Will Ospreay

Will Ospreay
Ospreay in January 2023
Birth name	William Peter Charles "Will" Ospreay
Born	May 7, 1993 (1993-05-07)
	Havering, London, England, United Kingdom
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Will Ospreay
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	105 kg (231 lb)
Billed from	Essex, England
Trained By	Darren Burridge Kazuchika Okada London School of Lucha Libre
Debut	April 1, 2012

William Peter Charles "Will" Ospreay (born 7 May 1993) is an English professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW).

He is best known for his work for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former one-time IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, a former two-time IWGP United States (United Kingdom) Heavyweight Champion, of which he is the final holder, a former three-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, a one-time NEVER Openweight and the winner of 2016 and 2019 Best of the Super Juniors and the 2021 New Japan Cup.

As part of a working relationship between NJPW and British Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW), he is a former and the longest reigning one-time Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion, while also being a former British Cruiserweight Champion and one-time British Tag Team Champion, prior to joining NJPW, and RevPro's second Triple Crown Champion.

Hailed as one of the best professional wrestlers in the world, Ospreay began his career in the English independent circuit in April 2012. During several years, he worked on several independent promotions, most notably Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro) and Progress Wrestling, before starting to work for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in March 2016, following the recommendation from AJ Styles, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Kazuchika Okada. In NJPW, Ospreay became part of Okada's CHAOS stable going on to become a three-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and the winner of the 2016 and 2019 Best of the Super Juniors, being the first British wrestler to achieve those feats. In 2019, Ospreay began his transition to the heavyweight division, leading him to win the NEVER Openweight Championship and taking part of NJPW's premier tournament, the G1 Climax, before making fully transition to heavyweight division in 2020. In October, Ospreay turned heel, leaving CHAOS to form in own stable the United Empire, marking a major turning point for his career of Ospreay, a longtime fan favorite, who began his ascent into the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship picture, before winning the New Japan Cup in March 2021. The following month, Ospreay defeated Kota Ibushi to win NJPW's top title, the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, becoming the first British wrestler to holder of a NJPW's premier championship, before vacating it due to an injury in May. Ospreay would embark on a feud with Shingo Takagi and Kazuchika Okada (who claimed them to be 'interim' champions) over the 'real' IWGP World Heavyweight Champion until losing to the reigning champion Okada at the second night Wrestle Kingdom 16. With this in January 2022, Opsreay became one of the three non-Japanese wrestlers to be featured in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom. Since then, Ospreay began a rise in popularity, due to Ospreay's controversy regarding the result of his match, this led him to pursue the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. Upon winning the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, he became the sixth Triple Crown Champion and the third Grand Slam Champion.

Ospreay then became one of NJPW's top wrestlers, dubbed as the NJPW's gaijin Ace and long-standing fan favorite, with Ospreay attempt to establish a legacy by shifiting the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship to the IWGP United Kingdom Heavyweight Championship, albeit recognized as both by NJPW, until the title's retirement in December in favor of the newly established IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship. Ospreay would remain until the end of his NJPW contract in February 2024, marking eight years that Ospreay stayed with the promotion.

Ospreay has also wrestled periodically in the United States and Japan, as part of a working relationship between NJPW and partner promotions All Elite Wrestling (AEW), before February 2024, Ring of Honor (ROH), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and Pro Wrestling NOAH (NOAH) – where he is a former ROH World Television Champion and the 2023 Match of the Year against "Speedball" Mikey Bailey at TNA's 2023 Bound for Glory – as well as in the American independent circuit in promotions such as Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG). Regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Ospreay holds the record of most five stars matches with 26, a distinction awarded by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Ospreay holds the record for the most 5 or more stars matches given by wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer with a total of 32 matches.

Early life

William Peter Charles Ospreay was born in London's Havering borough on 7 May 1993. A fan of light-heavyweight wrestling since his youth, Ospreay was a fan of Essa Rios and Eddie Guerrero as a child. He cites the three-way match between AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe at TNA Unbreakable 2005 as the match that made him want to become a wrestler. He began wrestling on the trampoline in his garden under the name Extreme Dude and before long his mother had bought him a wrestling ring to make sure he was being as safe as possible. He also wrestled for other backyard wrestling promotions as Ace Pain and Tinkerbell. He received his training at Lucha Britannia's London School of Lucha Libre in Bethnal Green, London.

