Will Ospreay: Living in Kenny Omega’s Shadow

By: James Carlin

When Kenny Omega left New Japan Pro-Wrestling in 2019, there were two people lined up to take his place:

One was “Switchblade” Jay White, and the other was the “Commonwealth Kingpin” Will Ospreay.

Jay White’s position to become the next-in-line as New Japan’s biggest foreign attraction seemed like a no-brainer. He had completed New Japan’s grand-slam of titles and was the one that defeated Kenny Omega to become the second IWGP United States champion. He had taken command of Bullet Club as well, with EVIL as IWGP Heavyweight and IWGP Intercontinental champion now in his unit, flanked by Dick Togo, Gedo and Jado.

“He doesn’t like me. I don’t like him. I respect how much he has done in terms of accomplishments, but I could never be satisfied with my career knowing I never did it alone. Everything baring the his first title win he has needed Gedo. So take him away and his talent as a wrestler is not what represents what New Japan Pro Wrestling should be.

You can think I’m a dick, giant ego or I’m a horrible dude. I’m not afraid to die on my sword and go down through not being good enough.

I honestly think I am the best wrestler I’m the world in terms of skill, however that championship belongs to Jay for now.

I do think it would be extremely interesting if we were to square off one on one for the main title. I think Japanese wrestling fans would want to see which one of us is the true Foreign Ace.”

-Will Ospreay on what separates him and Jay White as the “Foreign Ace” of New Japan.

The Commonwealth Kingpin and The Switchblade have only faced off twice in a New Japan ring – once at NJPW’s 47th Anniversary show, which Jay White won – and the second in the 2020 G1 Climax which Will Ospreay won. They’re 1-1 in singles matches and another big match between each other for the IWGP World Heavyweight title could come sooner than later.

However, Ospreay would soon be obsessed with the idea of becoming New Japan’s next big foreign name after Omega, as his accolades began to pile up over the next two years.

During the 2020 G1 Climax, Ospreay would betray CHAOS and its leader Kazuchika Okada to form the United Empire when Great-O-Khan returned from excursion, giving Okada the mandible claw that gave Ospreay an opening to hit Stormbreaker and get the pinfall.

Much like Omega’s time in Bullet Club, the United Empire would soon have more wrestlers joining its ranks and winning championships. Jeff Cobb, TJP, Francesco Akira, Aussie Open and the “Evil Genius” Lord Gideon Grey would all become associated with the unit in the following years. Cobb and O-Khan would win the IWGP Tag Team titles, Akira and TJP capturing the IWGP Junior Tag titles whilst Will Ospreay kept a firm grasp on the RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight championship that he had held since the beginning of 2020.

“We have a chip on our shoulders. We all offer something different and have mastered our skills in the ring. Together we are a group that want to be the top of NJPW.”

-Will Ospreay talking about the formation of the United Empire.

It seemed as though Bullet club weren’t the only massively successful foreign faction capable of winning multiple championships, and this only fuelled the Commonwealth Kingpin even more as he looked to overtake Kenny Omega as the top guy in New Japan.

After winning the 2021 New Japan Up, Ospreay stated that he was willing to do anything to win the now-unified IWGP World Heavyweight title, delivering a cutter to his valet Bea Priestley and subsequently kicking her out of the United Empire; no more distractions. At Sakura Genesis, he would dethrone Omega’s best friend Kota Ibushi to become the new IWGP World Heavyweight champion.

Best In The World. pic.twitter.com/lktU9SZb1l

— Will Ospreay • ウィル・オスプレイ (@WillOspreay) April 4, 2021

“It’s definitely a change, I’ve had to abandon a lot my offence but thankfully I’ve been doing my tricks from such a young age, so I’ve managed to have a muscle memory even with the mass. A shooting star press or 450 are a lot more effective now I’m 100kg and not 86kg.”

-Will Ospreay on the transition between being a junior heavyweight and being a heavyweight wrestler, and its effects on his moveset.

Will Ospreay is at the top of New Japan – their number one champion and number one foreigner. But his happiness wouldn’t last long, as Ospreay would be forced to vacate the championship after only one defence due to injury. But he would be back more determined than ever.

Returning at a New Japan STRONG taping with what he called “The Real IWGP World Heavyweight championship” that he never lost, Ospreay would set out on a mission to prove to the world that he was the only one worthy of being called the true champion, carrying the championship wherever he went including back at home in England when defending the RevPro Undisputed Heavyweight title.

Upon his return to New Japan at Wrestle Kingdom, the fanfare wouldn’t be as great as he once expected, “losing” the championship to Kazuchika Okada in the main event of the first night.

Despite losing the lineal IWGP World Heavyweight championship to The Rainmaker, the Commonwealth Kingpin would win the same title that Kenny Omega was the inaugural winner of: The IWGP United States championship. Like Ospreay, champion Juice Robinson was unable to defend the title, which led to a match at Dominion 6.12 between SANADA and Ospreay to determine the new champion – Ospreay won.

Now IWGP United States champion, Ospreay would return to England at RevPro, facing off against Mad Kurt.

In his match against Mad Kurt, he would hit a One-Winged Angel before lifting up Kurt’s arm to make him “kick out”, mocking Omega and his finisher, which has only been kicked out of by one person – Kota Ibushi.

