During a recent interview with NJPW’s official website, Will Ospreay commented on the NEVER Openweight Title, and more. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On Being Junior Heavyweight Champion: “The junior title is higher than it has been. The year I won, it was behind the US title, fourth from the top. So it’s a sign that people want to see the junior heavyweights more. I understand that this Double Gold Dash is a huge deal, but to me the junior heavyweights have inspired so many people, and had the best matches of the year, whether Ishimori, or KUSHIDA, or Ryu (formerly Dragon) Lee. The juniors have brought it and nobody can argue with that. The double title match will be legendary, but we’re going out there to steal the weekend, because nobody in the world can do what we can do. It’s not like I was demanding for my face to be on the poster, but it was for any junior heavyweight at all to be on there. Look at Wrestle Kingdom. The only junior heavyweight on the poster, and of course he should be, is Jyushin Thunder Liger. The others on it are Jay, Naito, Okada and Ibushi. Are you ignoring us again? It does frustrate me, because we give so much, but aren’t seen as marketable draws. Yet we have so much identity and character and bring everything in the ring. Listen to Hiromu’s reaction when he came back! That reaction was huge, but what does it take to be on the commercials? If we have to kill ourselves, we’ll go to those lengths, for sure.”
On Making A Distinction Between Heavyweight And Junior Heavyweights: “100% there is a need for that distinction. There are some people who will never graduate to heavyweight status, and while I know anyone can beat anyone, a heavyweight has a distinct advantage in size and weight. So we need the distinction, and the legacy and history speaks for itself. You can’t throw away years and years of Liger’s work for instance. But the Junior Heavyweight Championship needs to be here forever. This title needs to be here forever. I mean, we should update the belt! There’s only so many nameplates on here, so BUSHI’s name is there but me and Marty and Hiromu aren’t (laughs), but I can’t imagine a world where that legacy is erased. Plus with so many more opportunities in the US and Japan next year, there are more main events and more chances for the juniors to main event.”
On The NEVER Openweight Title: ”I do think the NEVER Openweight Championship needs to be rethought. KENTA and Goto will face each other for that in the Dome, and that’s two heavyweights. It’ll be a great match, but the Openweight nature needs to be a bigger deal.”
