WWE Rumour: NJPW's Will Ospreay Heading To NXT UK?
The latest on former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay - and THOSE NXT UK rumours.
Several people within New Japan Pro Wrestling believe that Will Ospreay may be on his way to WWE's NXT UK brand.
Per Voices of Wrestling (via their Patreon), this is the talk of several Japanese wrestlers and NJPW office staff, with one particularly vocal about their belief that NXT UK is Ospreay's endgame.
The rumour originates from the Pacific Rim Pro Wrestling Podcast's Fumi Saito.
It could be the product of what one of VoW's sources describes as "ignorance of the western wrestling landscape" in NJPW, adding that they wouldn't be surprised if the office is similarly uninformed. NXT UK is, of course, low on the WWE totem pole, with its base salary level far below what Ospreay could potentially score from a company like ROH or AEW.
VoW note that the speculation could be a product of the outlet's Japanese sources not fully comprehending the difference between NXT and NXT UK. The talk is coming solely from Japan, rather than western sources.
As far as Ospreay's contractual situation goes, August 2019 saw Will insinuate that he'd be with NJPW for the next five years in a since-deleted tweet. There is currently no indication that he has asked for his New Japan release - or that he'd be granted one if it were requested.
Last week saw Ospreay stripped of his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship due to a reported neck injury, the severity of which VoW describes as similar to those that Kazuchika Okada and Kota Ibushi are currently working through. According to NJPW trainers, Ospreay is hurt, but not to the extent that he had to stop wrestling immediately, with time off originally planned for after this month's Wrestle Grand Slam tour.
Ospreay is currently at home in his native England, having left Japan due to several issues, some of which are personal in nature, while others are shared by NJPW's disgruntled foreign contingent. This includes the company's decision to go back on allowing non-Japanese wrestlers to leave the country after rescheduling its previously cancelled Wrestle Grand Slam dates earlier this month.
Per the Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer, Ospreay's partner, Bea Priestley, is expected to join the NXT UK roster imminently.