Professional wrestling career

Early career

Ospreay made his professional debut at the co-promoted BritWres-Fest on 1 April 2012 as the masked character Dark Britannico, the evil twin of Lucha Britannia's signature wrestler Leon Britannico who was played by Paul Robinson, Ospreay's future tag team partner in the team The Swords of Essex. While wrestling with Lucha Britannia he twice won the Lucha Britannia World Championship.

New Japan Pro Wrestling (2016–present)

Pursuit of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (2016–2018)

On 3 March, Ospreay was announced as the newest member of the NJPW stable CHAOS. Appearing in a video, Ospreay challenged KUSHIDA to an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match at Invasion Attack 2016 on 10 April. On 10 April, Ospreay failed in his title challenge against KUSHIDA. Following the match, it was reported that NJPW had offered Ospreay a contract to become a regular for the promotion. On 27 April, it was reported that Ospreay had signed the contract. The following month, Ospreay entered the 2016 Best of the Super Juniors tournament. On 27 May, Ospreay faced Ricochet in the tournament in a match, which received widespread attention in the professional wrestling world. While some like William Regal praised the two, others criticized the match with the most notable criticism coming from Vader, who compared the match to a "gymnastics routine". Ospreay ended up winning his block in the tournament with a record of four wins and three losses, advancing to the finals. On 7 June, Ospreay defeated Ryusuke Taguchi in the finals to win 2016 Best of the Super Juniors, becoming the youngest winner in the history of the tournament as well as the first English and the fifth gaijin wrestler to win the tournament. Following the win, Ospreay was granted another shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, but was again defeated by KUSHIDA on 19 June at Dominion 6.19 in Osaka-jo Hall. On 20 July, Ospreay entered the 2016 Super J-Cup, defeating Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) representative Titán in his first round match. On August 21, he was eliminated from the tournament in the second round by Matt Sydal. On 8 October, Ospreay received his first shot at the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship, but he and his CHAOS stablemates Beretta and Rocky Romero were defeated by the defending champions, David Finlay, Ricochet and Satoshi Kojima. On 11 February 2017 at The New Beginning in Osaka, Ospreay unsuccessfully challenged Katsuyori Shibata for the British Heavyweight Championship. In May, Ospreay won his block in 2017 Best of the Super Juniors tournament with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to his second consecutive final. On 3 June, Ospreay was defeated in the final by KUSHIDA.

On 9 October at King of Pro-Wrestling, Ospreay defeated KUSHIDA to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for the first time. With the win, Ospreay became the first British IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. He lost the title to Marty Scurll in his first defense on 5 November at Power Struggle. Ospreay regained the title from Scurll on 4 January 2018 at Wrestle Kingdom 12 in Tokyo Dome in a four-way match, also involving Hiromu Takahashi and KUSHIDA. In May 2018, Ospreay entered the 2018 Best of the Super Juniors tournament. He finished his block with a record of five wins and two losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament, due to losing to Taiji Ishimori in their head-to-head match. On June 9 at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall, Ospreay lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to the winner of the tournament, Hiromu Takahashi. Afterwards on August 20, it was announced that Ospreay would take part of a four-man single elimination tournament to crown a new champion, after Takahashi was forced to vacate the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship due to a neck injury. Ospreay was defeated by Marty Scurll in the first round.

NEVER Openweight Champion (2018–2019)

On October 8 at King of Pro-Wrestling, Ospreay pinned NEVER Openweight Champion Taichi in a non-title match and made his intentions on being the next challenger for the title. However, Ospreay suffered a rib injury and the match had to be canceled. Ospreay returned from his injury on December 9, defeating Taichi, who had lost the title to Ospreay's CHAOS stablemate Hirooki Goto, to become the #1 contender to the NEVER Openweight Championship. Later that night, Ospreay challenged newly crowned NEVER Openweight Champion Kota Ibushi to a match at Wrestle Kingdom 13 in Tokyo Dome on January 4, 2019. At the event on January 4, Ospreay defeated Ibushi to win NEVER Openweight Championship. Ospreay lost the title to Jeff Cobb on April 6 at G1 Supercard.

