Will Ospreay was interviewed before this weekend’s Wrestling Dontaku cards to share his feelings on the relationship between AEW and New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Ospreay returned to the ring in March after double neck fusion surgery last September. His return included a six-man tag at NJPW’s Sakura Genesis on April 4 for his first match in Japan in two years. He returns this weekend and will challenge for the NEVER Openweight Six-Man tag titles on Monday’s Wrestling Dontaku card.
He spoke with NJPW1972.com and shared his feelings on returning to the ring after such a major surgery:
I didn’t know how bad my neck really was until they told me I couldn’t wrestle. Coming back, the key thing for me was I didn’t want to be a shadow or a parody of myself in any way, so it made it all the more important to be able to show I could hang in Japan, at the same level of work ethic, both physically and in terms of my psyche.
The relationship between AEW and NJPW has been debated by fans and critics regarding AEW signing so many of its marquee talent. The counterargument is that the same performers leaving New Japan do come back on occasion, such as Ospreay this weekend, and if said talent joined WWE, that wouldn’t be the case.
Ospreay understands the pushback from New Japan fans and argues that more talent should be sent by AEW for an extended period, rather than one-off matches:
It is a difficult one. I can understand there can be a certain perception because a lot of guys did go from New Japan into AEW, myself included. But NJPW has always been exceptional at creating new stars; it just took time for New Japan to really identify who was going to be the top guy carrying things forward. And if you just looked at Wrestle Kingdom this year, Kazuchika Okada, Konosuke Takeshita, Andrade as well on that card were all major moments that could only really happen with the AEW relationship.
At the same time I do think there could be more guys sent from AEW into NJPW, and not just big names to pop a house but for a tour, or longer than that. Especially with the sheer size and the number of people AEW has under contract, I think it would be a great chance for AEW talent to grow and come back even better. And vice versa as well.
Ospreay listed Kenny Omega, Swerve Strickland, Jon Moxley, MJF, Speedball Mike Bailey, and Daniel Garcia as ones he would like to see spend more time in New Japan.
