Is it a burden to be the best in the world?
It isn’t for Will Ospreay.
“The Aerial Assassin” recently spoke with the official New Japan Pro Wrestling website about being the best wrestler in the world, as well as the influence he has had on other wrestlers.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview where he touches on these topics with his thoughts.
On his belief he’s the best wrestler in the world and if it’s a burden: “A burden? No, but it is tolling, it is taxing (being the best). I thrive in that situation. I live for that. I want to see if anyone can knock me off my throne, and I don’t think that anyone can. I don’t think there’s anyone that can say they are consistently, on point, the best in the world. I don’t think anyone can, not in AEW, not in WWE and not in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. Nobody can say they’re better than Will Ospreay. It’s pride (to represent the U.K. as champion). For a long time when people have talked about the best of the world, they’ve looked to Japan, at Kobashi or Misawa, or Okada and Tanahashi. If people didn’t think of Japan, they thought of Canada, and Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho. Or maybe then they look at America and bring up Bryan Danielson, and maybe CM Punk, or whatever other garbage pro-wrestlers they have over there. People have never talked about Great Britain, they never talk about the UK. But now? Honestly bruv, I don’t think anyone matches up to me right now. I wear this championship with a lot of pride, because I do think I’m the best in the world. I don’t think there’s a single person in the world, no pro wrestler that is better than Will Ospreay and that’s the pride I bring with me when I wear this championship.”
On his influence on other wrestlers: “That blows my mind (that there are a generation of wrestlers who came up on my matches). A friend of mine was wrestling during WrestleMania weekend, he did four or five matches and he was talking about kids that are 18 years old on these indie cards doing my pose and trying for OsCutters. It’s crazy. When I came in, they called me ‘white Ricochet’ and I had to grow from that. But now there are probably a ton of guys that will be inspired by the Kenny Omega matches, or the Shingo matches. It’s mind blowing, crazy. I had one wrestler come up to me and say that he decided to start wrestling when he was 14 because he saw me and Ricochet.”
Check out the complete interview at NJPW1972.com.