Return to the Junior Heavyweight division (2019–2020)

Following this, Ospreay returned to the junior heavyweight division, most notably at the 2019 Wrestling Dontaku, where he and Dragon Lee lost to Taiji Ishimori and the debuting El Phantasmo, where Phantasmo pinned Ospreay. After this, Ospreay entered the 2019 Best of the Super Juniors tournament. Ospreay ended with a record of seven wins and two losses, advancing to his third consecutive final. On June 5, Ospreay defeated Shingo Takagi to win the tournament for his second time. On June 9, Ospreay defeated Lee to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for his third time. Afterwards, Ospreay nominated Robbie Eagles to be his first challenger for the title. Leading to the match Ospreay proclaimed that he wanted Eagles to return to his old self. On June 29 in the first night of the Southern Showdown, Ospreay defeated Robbie Eagles to make his first successful title defense. Afterwards, El Phantasmo entered the ring to show Eagles support, leading Eagles to attack him and shake hands with Ospreay. The following day, Eagles defected from Bullet Club and joined CHAOS, after he refused to attack Will Ospreay. From July 6 until August 10, Ospreay took part in the 2019 G1 Climax, where he finished the tournament with a record of four wins and five losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. On August 22, Ospreay, representing CHAOS, entered the 2019 Super J-Cup, defeating Amazing Red in his first round match. On August 24, Ospreay defeated CHAOS stablemate Sho in the second round of the tournament, before being eliminated in the semifinals by Bullet Club's El Phantasmo with the help of his Bullet Club stablemate Taiji Ishimori. After Phantasmo won the tournament, he challenged Ospreay to match. On August 31 at Royal Quest, Ospreay and Eagles formed a team named "Birds of Prey" and the two defeated Phantasmo and Ishimori in a non-title match. Afterwards, Ospreay and Eagles held the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships and challenged them to a rematch for their titles, while Phantasmo challenged Ospreay to a match for his title. On September 15 at Destruction, Ospreay and Eagles unsuccessfully challenged Phatasmo and Ishimori for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. On October 14 at King of Pro-Wrestling, Ospreay defeated Phantasmo to make his second successful title defense. From October 16 until November 1, 2019, Ospreay and Eagles took part in the 2019 Super Jr. Tag League, finishing the tournament with a record of four wins and three losses, failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. Ospreay and Eagles entered their final match with a chance to reach the finals, but BUSHI who had previously challenged Ospreay to match for his title, cost them their final match against Suzuki-gun (El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru). On November 3 at Power Struggle, Ospreay defeated BUSHI to make his third successful title defense. After the match, BUSHI's Los Ingobernables de Japon stablemate Hiromu Takahashi, who was returning from an injury, challenged Ospreay to a title match at Wrestle Kingdom 14 in Tokyo Dome on January 4, 2020. In the first night, on January 4, Ospreay lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to Hiromu Takahashi.

Heavyweight division (2020–Present)

Early beginnings (2020)

Following Wrestle Kingdom 14, Ospreay began feud with compatriot Zack Sabre Jr., leading a match between the two, where Ospreay unsuccessfully challenged Sabre for the British Heavyweight Championship on February 9 at The New Beginning in Osaka. Two days later, during a eight-man tag team elimination match between CHAOS and Suzuki-gun, Ospreay eliminated Sabre from the match, leading him to challenge Sabre to a rematch. On February 14 at Revolution Pro Wrestling's High Stakes, Ospreay defeated Zack Sabre Jr., to win the British Heavyweight Championship for the first time. Afterwards, Ospreay announced he was moving into the heavyweight division.

United Empire (2020–2024)

Beginnings and IWGP World Heavyweight Champion (2020-2022)

In March, Ospreay was supposed to be part of the 2020 New Japan Cup, but NJPW was forced to suspend all of its activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The promotion eventually resumed its activities in June, travel limitations, but due to travel restritions various foreign wrestlers were prevented from returning to Japan. Ospreay made his return to NJPW in September, taking part of the 2020 G1 Climax. Ospreay started the tournament with two victories, before losing to Shingo Takagi in his third match. Ospreay bounced back with a victory over Jay White, losing then to Kota Ibushi. Afterwards, Ospreay won two successive matches, before being eliminated for the tournament, after losing to Jeff Cobb on October 13. Three days later, Ospreay faced his CHAOS stablemate Kazuchika Okada in his final round-robin match. Ospreay won the match with help from his girlfriend Bea Priestley and the returning Great O-Khan. Afterwards, Ospreay turned on Okada, announcing his departure from CHAOS, blaming Okada for "holding him back" and the creation of his own stable alongside Priestley and Great O-Khan. The first match between the Ospreay and his former CHAOS stablemates took place on the following day, where he and O-Khan defeated Okada and Sho in a tag team match. The new group was subsequently named "The Empire". Following the tournament, Okada began seeking revenge against Opsreay for his actions, leading him to face the Great O-Khan in his test in a match at Power Struggle in a winning effort. Afterwards, Ospreay claimed he had used Okada in order to achieve success, before challenged him to a match at Wrestle Kingdom 15, which he accepted. The rivalry between Ospreay and Okada culminated in a match on January 4, 2021, on the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 15 in Tokyo Dome, where Okada was victorious.

