Injured Will Ospreay Will Miss NJPW Power Struggle

Even backup plans have changed...

by Jamie Kennedy
Will Ospreay 2016
By ゾーヒョー [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons

New Japan Pro Wrestling's official website has broken the news that Will Ospreay is off the upcoming Power Struggle card due to injury.

Ospreay had been scheduled to wrestle Taichi for the NEVER Openweight Championship on the November 3 show in Osaka, but a rib injury he suffered on October 14 during a UK match against Chris Ridgeway has forced him to pull out.

New Japan officials reported the announcement with a "heavy heart", and then added that there would be no replacement for the Englishman at Power Struggle. That means Taichi won't be defending his title at all, which is something the company also apologised for before wishing Ospreay well on his road to recovery.

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Previously, the promotion had already pulled Will from their 'Road To Power Struggle' tour throughout the second half of October. It was hoped skipping some dates would give him the necessary time to recover before the main show itself.

Ospreay has been thanking fans and peers for their support on both his Instagram and Twitter pages. There's no doubt he'll be as disappointed to cancel the match with Taichi as anyone else.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.