)
• Taka Michinoku (7th appearance)
• Yoshinobu Kanemaru (3rd appearance)
• Bushi (7th appearance)
• Flip Gordon (2nd appearance)
• Titan (2nd appearance)
• Marty Scurll (3rd appearance)
• Dragon Lee (3rd appearance)
• Robbie Eagles (1st appearance)
• Jonathan Gresham (1st appearance)
• Bandido (1st appearance)
• Shingo Takagi (1st appearance)
• One competitor to be announced later.

The tournament schedule and blocks will be announced at a later date.

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku

Before the Best of the Super Juniors, however, NJPW has 3 big events to close out April and kick-off May.

• NJPW Releases Wrestling Dontaku Lineups

Wrestling Hi no Kuni 2019 – Kumamoto – April 29th:

1. Ren Narita, Shota Umino, Tomoaki Honma vs Yuya Uemura, Yota Tsuji, Toa Henare
2. Taguchi, Tiger Maski, Jushin Liger, YOSHI-HASHI, Jeff Cobb vs Taka Michinoku, El Desperado, Kanemaru, and Minoru Suzuki, Taichi
3. Will Ospreay & Dragon Lee vs Hikuleo & Taiji Ishimori
4. Mikey Nicholls vs Bad Luck Fale
5. Juice Robinson vs Chase Owens
6. Roppongi 3K, Tomohiro Ishii, and Kazuchika Okada vs Shingo Takagi, BUSHI, Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA
7. IWGP Tag Team Championships: Guerillas of Destiny (c) vs Toru Yano & Togi Makabe
8. Hirooki Goto vs Jay White

Wrestling Dontaku – Fukuoka – May 3rd:

1. Ren Narita, Shota Umino, Tomoaki Honma vs Yuya Uemura, Yota Tsuji, Toa Henare
2. Taguchi, Tiger Maski, Jushin Liger, YOSHI-HASHI vs Taka Michinoku, El Desperado, Kanemaru, and Minoru Suzuki
3. Will Ospreay, Toru Yano, Togi Makabe vs HKIULEO, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa
4. Roppongi 3K vs Shingo Takagi, BUSHI, and Tetsuya Naito
5. Mikey Nicholls, Juice Robinson, Hirooki Goto vs Jay White, Chase Owens, Bad Luck Fale
6. Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada vs EVIL & Sanada
7. NEVER Openweight Championship: Jeff Cobb (c) vs Taichi
8. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Dragon Lee (c) vs Taiji Ishimori

Wrestling Dontaku – Fukuoka – May 4th:

1. Ren Narita, Shota Umino vs Yuya Uemura, Yota Tsuji
2. Taguchi, Tiger Mask, Toa Henare, Yoshi Hashi, Jeff Cobb vs Taka Michinoku, El Desperado, Kanemaru, Minoru Suzuki, Taichi
3. Jushin Liger, Toru Yano, Togi Makabe vs Jado, Tanga Loga, Tama Tonga
4. Tomoaki Honma, Mikey Nicholls, Juice Robinson, Hirooki Goto vs Hikuleo, Chase Owens, Bad Luck Fale, Jay White
5. Will Ospreay & Dragon Lee vs Taiji Ishimori & TBD
6. Roppongi 3K vs Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI, Shingo Takagi
7. Tomohiro Ishii vs EVIL
8. IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs SANADA

Jeff Cobb defeated Will Ospreay tonight inside Madison Square Garden during the ROH/NJPW G1 Supercard. The title vs title match kicked off the main portion of the show. Cobb now holds both the NEVER Openweight and ROH TV championships.

He is the 15th person to hold the title and begins the 24th championship reign in its lineage. Ospreay had won the title at Wrestle Kingdom this year by defeating Kota Ibsuhi inside the Tokyo Dome. Ospreay’s first and only title defense came last month when he defeated Dalton Castle at ROH’s Honor Rising show in Korakuen Hall.