Following the event, on January 6 at New Years Dash, The Empire entered a rivalry with Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima). At the New Years Dash, The Empire faced Tencozy and Yota Tsuji in a winning effort. Afterwards, The Empire attacked Tencozy, with Hiroyoshi Tenzan being stretchered out of the arena. Following the attack, Ospreay officially named the stable the "United Empire". The rivalry between Ospreay and Kojima culminated into a no disqualification match at The New Beginning in Nagoya, where Ospreay defeated Kojima. In March, Ospreay took part in the 2021 New Japan Cup, which he eventually won, defeating Shingo Takagi in the finals on March 21, and afterwards challenged Kota Ibushi to a title match for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, stating that he would do anything to win it, for the goal of becoming the top wrestler of the promotion. To prove his point, Ospreay turned on his girlfriend Bea Priestley, kicking her out of the United Empire. On April 4 at Sakura Genisis, Ospreay defeated Kota Ibushi to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, becoming the first British wrestler to holder of a NJPW's premier championship. Following the match, Ospreay nominated Okada to be his first challenger. However, before Okada could answer Shingo Takagi challenged Ospreay to a title match, claiming that he had defeated Okada in the first round of the 2021 New Japan Cup, while also seeking revenge for losing to Ospreay in the finals of the tournament. This led to Ospreay accepting Takagi as his first challenger, with Okada being next in line. On May 4, on the second night of Wrestling Dontaku, Ospreay defeated Takagi to make his first successful title defense, setting up his match against Okada at Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome. However, due to an extension to the of Japan's state of emergency, Ospreay's title match with Okada was cancelled. On May 20, it was announced that Opsreay would be vacating the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship due to a neck injury suffered in his match against Takagi and would be returning to the United Kingdom for rehabilitation. On August 14 at Resurgence, Ospreay made his return from injury, announcing that he was medically cleared to return in-ring competition, before citing his disgust on NJPW's favoritism to Jon Moxley for refusing to strip him of the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship for not defending the title under a year, while they stripped him of his title, due the time to recover from his neck injury. Ospreay proceeded to reveal that he would not return to Japan until reigning IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Shingo Takagi was declared as "interim champion", while also claiming that he was the "real champion", unvielling a replica of the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship belt, before stating that he would be appearing on NJPW Strong defending his title. Afterwards, Ospreay called out members of the LA Dojo, being confronted by Clark Connors, Karl Fredericks and TJP. On October 10, at Autumn Attack, Opsreay defeated Karl Fredericks. Afterwards, TJP, who had previously align with Fredericks, turned on him, becoming the United Empire's newest member. On November 13 at Battle in the Valley, Ospreay confronted Kazuchika Okada and challenged the winner of the main event in the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 16 for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship in the second night.

IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion (2022-2023)

On January 5, 2022, on the second night of Wrestle Kingdom 16, Ospreay unsuccessfully challenged Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. In March, Opsreay took part in the 2022 New Japan Cup, losing controversially in the quarterfinals to eventual winner Zack Sabre Jr. Despite losing Ospreay, claimed that he did not submitted as he was repositioning, stating that referee Red Shoes Uno had made a mistake to stop the match. On April 9, at Hyper Battle, after SANADA vacated the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, due to an injury, he tried pass the title to the former champion, Hiroshi Tanahashi, but the request that drew the ire of Ospreay, who demanded SANADA to give him the title, since he was the one that injured him. This led to a match between Ospreay and Tanahashi for the vacant title. On April 28, it was announced that Ospreay had tested positive for COVID-19 amid its pandemic in Japan, leading him to be pulled from the event and replaced by Tomohiro Ishii. After being unable to appear at Wrestling Dontaku in his match against Tanahashi, Ospreay in a pre-taped vingette proposed a four-way match between him Tanahashi, Jon Moxley and Juice Robinson. On May 14 at Capital Collision, Ospreay was unsuccessful from winning the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship after being pinned by Robinson in a four-way match also invloving Tanahashi and Moxley. On the June 8th episode of Dynamite, Ospreay and his stablemates Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis) and Aaron Henare made their debut for All Elite Wrestling debut attacking both FTR (Dash Harwood and Cash Wheeler) and Beretta, which led to a match on June 10th episode of Rampage where Ospreay and Aussie Open would made their AEW in-ring debuts losing to FTR and Beretta in a six-man tag team match.

