Will Ospreay Appears at NJPW New Year’s Dash, Promises to Return to United Empire

NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 20 event featured multiple wrestlers currently under contract with All Elite Wrestling. Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi & Jay White appeared as part of Hiromi Tanahashi’s retirement ceremony. Of course we saw the likes of Kazuchika Okada & Konosuke Takeshita competing, along with Andrade El Idolo who will probably be back in AEW eventually.

The next night’s New Year’s Dash event saw the NJPW return of yet another AEW-contracted wrestler, Will Ospreay.

Will Ospreay returned, but a tense moment left more questions than answers in Ota!https://t.co/Y44UzExzs9

Watch the replay:https://t.co/w2bahXEgkW#njpw pic.twitter.com/JJdOsZzHEZ

— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) January 5, 2026

Will Ospreay’s former NJPW faction, the United Empire, scored a victory in an eight-man tag team match. Callum Newman, who has led the group since Ospreay’s departure from New Japan, grabbed the microphone and talked about how this was a new United Empire, not the one that had been left to crumble. Ospreay then made his appearance and promised to be back by their side after he got medically cleared and took care of his business in AEW. We haven’t heard anything official about Ospreay’s medical status, but he was backstage when AEW Dynamite went overseas.

I gotta put things right pic.twitter.com/9naEDcRqTB

— Will Ospreay • ウィル・オスプレイ (@WillOspreay) January 5, 2026

Newman has alluded to unhappiness with Ospreay in recent interviews. One can expect that tension to rise to the surface whenever Ospreay makes his return to NJPW. It nearly did here, as Newman teased hitting Ospreay in the back with a chair but was talked out of it. As it was, Newman’s feelings towards Will Ospreay were on full display at New Year’s Dash.