Cobb defeated Punishment Martinez for the ROH TV championship last September at a set of TV tapings. Since then Cobb has defended the title successfully 7 times.

G1 Supercard in Madison Square GardenG

• IWGP Heavyweight Championship match: “Switchblade” Jay White vs Kazuchika Okada
• ROH World Championship Triple Threat Ladder Match: Jay Lethal (c) vs Matt Taven vs Marty Scurll
• IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match: Tetsuya Naito (c) vs Kota Ibushi
• British Heavyweight Championship Match: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi
• IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship/ROH World Tag Team Championship 4-Way Match: Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) (c) vs PCO & Brody King (c) vs the Briscoes vs EVIL & SANADA
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship 3-Way: Taiji Ishimori (c) vs Dragon Lee vs Bandido
• NYC Street Fight Open Challenge: Bully Ray vs Juice Robinson
• WOH World Championship Match: Mayu Iwatani (c) vs Kelly Klein
• Dalton Castle vs Rush
• NEVER Openweight vs ROH TV Title Match: Will Ospreay (c) vs Jeff Cobb (c)
• Honor Rumble: Jushin Liger, Kenny King, PJ Plack, The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser and Brian Milonas), and Cheeseburger
• Kagetsu, Jenny Rose and Hazuki v. Hana Kimura, Stella Grey and Sumie Sakai

Revolution Pro (Rev Pro) Wrestling has announced a big tag match for their WrestleCon event in April. Will Ospreay and Hiroshi Tanahashi will be teaming to take on Zack Sabre Jr and Minoru Suzuki.

The show will be taking place on Friday April 5th from the Hilton New York Midtown Ballroom. Already announced for the show are Tomohiro Ishii and CCK (Chris Brookes and Jon Gresham).

Ospreay and PAC were originally scheduled to take on Brookes and Gresham. The two men had an incredible time limit draw at the recent High Stakes 2019 event in York Hall, Bethnal Green. Brookes and Gresham interfered during the bout which has lead to this match. There were originally rumors that Ospreay would be facing PAC as a way to give Rev Pro one of the ‘best’ in ring bouts of WrestleMania weekend. Unfortunately PAC had to be removed from the event for undisclosed reasons. Hiroshi Tanahashi is quite the replacement for the show.

Ticket information for the show can be found here.

PROGRESS Wrestling will soon be hosting their Super Strong Style 16 tournament. The annual 3 day event is traditionally held in May and features some of the top stars from the UK/European and International scenes. Last year saw WWE/NXT Superstar Kassius Ohno appear in standout bouts with NXT UK Superstar Tyler Bate and CCK’s Chris Brookes.

One half of the PROGRESS Wrestling Tag Team Champions Paul Robinson has declared that he wants ‘in’ on the tournament. PROGRESS recently sent out a tweet seeming to indicate that there would be an issue with the Tag Team Title bout at the upcoming ‘Breadknife’ event. That show will be taking place on March 31st from the Electric Ballroom in Camden, London. It is not yet known if this is due to a scheduling conflict. Robinson’s tag partner is Will Ospreay, a big star in NJPW and someone who the company relies on heavily. Ospreay may otherwise be occupied and they are therefore working this into a storyline. This however has not yet been confirmed. Check out the recent promo from Robinson demanding his shot in the tournament via the tweet below:

Already confirmed for the Super Strong Style 16 tournament are:

• ‘The Kiwi Buzzsaw’ Travis Banks
• Aerostar
• Ilja Dragunov
• Darby Allin
• DJZ
• Chris Brookes
• Artemis Spencer
• Chris Ridgeway
• Trevor Lee
• Jordan Devlin

There are of course 6 more names to be confirmed, with Paul Robinson looking like he may be one of them.

NJPW has announced another big star who will be appearing at the upcoming Royal Quest event. NEVER Openweight Champion Will Ospreay will be heading to the Copper Box Arena in London.