On June 12 at Dominion 6.12 in Osaka-jo Hall, Opsreay defeated SANADA to win the vacant IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. On June 26 at Forbidden Door, Ospreay made his first successful defense of the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship against Orange Cassidy. From July 16 to August 16, Ospreay took part in the 2022 G1 Climax, where he won his block with a record of four wins and two losses, advancing to the semifinals. During the tournament, Ospreay gained the physical IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship from former champion Juice Robinson and David Finlay, who both competed in the same block as Ospreay, with Finlay picking up a victory over him. In the semifinals on August 17, Ospreay defeated Tetsuya Naito, but was defeated in the final by Kazuchika Okada on August 18. On August 21, at RevPro's Ten Year Anniversary, Ospreay lost the Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion to Ricky Knight Jr., ending his record breaking title reign at 919 days. His second defense of the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship took place on September 25, where he defeated David Finlay, who had defeated him during the G1 Climax. His third title defense took place on November 5, where he defeated Tetsuya Naito. His next title defense took place on November 20 at Historic X-Over, where he defeated Shota Umino. Post-match, Ospreay accepted a challenge from Kenny Omega for a match at Wrestle Kingdom 17. He lost the title to Omega on January 4, 2023, at Wrestle Kingdom 17 in Tokyo Dome.

IWGP United Kingdom Heavyweight Championship legacy and departure (2023-2024)

Following Wrestle Kingdom, Ospreay began a short feud with Just Four Guys member Taichi, which culminated in a match between the two at The New Beginning in Sapporo, which Opsreay won. In March, Ospreay took part in the 2023 New Japan Cup. Despite defeating United Empire stablemate Mark Davis in the second round, he was forced to pull out of the tournament after suffering a shoulder injury against Davis, leading him to announce in an interumptum press-conference that Ospreay named him as his replacement in the New Japan Cup. In April, NJPW announced a tournament to determine the new number one contender to Kenny Omega's IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, featuring Ospreay, Lance Archer, Juice Robinson and Hiroshi Tanahashi. On June 4 at Dominion 6.4 in Osaka-jo Hall, Ospreay defeated Archer in the finals to become the number one contender for the US title at Forbidden Door on June 25. Ospreay returned to AEW on the June 14 episode of Dynamite, where he attacked Omega. On the June 21 episode of Dynamite, Don Callis, who had been feuding with Kenny Omega, offered him help to use of his "military grade private security" in his title match at Forbidden Door. At Forbidden Door, Ospreay defeated Omega to regain the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. Following the match, Ospreay expressed interest in facing his idol Naomichi Marufuji, specifically on his anniversary show, stating that he would love to be in the ring with him if possible. On July 15 at Noah's One Night Dream, it was announced that Ospreay would face Marufuji on his 25th anniversary show. From July 15 to August 6, Ospreay took part in the 2023 G1 Climax, where he finished the tournament with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, on August 10, Ospreay defeated David Finlay, but lost to eventual tournament winner Tetsuya Naito in the semifinals, on August 12, eliminating him from the tournament. Following the match, Ospreay claimed to be tired of holding a title which he had "no attachment to". Ospreay then discarded the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship and unveiled a new title with a Union Jack on it, naming it the IWGP United Kingdom Heavyweight Championship, albeit NJPW recognized the belt as both the United States and United Kingdom Heavyweight Championships. On September 18, Ospreay faced Naomichi Marufuji in a critically acclaimed match, with the two showing respect to one another after the bell.

