Will Ospreay Introduces New NJPW Title Belt

The IWGP United States Championship is no more...

by Andrew Pollard
Will Ospreay IWGP United Kingdom Championship
NJPW

The IWGP United States Championship is no more. Well, at least for the foreseeable future.

At last night's NJPW G1 Climax show from Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan, Will Ospreay disowned the IWGP US Title and replaced it with a new IWGP United Kingdom Championship.

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That G1 Climax event saw Ospreay lose to Tatsuya Naito in the semi-finals of this year's G1, with Naito going on to face Kazuchika Okada - who defeated EVIL in the other semi-final - in the G1 Climax final later today. During a post-match backstage interview, the United Empire man threw down his IWGP US Title and introduced its replacement.

In the words of Ospreay, he was "sick to death of carrying something [he has] no attachment to". The Englishman proclaimed himself as the best wrestler in the world, adding how "the best in the world is from the United Kingdom" and that he wanted "a championship that suits [his] needs".

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Here, the 30-year-old tossed down the IWGP US Championship and offered it back to the IWGP committee, before then revealing his shiny new IWGP United Kingdom Title.

As part of this backstage promo, in typical Will Ospreay fashion, the Aerial Assassin also ran down Kenny Omega, Jay White, Juice Robinson, Jon Moxley, Lance Archer, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and KENTA; all former IWGP United States Champions who Ospreay lambasted for that title never meaning anything when in the hands of any of those names.

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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.