Will Ospreay Reflects On What Made NJPW Match With Ricochet So Special

Will Ospreay had a match with Ricochet in NJPW in 2016 that drew strong reactions online, and Ospreay recently reflected on the match’s importance. The two competed in the 2016 Best of Super Juniors tournament in a bout that exploded online with both praise and criticism for its choreographed non-stop action.

Ospreay spoke about the match back in May on its 10th anniversary, and he shares his thoughts about the bout in an interview on 107.7 The Bone. He noted that it just happened to be a perfect storm for them to capitalize on and that it opened up conversations about what is and isn’t wrestling. You can see the highlights below:

On What Made the Match Special:

“I think it was so special because of the situation that we found ourselves in. First of all, it was a tournament called the Best of the Super Juniors. Now, junior heavyweight wrestling has always been very fast, very explosive, very athletic-driven wrestling. And in Japan, their primary source of entertainment is anime. Dragon Ball Z is like, huge over there for them, right? And I think at that moment in Korakuen Hall where like — if you’ve never been to Korakuen Hall, it’s like the epicenter of professional wrestling. It’s probably one of the best wrestling venues that there is.

“We [were] in the main event, and we just did real life anime fighting in front of this audience who was losing their minds for it. And I think because they were losing their mind and New Japan at the time were going through a golden age, where the main event guys were Okada, Naito, Tanahashi, you had Ibushi working in the wings as well. It was just a [pivotal] moment where like all these cognitives worked together, and we just capitalized on the popularity of what the Super Juniors was, and because of the way that it was wrestled.”

On the Conversation Around the Match:

“I do generally believe it was a conversation that wrestling fans wanted to have of, ‘What is wrestling and what isn’t wrestling?’ And because of that, because of that match, it opened a doorway of a conversation that was needed to be had about what wrestling is. And I feel like honestly, wrestling for me is such a broad spectrum where like I don’t label one thing as like, ‘This is wrestling.’ I think wrestling has no boundaries, no limits. It is something that like — honestly one of these days, you know what I want to see in wrestling? I want to see a wrestling musical. I think that would be hilarious.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit 107.7 The Bone with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.