10 Wrestlers Who Turned Down WWE Contracts

5. Will Ospreay

Sting Darby Allin
Arthur / Beyond Gorilla

As of 2022, (and with the important caveat that this relates solely to his in-ring work) Will Ospreay remains one of the greatest professional wrestlers on the planet. Would that be the case had he signed with WWE in 2018? His talent may be doubtless, but like his then-social media breaking sparring partner Ricochet, it seems all too likely it would have been painfully repressed.

During an episode of Chris Jericho's Talk is Jericho podcast, the Brit revealed that WWE phoned him up, and immediately began talking business. He was forthcoming with his reply, telling Stamford, "I appreciate it, but I'm quite happy [in NJPW] and love being a part of this."

A gracious response, and one which ensured bridges to the company stayed standing should he wish to cross them in the future. However, unless WWE make wholesale changes to their schedule, that doesn't seem likely any time soon. He further explained to Jericho:

"Those guys are wrestling on Christmas Day and New Year's and that would have killed me. Christmas to me is family and I love being with my family. I don't think I could do it. I really don't."
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Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.