Will Ospreay Reveals on Moves He’s Scared to Perform Again, Receiving Advice From Chris Jericho

– During a recent interview with Fightful, NJPW star Will Ospreay discussed the topic of moves he’s afraid to do and getting advice from Chris Jericho. Below are some more highlights:

Will Ospreay on being scared of performing the Shooting Star Press again: “There’s been a few. I’m scared of doing the shooting star press again. I nearly f***ed it up a little while ago. I done it on a random indy show and as I started going I got stuck. Thankfully I knew which way was up and down, so I was able to push through it. Even my physio said it’s not fully healed. So there is a chance if you’re lifting someone over your head this could f***ing rip off again. It is making me question whether I should be doing the Storm Breaker anymore. That is the biggest move that I f***ing have. I hit that, it’s game over. But I am f***ing sacred, bro. It is one of those things where I don’t want to be out for nine months. I don’t want to be out for a year. So I’ve got to think about what’s worth it now. If it means I’ve got to say goodbye to Storm Breaker, then I just gotta perfect the Hidden Blade more and hopefully that’ll do the job.”

On career advice he received from Chris Jericho: “Jericho gave me advice back in 2018 when I landed on my head against Kushida. He was like, ‘You keep doing that, you’re gonna have an early grave.’ I did take that advice on board. I really did change up. Even like if you look at 2019 world compare to 2020 world—which makes me sad in a weird way because of those 2020, 2021, even 2022 because all that’s in a pandemic situation, nobody wanted to watch pandemic wrestling. I did my best work in that space. So if you actually watched my matches and watched my abilities, I changed up everything. It finally hit me. The injury was I had a torn pec. A grade two, so no surgery, thankfully, and my rotator cuff tore. So thankfully no surgery, but it just sat me down. It was just a moment where I was feeling my knees for the first time ever. I always remember when Okada was telling me in CHAOS. He said, ‘All the old boys used to tell me when you’re thirty, you’re gonna feel it.’ I didn’t believe him. Now I’m thirty, I can feel it. I’m starting to get there. I can feel my knees. So it is time to change the style. It is mentally taxing because there are things that I want to do again. A little while ago I was trying the reverse 450 splash I used to do and I just can’t do it. I’m too fat now.”

At last Sunday’s NJPW Strong Resurgence event, Ospreay defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to advance in the No. 1 contenders tournament for the IWGP United States Championship. He’s slated to face Lance Archer in the finals next, with the winner receiving a title shot against reigning champion Kenny Omega. However, Ospreay is also reportedly dealing with a shoulder injury, which he worked through last Sunday.