Back in NJPW, on August 13, the final day of the 2023 G1 Climax, Ospreay and Yota Tsuji faced off in a eight-man tag team match, where Ospreay teamed with his United Empire stablemates Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan and HENARE and Tsuji with his Los Ingobernables de Japón stablemates Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi and BUSHI. Tsuji won the match for his team by scoring a surprise direct pinfall over Ospreay and afterwards held the IWGP United Kingdom Heavyweight Championship over the fallen Ospreay. Afterwards, in a post-match interview, Tsuji stated that the title belt was "just an extra" and what he wanted was Ospreay. On August 18, NJPW announced the title between Ospreay and Tsuji for Destruction in Kobe. Meanwhile, on September 1, at Revolution Pro Wrestling's 11th Anniversary show, after Ospreay defeated Shingo Takagi in an instant classic, Zack Sabre Jr. came out expressing his interest in returning to RevPro, before remarking Ospreay that "he believed that he had a belt saying IWGP United Kingdom Champion" before promising if he could keep his belt, he would have his next challenger and leaving afterwards. On September 24, at Destruction in Kobe, Ospreay retained the IWGP United Kingdom Heavyweight Championship against Tsuji. After the match, fellow compatriot and reigning NJPW World Television Champion Sabre, challenged Ospreay to a title match at Royal Quest III. At the beginning much to the crowd's awareness, both men exchanged comments in Japanese; however, as Ospreay could not accompain Sabre's Japanese speaking level, both men switch to English, as Sabre clarified his challenge. After an hesitant handshake, Ospreay playfully knocked the NJPW World Television Championship belt from Sabre’s waist, only to tease a Hidden Blade as Sabre went to retrieve it. This also led to a fast reacting Sabre going for a Zack Driver before Ospreay countering to his feet. Their rivalry drew comparisions to British wrestlers Billy Robinson and Karl Gotch, who worked in Japan in the 1960s and ‘70s.

On October 14 at Royal Quest III, Opsreay defeated Sabre to retain the IWGP United Kingdom Heavyweight Championship. After the match, he was challenged by Shota Umino to a match for the title, with Umino requesting Ospreay to bring both the UK and the US Championship belts with him at the event. On November 4 at Power Struggle, after Ospreay successfully defended the title against Umino. He was confronted by Jon Moxley, before being attacked by David Finlay, who proceded to destroy both UK and the US Championship belts. Afterwards, in a post-match interview, Ospreay proposed a three-way match between him, Moxley and Finlay at Wrestle Kingdom 18 for a new title. Soon after the match was made official by NJPW. The IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship was retired on December 11, ending Ospreay's second title reign at 169 days an making him the final IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion. Due to this the match at Wrestle Kingdom 18 was announced to be for the newly created IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship instead. On January 4, 2024 at Wrestle Kingdom 18, Ospreay failed to win the new title, as it was won by Finlay. The following day, at New Year Dash, United Empire faced Bullet Club War Dogs in a no contest. Afterwards, Ospreay announced that his last match in NJPW would be on February 11, before challenging them to a match, with David Finlay choosing the stipulation. Finlay accepted the challenge and decided the match would be contested steel cage match. Before his final NJPW match, Ospreay faced Kazuchika Okada at Battle in the Valley on January 13, but lost. After the match, the two former stablemates embraced in the ring. On February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka, United Empire was defeated by Bullet Club War Dogs. After the match, Ospreay thanked the NJPW fans and promised to return to the promotion one day, marking his final appearance for the promotion.

Professional wrestling style and persona

Ospreay marching his way to the ring at Wrestle Kingdom 18, under his costume based on the Assassin's Creed video game series

Opsreay was known for his high-flying, high-risk style of wrestling, being formerly nicknamed "The Aerial Assassin". Ospreay said in an interview with the Huffington Post that his nickname, "The Aerial Assassin", is an allusion to Assassin's Creed video game series and was a persona he adopted to stand out from other British high flying wrestlers, particularly PAC.

As a junior heavyweight, Ospreay used a springboard cutter named the OsCutter as his finishing maneuver. This high-risk style has caused concern about Ospreay's health and length of his career. This included also a neck injury he suffered against Marty Scurll on April 1, 2018. After his match against Kota Ibushi at Wrestle Kingdom 13, Ospreay changed his nickname to "The Assassin" and debuted a new finisher, a swinging back elbow he later named the Hidden Blade. Since his transition to the Heavyweight division in 2020, Ospreay bulked up in size and muscle. This led to him changing his in-ring style, as he continued to use high-flying offence but incorporated more technical skill as well as powerful offence, which includes his finisher a corkscrew neckbreaker, named Stormbreaker.

