Will Ospreay Returns At NJPW Resurgence – Calls Out Everyone!

Ospreay is back, is medically cleared, and is the "real" IWGP World Heavyweight Champion.

By Andrew Pollard / August 15, 2021

Twitter @WillOspreay

In a major shocker, former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay made his NJPW return at last night's Resurgence event.

Ospreay was forced to vacate the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship in May after suffering a neck injury, but he announced at Resurgence that he is now medically cleared to wrestle. Despite that, he also said how he will not be competing in the 2021 G1 Climax.

Instead, the Aerial Assassin stated how nobody submitted or pinned him for his title, proclaiming himself as the "real" IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. Not only did Ospreay call out current IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Shingo Takagi, he called out the "dweebs of AEW" and also singled out Jon Moxley for how New Japan didn't strip Mox of the IWGP US Championship.

The Englishman made it clear that he now intends to wrestle on NJPW Strong - which emanates from Los Angeles - for the foreseeable future rather than travel to Japan. On Strong, Ospreay will defend his own IWGP World Heavyweight Title.

Highlights from '#njresurgence ’ (Aug 14th)

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.@WillOspreay has declared himself the 'real' IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, and is open to all challengers on his new home- #njpwSTRONG!Watch Now: https://t.co/CcdQ1XrpWA(Live Japanese on #njpwworld with English to follow) pic.twitter.com/tynsXjeGGC
— njpwworld (@njpwworld) August 15, 2021

I’m back babe. pic.twitter.com/2npUG6UN4A

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— ᵂⁱˡˡ ᴼˢᵖʳᵉᵃʸ • ウィル・オスプレイ (@WillOspreay) August 15, 2021

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

Posted On: 15th Aug 2021

In this post:

Will Ospreay Shingo Takagi Jon Moxley