Ospreay won the NEVER Openweight Championship at the Wrestle Kingdom show in January. The ‘Aerial Assassin’ defeated Kota Ibushi to claim the title and dethrone the Japanese star.

The company confirmed earlier this month that “Three” of their “top Japanese wrestlers have confirmed they will be on the card and they will be bringing New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s fighting spirit to the heart of the UK’s capital.” Those three stars were Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito and IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi.

NJPW aren’t strangers to the United Kingdom. They have held numerous events in conjuncture with other promotions. Most notably Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro) and Ring Of Honor (ROH). ‘Royal Quest’ will be their first major solo show in the UK.

You can find more information on their website, NJPW1972.com.

.@WillOspreay will be coming to the CopperBox!

He'll will be coming to the UK in August along with Naito, Tanahashi and Okada!

Pre-sales are still ongoing, so make sure to grab your tickets before the start of the general sale!https://t.co/54DRgRmFRa#njpw #njpwroyalquest pic.twitter.com/GJ1D2o9juj

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) March 13, 2019

NJPW NEVER Openweight Champion Will Ospreay will be taking on IWGP Heavyweight Champion Jay White at the upcoming 47th Anniversary show. Ospreay captured the belt at the Wrestle Kingdom show January 4th against Kota Ibushi.

• Will Ospreay To Face Jay White At NJPW Anniversary Show

Both White and Ospreay were members of the CHAOS faction up until recently. ‘Switchblade’ Jay White made the change to Bullet Club alongside Gedo and quickly defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP title after the fact. Ospreay recently challenged his former stablemate to the aforementioned bout at the Anniversary show. The ‘Aerial Assassin’ recently spoke to New Japan’s English language site NJPW1972.com about the upcoming match.

Unexpected Win Against Tanahashi

When asked about White winning the bout in shocking fashion Ospreay had some interesting comments. The English star stated that “I was in England with my missus and we were watching it on TV, on NJPW World. The moment that Tanahashi went for the High Fly Flow and he caught him and hit the blade runner I sat up. He beat Tanahashi, I couldn’t believe it, in fact I didn’t want to believe it, but he’s right.” Ospreay elaborated further, saying that “we all didn’t take him seriously, we all didn’t think that Jay could beat him. Maybe Tanahashi thought the same, I don’t know, I wasn’t there. But the fact remains that Jay White is the IWGP Heavyweight Champion and he did that by beating the Ace.”

When The Assassin Meets Switchblade

Ospreay then commented on the match against White, saying “I think he’s going to underestimate me because he has Gedo in his corner. Now, Gedo helped me out a lot when I was growing in the Junior Heavyweight division and perhaps Gedo thinks he knows everything about Will Ospreay.” Ospreay continued, saying “I think Jay’s going to go into this fight super confident. But, I’ve kind of changed since Gedo left. There are some elements I’ve kept doing since those days, but there are other elements that have changed me and because of that I think I’ve become a better person and a better wrestler.”

Strategy In The Bout

Finally Ospreay stated that “whatever strategy that Jay White brings, the moment that he turns his back on me and I bring this out [points to elbow] and I put my hidden blade right into the back of his head and knock him spark out that’s not enough for me. I will then hoist that guy up onto my shoulders and deliver the storm breaker. He’s going to hear it. This quiet voice saying ‘One, Two, Three.’ My awesome music will play and all you hear is ‘Winner: NEVER Openweight Champion, Will Ospreay.’ That’s something that’s going to set in, that Jay White isn’t unbeatable.”

You can read the full interview here.

New Japan Pro Wrestling made several announcements today. The promotion released the brackets for this year’s New Japan Cup tournament and also unveiled the main event of their upcoming Anniversary show on March 6th.

In a special champion vs champion match, IWGP Heavyweight Champion Jay White will face NEVER Openweight Champion Will Ospreay. The match will main event NJPW’s 47th Anniversary show from Ota City General Gymnasium.

Neither champion’s title will be on the line in the match.

