NJPW's Will Ospreay On WWE Stars: "You Aren't Wrestlers, You're Actors"
Former IWGP Heavyweight Champion shoots from the hip on WWE's roster of "actors."
New Japan Pro Wrestling star Will Ospreay believes that what WWE performers do for a living is more akin to acting than professional wrestling.
The outspoken former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion made these comments during a recent appearance on Wresthings, stressing that while he wasn't trying to take shots at WWE talent, there's a big difference between their jobs and his own (h/t SEScoops):-
“You guys aren’t wrestlers, you’re actors and you just do wrestling and I don’t think that’s a dig. You guys make way more money than me like, good on you, but I just feel like when I say proudly, ‘That’s a wrestler. I am a wrestler, I am not an actor.'"
Continuing, Ospreay stated that he knows WWE's stars are capable of getting it done between the ropes - it's the company that prevents them from showing this:-
"But I know you guys can wrestle, you’re just not really allowed to show it, I guess. But other than you want to make a lot of money and retire, that’s what WWE is kind of for these days.”
Ospreay, 29, is currently signed to NJPW, his home of six years. The past couple of those have seen him rise to prominence as one of the company's top heels, peaking with the formation of his United Empire stable and his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship triumph last year.