Following Ospreay's heel turn on October 16, 2020, Ospreay became known as "The Commonwealth Kingpin", a character known for an arrogant and pedantic personality, who looks to no means to achieve his goals. Wrestling Observer Newsletter journalist Dave Meltzer reported that idea behind the gimmick was put by Chris Jericho, who had been a fan of Ospreay, helped him developing the gimmick behind the scenes. Between the summer and the fall of 2022, fellow British wrestler, Gideon Grey became his manager, mouthpiece and spokesperson.

On January 4, 2023, at Wrestle Kingdom 17, Ospreay briefly returned to his old character "The Aerial Assassin", despite retaining some traits of his heel gimmick. Ospreay later returned with his old gimmick on June 25, 2023 at Forbidden Door. On January 4, 2023, at Wrestle Kingdom 18, Ospreay's costume was based on Assassin's Creed Syndicate character Jacob Frye, with part of his entrance song having a mix from of the Assassin's Creed 2 game's original soundtrack, Ezio's Family.

Personal life

Since 2017, Ospreay has been in a relationship with fellow professional wrestler Bea Priestley. In 2019, the couple revealed they were planning on moving to Japan due to both of their wrestling schedules there. As of 2021, the two have split, with Ospreay later confirming it. Since 2021 Ospreay has been in a relationship with fellow British professional wrestler Alex Winsdor.

As part of the Speaking Out movement, Ospreay was accused of blacklisting Pollyanna, a former wrestler, after she made allegations towards Ospreay's friend and Swords of Essex stablemate Scott Wainwright. Independent wrestling promotion International Wrestling League (IWL) stated on Twitter that a venue asked them to remove Pollyanna from a show at the request of Ospreay. However, it was later revealed by IWL that the venue, rather than Ospreay, had requested her removal. The person running the IWL Twitter account later revealed that the supposed evidence was really their opinion on an "unclear situation".

In 2019, Ospreay was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism and dyslexia.

On September 1, 2021, Ospreay revealed in a video on Twitter that he had tested positive for COVID-19 amid its pandemic in the United Kingdom with Ospreay testing positive for COVID-19 for the second time amid its pandemic in Japan leading to him being pulled from NJPW's Wrestling Dontaku event on April 28, 2022.

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • Hidden Blade (Running high impact swinging back elbow to the back of a kneeling opponent's head, with theatrics)
  • Leap of Faith (540° corkscrew senton bomb)
  • Storm Breaker (Double underhook overhead gutwrench transitioned into a modified corkscrew neckbreaker) – 2018–present
  • Storm Driver '93 (Kneeling double underhook sheerdrop powerbomb)
• Signature moves
  • 630° senton
  • Air Assassin (Imploding 450° splash)
  • Brainbuster
  • Chelsea Grin (Inverted headlock transitioned into a discus elbow smash to the back of the opponent's head)
  • Essex Destroyer (Front flip DDT)
  • Falcon arrow
  • Firebird Splash (Springboard 450° splash)
  • Figure-four leglock
  • Hitodenashi Driver (Cradle back-to-belly piledriver)
  • Iron Octopus (Octopus hold)
  • London Has Fallen (Sitout fireman's carry facebuster)
  • Multiple kick variations
    • 540º
    • Cheeky Nandos Kick (Super to opponent on the turnbuckle)
    • Drop, sometimes from the top rope
    • Handspring enzuigiri
    • High
    • Hook
    • Robinson Special (720° to the back of the head of a rising opponent)
    • Roundhouse, sometimes while performing a jumping corkscrew
    • Silent Whisper (Super)
  • Multiple OsCutter variations
    • Avalanche OsCutter (Avalanche cutter)
    • OsCutter (Springboard cutter), sometimes used as a finishing move
    • Super OsCutter (Diving springboard cutter)
  • Multiple shooting star press variations
    • Burning Star Press (Shooting star press to an opponent hanging in the top rope)
    • Corkscrew
    • Regular
    • Standing
  • Pip Pip Cheerio (Springboard forearm smash)
  • Pumphandle half nelson wheelbarrow driver
  • Rainham Maker (Standing moonsault side slam, transitioned from a straightjacket wrist-lock) – adopted from Kazuchika Okada
  • Reverse Bloody Sunday (Lifting inverted DDT) – adopted from Prince Devitt
  • Running knee strike to an opponent's head
  • Sasuke Special (Cartwheel over the top rope suicide corkscrew moonsault)
  • Snap suplex
  • Spanish Fly (Standing moonsault side slam)
  • Short-arm lariat – adopted from Kazuchika Okada
  • Standing corkscrew senton bomb
  • Stundog Millionaire (Corkscrew falling stunner, as a reversal to a suplex)
  • Vertical suplex
• Managers
  • Don Callis
  • Gideon Grey
• Nicknames
  • "The Assassin"
  • "The Aerial Assassin"
  • "The Commonwealth Kingpin"
  • ¨The Sky King¨
• Entrance themes
  • "The Aerial Assassin" by Yonosuke Kitamura
  • "Shoot to Thrill" by AC/DC
  • "Elevated" by It Lives, It Breathes
  • "Bring It Down" by Yonosuke Kitamura feat. Eiki
  • "Bring It Down -Zenith of God-" by Yonosuke Kitamura feat. Eiki
  • Elevated ~WK18ver.~ by It Lives, It Breathes feat. Jasper Kyd

