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Will Ospreay (2018)

167 PTS.



Will Ospreay finally got a significant and sustained push, and delivered with a fantastic year.

Ospreay won his second IWGP junior title at Wrestle Kingdom 12, and followed up with a tremendous title reign that saw excellent defenses against the three men he defeated at WK, Hiromu, KUSHIDA, and Marty Scurll (who he finally managed to pin one on one in a New Japan ring).

A solid BOSJ run followed, before dropping the title to Hiromu at Dominion. Hiromu broke his neck in July and was forced to vacate the title. In September at Fighting Spirit Unleashed, Scurll beat Ospreay in a semifinal of the four-man tournament for the vacant belt in another excellent match, wrapping up Ospreay’s best year yet as a New Japan junior. According to me, a certified Accurate Star Rater, all six of Will’s non BOSJ singles bouts came in at ****¼ or higher, peaking with his Sakura Genesis win over Scurll (****¾), with four of his seven BOSJ matches crossed the four-star plateau as well (Taiji, ACH, YOH, Flip Gordon).

Ospreay crushed it outside of junior matches, too. Standouts include a three-way match from Perth on the Fallout Down Under tour vs Cody & Robbie Eagles, his 46th Anniversary champion vs champion match against stablemate Kazuchika Okada, and three tag matches; 4/27 w/Okada vs Tanahashi & KUSHIDA, 9/7 w/Ishii vs Golden Lovers, and the 12/15 match of the year contender w/Tanahashi vs Golden Lovers.

Ospreay’s best accomplishment may have been dragging a 4-star match out of Taichi on 12/9, which earned him a shot at the NEVER Openweight Title at Wrestle Kingdom 13.

The Wrestle Kingdom match against Ibushi could be the start of a heavyweight elevation. After losing to Scurll in the junior title tournament in September, Ospreay was programmed with two heavyweights, Taichi and Ibushi, to close out the year. Ospreay and Ibushi spent nearly the entire Destruction tour on opposite sides of tags, most of which featured focused showdowns between the two. An Ospreay vs Taichi NEVER title match at Power Struggle was canceled when Ospreay injured a rib in a match vs Chris Ridgeway in RevPro. Hirooki Goto stepped in for Ospreay and won the title. Ospreay beat Taichi for the number one contendership on the same night Ibushi won the title from Goto, setting up the Wrestle Kingdom match. Ospreay and Ibushi faced off in two tags in Korakuen Hall to close out the year, including the aforementioned 12/15 Tanahashi & Ospreay vs Golden Lovers match that drew MOTY buzz.