A week later, The Commonwealth Kingpin would release a shirt named “Billy the W**ker”, featuring a picture of him doing the One-Winged Angel, with back printing that said “Better than ‘the Best’ Bout Machine”. Omega would get the shirt taken off Pro-Wrestling Tees through a DCMA, and it looked like the inevitable feud between the two was about to step-up to another level.

This triggered various legal concerns within #Aew . Sincerest apologies to fans of Will. We’ve made it so all orders (up to today) will be honored. https://t.co/klHnk6XGL1

— Kenny Omega (@KennyOmegamanX) July 23, 2022

The Commonwealth Kingpin would then proceed to do something unprecedented since Kenny Omega was in Japan – he reached the finals of the 2022 G1 Climax by defeating first-time opponent Tetsuya Naito.

Only one man was standing in his way to becoming the second foreigner to win the most historic tournament in professional wrestling – Omega’s most famed opponent – Kazuchika Okada.

Ospreay had been studying his tapes. And just like how Omega had used moves of his friends and foes to win the G1 Finals against Hirooki Goto in 2016, Ospreay used the moves of those that had once defeated the Rainmaker to win the IWGP Heavyweight title – Tanahashi’s High-Fly Flow, AJ Styles’ Styles Clash and then… Kenny Omega’s V-Trigger and an attempted One-Winged Angel. But it wasn’t enough, and his obsession with using Omega’s moves to win the biggest match of his career was a major miscalculation, and Okada would hit the Rainmaker to defeat the Commonwealth Kingpin to win his second G1 in a row and fourth overall.

A few weeks later, Ospreay defended his British Heavyweight title against Ricky Knight Jr in a last-chance match. And yet again his obsession with Kenny Omega would cost him – the V-Trigger into attempted One-Winged Angel would be reversed by Ricky who turned it into a One-Winged Angel of his own, before hitting his own finisher and pinning Ospreay to win the Undisputed British Heavyweight championship that Ospreay had held for just shy of 920 days.

He had lost the G1 Finals. He had lost the Undisputed British Heavyweight title. Yet he was still the face of New Japan in the United States, holding the IWGP US title.

And he would get closer to Kenny Omega than ever before as the United Empire would be entered into AEW’s Trios Championship tournament, defeating Death Triangle in a legitimately ridiculous Dynamite main event to face-off against a reformed The Elite who defeated La Faccion Ingobernable to advance.

Post-show, both Omega and Ospreay traded words ahead of their face-off in the Dynamite Finals of the bracket – Aussie Open and Will Ospreay vs Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks.

This showdown between two of the best three-man teams in the world is one step closer to a definitive singles match between Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay.

Just like the Elite back in the day, Aussie Open hold tag titles whilst Ospreay holds a prestigious singles title heading into their epic encounter.

In the Dynamite finals, the two teams finally faced off – with Ospreay mocking Omega right in front of his face with his own V-Trigger setup – causing Kenny to come into the ring and confront him.

Finally, both Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega were the legal men in the ring, giving us a taste of what could be when the two come head-to-head in a singles match once again.

But the Commonwealth Kingpin was eventually pushed outside, giving the Best Bout Machine the opportunity to hit his signature moves and get the three count for the Elite, advancing to the tournament finals on September 4th at All Out.

On the rampway sat Ospreay. He may have lost the match, but he achieved his goal of “hurting” the Cleaner, despite the sacrifice it took to not see the tournament finals with Aussie Open. By the look on his face, you could tell that inside he was upset that he couldn’t defeat Omega on national television and prove his worth to his biggest audience yet.

>Ospreay’s determination to hit Omega’s moves to get into Omega’s head have continued to cost him in big matches around the world.

But to solidify his position as the “Foreign Ace”, he has to win big matches with his own moves to establish them, and himself as being to stand on their own and being capable to take down the best in the world. No matter if you’re Kazuchika Okada or Kenny Omega.<

The Leader of the United Empire has recognised that in the end, it’s just not worth the risk of using Omega’s moves in the ring anymore:

“I’ve noticed it and I think it’s best to avoid it. As powerful as that move is, it’s not something I’ve perfected in training and it’s led to my downfall. It’s not worth the risk just to piss him off.”

<-Will Ospreay, and the cost of using Kenny Omega’s own moves in high-profile matches.

Of course, Omega and Ospreay both faced off years ago in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla but both men have evolved and changed since those days and another match, just like Omega and Danielson, will be one for the history books when it happens, wherever it happens.

But there’s only way that this story can end – Ospreay defeats Omega.

With how many times he’s hit the One-Winged Angel to spite the Best Bout Machine, is it possible that he could beat Omega with his own move, or would he finally use his own finishing moves, the Hidden Blade and Stormbreaker, to finally put an end to his journey and prove that he is worthy of the spot that Kenny Omega once held?

 “He knows one on one it would be a fantastic bout and I can’t tell you enough how much I’d enjoy battering him after everything.

The two sides of me are saying: I got the last laugh leaving him and The Young Bucks laying in AEW, so I don’t really care. But the other side of me says we are both still able to put on those amazing matches still.

It’ll almost be stupid of me not to want to face him. See which one of us has the drive to pick up the win.”

-Will Ospreay, when asked about a rematch against Kenny Omega.

Will Ospreay is one of New Japan’s top foreign names right now, and he’ll one day cement his legacy as their Foreign Ace when he defeats Kenny Omega on the biggest stage there is – the worldwide stage.