Robbie Eagles on Earning His Shot Against Will Ospreay, Discusses Getting Title Shot in Australia

– Fox Sports Australia recently spoke to Robbie Eagles ahead of his upcoming match with Will Ospreay. Eagles is set to face Ospreay for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship at NJPW Southern Showdown in Melbourne, Australia. The event is scheduled for June 29. Below are some highlights.

Robbie Eagles on facing Will Ospreay for the IWGP jr. heavyweight title: “There have been a lot of rough times. Traveling the roads, not making much money out of the opportunities that you take to try and expand your name and get it out there, whether that’s going interstate, or driving three hours to Canberra and doing a match there. Driving in a truck with the ring loaded on the back of it and seeing the sun rise after doing an event the night before. There’s a lot of times where I looked at it and thought, is this really worth it? But I think what would happen is I would go back to my bed, lay down, and whether it was for a couple of minutes or hours, when I woke up I’d always have this realization that I’m living my dream. I told myself as a kid that I wanted to be a professional wrestler and whether I’m getting paid a hot dog and a handshake, as they like to say, or making the money I’m making now, I was a professional wrestler. So I was damn proud of that no matter what I went through, and I just put my head down and kept going forwards. Getting to that New Japan tour of Australia was kind of like, there is something more to this, there is something more for me to reach and I think it’s within my grasp, but I still have to work hard enough.”

Robbie Eagles on his win over Ospreay at Best of the Super Juniors: “Is it a win that I was happy with? Not entirely. Is it something that I get the chance to rectify? You’re damn straight. I feel like I’ve said that a lot of times across my career, but that’s because I always say biggest match of my career ‘so far’. So this truly is that. I’ve never had an opportunity at an IWGP title, and I think this is the first time one of the championships will be defended on my home soil. So to have that happen, and at Festival Hall which has so much history with pro wrestling; when I first worked into Festival Hall last year I was a relative unknown. I was with Mick Moretti against the Untouchables, Damian Slater and Marcius Pitt. We were sort of just thrown into the middle of that card, and a lot of people didn’t know who we were because these were people coming in off the back of New Japan.”

Eagles on this match being the biggest of his career: “I feel like I’ve said that a lot of times across my career, but that’s because I always say biggest match of my career ‘so far’. So this truly is that. I’ve never had an opportunity at an IWGP title, and I think this is the first time one of the championships will be defended on my home soil. So to have that happen, and at Festival Hall which has so much history with pro wrestling; when I first worked into Festival Hall last year I was a relative unknown. I was with Mick Moretti against the Untouchables, Damian Slater and Marcius Pitt. We were sort of just thrown into the middle of that card, and a lot of people didn’t know who we were because these were people coming in off the back of New Japan.”

Eagles on being in a semi-main event headlining act for NJPW: “Now I’m coming in as the semi main event, as one of the headline acts. It’s so surreal, it’s hard to not get choked up about it. It’s a different feeling this time around. I’ve earned my spot in New Japan. I’ve earned my opportunity at the championship. Will Ospreay challenged me, as the champion, because he wants to try and rectify the loss that he got in the Best of the Super Juniors. And as if I’m going to turn down a title opportunity. This could be the biggest thing ever for me, and I’m not going to be leaving anything on the line or let it slip through my fingers. If this is the only opportunity I get, well, I usually like to say I’ll go down swinging, but I don’t see myself going down.”