NJPW 47th Anniversary Show Lineup – March 6th, 2019

• Champion vs Champion
  IWGP Heavyweight Champion: Jay White (Bullet Club) vs NEVER Openweight Champion: Will Ospreay (CHAOS)
• Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada, & Hirooki Goto vs EVIL, SANADA, & Tetsuya Naito (LIJ)
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
  Taiji Ishimori (Bullet Club) (c) vs Jushin “Thunder” Liger
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
  Bushi & Shingo Takagi (LIJ) (c) vs Sho & Yoh (Roppongi Vice) (CHAOS)
• Dragon Lee, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask, Tomoaki Honma, Satoshi Kojima vs TAKA Michinoku, El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi, Minoru Suzuki (Suzuki Gun)
• Toa Henare & Yuji Nagata vs YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS)
• Ren Narita, Shota Umino, Ayato Yoshida, Toru Yano, & Togi Makabe vs HIKULEO, Chase Owens, Tanga Loa, Tama Tonga, & Bad Luck Fale (Bullet Club)

New Japan Pro Wrestling also released the brackets for the New Japan cup today:

• • NJPW Releases New Japan Cup Card Information

Earlier this month saw Revolution Pro (Rev Pro) Wrestling present their High Stakes 2019 event. The show took place from the world famous York Hall in Bethnal Green, London.

The main event featured an independent dream match with NEVER Openweight Champion Will Ospreay facing Dragon Gate star PAC. The match featured a run in from CCK’s Chris Brookes and Jon Gresham. The bout ended in a time limit draw, with the contest going the allocated 30 minutes.

PAC took to the top rope and counted along with the fans in the final seconds, opting not to hit his Black Arrow finishing move. The contest was a critical hit with fans in attendance but many were questioning the finish, blaming ‘politics’ between New Japan and Dragon Gate.

Rev Pro has now announced that Ospreay and PAC will be teaming to take on CCK. The company will be heading to the Hilton New York Midtown Ballroom this WrestleMania weekend on Friday 5th April. Tickets for the show are available to purchase now. 

There were rumors that Ospreay and PAC would be involved at the New York showing following their time limit draw. Initial reports indicated that it would be another singles match however CCK’s involvement in the original bout makes much more sense.

NEW YORK: OSPREAY & PAC combine for the first time ever to take on CCK: Gresham & Brookes

Can they co-exist? Can Ospreay finally earn the respect of one of his heroes? Can CCK spoil the party?

Find out Friday April 5th, 3pm!

Get your tickets now: https://t.co/Zlmjrd7xgt pic.twitter.com/oWSEEMnXe7

— Revolution Pro (@RevProUK) February 21, 2019

This past weekend saw Revolution Pro (Rev Pro) Wrestling present their High Stakes 2019 event. The show took place from the world famous York Hall in Bethnal Green, London.

The main event featured an independent dream match with NEVER Openweight Champion Will Ospreay facing Dragon Gate star PAC. The match featured a run in from CCK’s Chris Brookes and Jon Gresham. The bout ended in a time limit draw, with the contest going the allocated 30 minutes.

PAC took to the top rope and counted along with the fans in the final seconds, opting not to hit his Black Arrow finishing move. The contest was a critical hit with fans in attendance but many were questioning the finish, blaming ‘politics’ between New Japan and Dragon Gate.

Potential ‘politics’ aside, Ospreay took to Twitter to essentially confirm that this is just the beginning of the feud. The ‘Aerial Assassin’ tweeted a mid-match image of the two men and wrote “Chapter 1.” Whilst there’s no confirmation of where the second match could be taking place there’s a very good chance that the WrestleMania weekend show for Rev Pro could see the two high-flying stars go at it once again.

High Stakes 2019 is now available to view online via Rev Pro’s official On Demand service. If you sign up now you can view the entire event for free with a 7-day trial.

Chapter 1 pic.twitter.com/Ypt2xeOR2A

— Will Ospreay • ????????? (@WillOspreay) February 18, 2019