Championships and accomplishments

• ESPN
  • Match of the Year (2023) (shared with Kenny Omega in a tie between their matches at Wrestle Kingdom 17 and Forbidden Door)
• Inside The Ropes Magazine
  • Ranked No. 10 of the top 50 wrestlers in the world in the ITR 50 in 2020.
• New Japan Pro-Wrestling
  • IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • IWGP United States (United Kingdom) Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
  • NEVER Openweight Championship (1 time)
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
  • Best of the Super Juniors (2016, 2019)
  • New Japan Cup (2021)
  • Third Grand Slam Champion
  • Sixth Triple Crown Champion
• New York Post
  • Match of the Year (2023) vs. Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 17
• One Pro Wrestling
  • 1PW World Heavyweight Champion (1 time)
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked him #16 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2016
  • PWI ranked him #7 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2021
• Revolution Pro Wrestling
  • British Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • British Cruiserweight Championship (2 times)
  • British Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Paul Robinson
  • Second Triple Crown Champion
• Ring of Honor
  • ROH World Television Championship (1 time)
  • Best Move of the Year (2017) – OsCutter
• SoCal Uncensored
  • Match of the Year (2016) with Matt Sydal and Ricochet vs. Adam Cole and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) on September 3
• Sports Illustrated
  • Ranked No. 6 of the top 10 men's wrestlers in 2018
  • Ranked No. 5 of the top 10 wrestlers in 2022 and 2023
• Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
  • Impact Year End Awards
    • Match of the Year (2023) vs. Mike Bailey at Bound for Glory
• Tokyo Sports
  • Best Bout Award (2022) vs. Kazuchika Okada on August 18
• Warrior Wrestling
  • Warrior Wrestling Championship (1 time)
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • 5 Star Match (2016) with Matt Sydal and Ricochet vs. Adam Cole and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) on 3 September
  • 5 Star Match (2017) vs. KUSHIDA on June 3
  • 5 Star Match (2018) vs. Marty Scurll on April 1
  • Best Flying Wrestler (2016-2019)
  • Best Wrestling Maneuver (2019) Storm Breaker
  • Best Wrestling Maneuver (2022) Hidden Blade
  • Danny Hodge Memorial Award/Non-Heavyweight MVP (2018, 2019)
  • Europe MVP (2021, 2022)
  • Most Outstanding Wrestler (2019, 2022)
  • Pro Wrestling Match of the Year (2022) vs. Kazuchika Okada on August 18
  • 5 Star Match (2018) with Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi on December 15
  • 5 Star Match (2019) vs Bandido on May 23
  • 5.75 Star Match (2019) vs. Shingo Takagi on June 5
  • 5 Star Match (2019) _{vs Dragon Lee on June 9}
  • 5 Star Match (2019) _{vs Kota Ibushi on June 18}
  • 5.75 Star Match (2019) _{vs Kazuchika Okada on July 20}
  • 5.5 Star Match (2020) _{vs Hiromu Takahashi on January 4}
  • 5 Star Match (2020) _{vs Zack Sabre Jr on February 14}
  • 5 Star Match (2022) vs. Kazuchika Okada on August 18