Will Ospreay recently was interviewed by Wrestling Republic’s Eric Novak on the All Real Wrestling Podcast, in which Ospreay would discuss his feelings towards Jon Moxley after he had to vacate his NJPW World Title and Moxley was able to hold his NJPW US Championship until he lost it to Lance Archer on an episode of AEW Dynamite.
Ospreay would reveal his initial thoughts about the injury that would force him to recover at home:
“So, here’s what happened I wrestled Shingo and like to be honest with you I’ve been carrying around so many nagging injuries it was just to the point where I wasn’t healthy, I really wasn’t I was like I’m very good at masking a lot of my injuries I’m very good at just like going out there like I’ll even say like I’ve got a torn shoulder but I’m still going but people are like oh he’s fine just keeps going he over exaggerates and I got hurt with Shingo. It wasn’t just my neck; it was my back as well. If you look at when I do my match with Shingo, I do a shooting star press and it’s a little bit too far out and my back just pops and I went honestly to this day. Honestly, I can remember the pain because it felt like somebody was like burning me. I feel like somebody was like lighting me on fire and I still had to do another 25 minutes on after that. I didn’t realize how bad it was and then obviously covid happened really bad in Japan, which postponed the Tokyo dome show which was meant to be me and Okada. So then obviously they had to move that back but then I honestly was in agony. I was like at points I was getting out of bed and I couldn’t stand up properly and it was like I could stand up… But I can’t explain it at all but it was just, I felt like I was in a car crash. Then I wanted to go get checked out properly and I wanted to do it for my own back and new Japan saw how bad I was so they said all right we’re going to send you home. So, I got sent home, had done all the tests and it was a very bad injury and I will not discuss how bad it was but they said it is fixable and we can get you back in four months.”
Next, Ospreay would discuss his frustrations at NJPW taking his title away and not taking Moxley’s US Championship away as well:
“I was like right four months game on my diet and once again I’m depressed dude I’m like I’m going from mad party stages to like hide how sad I am. I’m just partying hard but I’m also like focusing so hard on my diet my workouts, like my diet my workouts and everything along those lines and then within the first week I got the title taken off of me I was just guys just need four months off that was it so there was there was that part of me that was angry because like there’s Jon Moxley and like I’ve got a lot to say about Jon Moxley it’s like Moxley just has like a year off actively competing but doesn’t defend the title once but yet new Japan are like oh no he’s fine it’s just like but no you’ve got taken the guy that’s like actually broke his back for the company actually done all the neck injury for his company carried on doing all that just need four months off four freaking months off but you just you just take the title away from me, like f u, then right so that’s my kind of like I was kind of angry but once again I get it you guys need a fighting champion but like just if you’re going to do it with Moxley then do it with the guy that’s always going to be here, like Moxley this is a part-timer, I’m here there’s nothing against Moxley like whatever like I couldn’t care less about the guy like, it’s just like come on man I mean I’m the guy that’s going to be here like I’m gonna be busting my ass up so that’s why I made a statement of saying no until you notice me as you as that is the interim champion as that’s the real championship I ain’t coming back to Japan like I’ll perform over here I’ll perform in America I ain’t gonna do I ain’t gonna do it anymore like I mean that’s my me taking my stand and I showed up in Ireland with that belt, in the United Kingdom, in America, in Japan, like I showed up everywhere with that belt, I actually made it a World Title where Shingo’s title could have been called like a national title at best.”
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Photo Credit – New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW)
