Will Ospreay Says NJPW Roster Isn’t As ‘Driven’ As It Used To Be After Yota Tsuji Denies He’ll Defend IWGP Title at Forbidden Door

NJPW’s Dominion event over the weekend saw Yota Tsuji regain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from Callum Newman. With Forbidden Door approaching on June 28th, one might suspect that a match can now be made for the title since it’s been sorted out who the champion will be.

Tsuji, for his part, is denying that he will be part of the event. He did an interview with Tokyo Sports after Dominion where he suggested that he would skip the event due to previous IWGP Championship matches taking place at Forbidden Door that didn’t live up to his standards for a title defense.

Yota Tsuji has suggested a BOYCOTT of Forbidden Door, saying he won't defend his IWGP Heavyweight Championship on the PPV:

“I think we must firmly protect what New Japan Pro Wrestling must not lose. Look back at the past. There were 4-way matches, open challenges, and retired… pic.twitter.com/7PuB1W4xCR

— Drainmaker (@TheDrainmaker) June 15, 2026

“I think we must firmly protect what New Japan Pro Wrestling must not lose. Look back at the past. There were 4-way matches, open challenges, and retired wrestlers challenging… Do you think I would participate in an IWGP match when it’s being treated like this in FD? As the man who revived the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, I have to protect its value.”

Will Ospreay, who currently appears in NJPW occasionally while working full time in AEW, responded to Tsuji’s comments on social media, calling out the current IWGP Champion and the New Japan roster as a whole.

“Or maybe have some pride in representing your company as the top lad. When I held any IWGP championship I wanted to travel the world calling out the best to show them all New Japan is the better. Obviously his home market is Japan & he has done great job in the top spot to me this screams “insecure”. The roster clearly isn’t as driven as the guys I was once surrounded by. Just big belly boys wanting to keep playing “Free Play”. Grow a sack, fill it with some nuts, call out the BITW & show the world how good New Japan is…. Just my thoughts.”

Or maybe have some pride in representing your company as the top lad.

When I held any IWGP championship I wanted to travel the world calling out the best to show them all New Japan is the better.

Obviously his home market is Japan & he has done great job in the top spot to me… https://t.co/gwFS4NzjgN

— Will Ospreay • ウィル・オスプレイ (@WillOspreay) June 15, 2026

One expects we’ll be hearing more about this on Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite, which will air at 8PM Eastern on TBS from Sugar Land, TX. Ospreay will be facing Swerve Strickland at Forbidden Door in the finals of the Owen Hart Cup, but there are probably other wrestlers interested in facing Yota Tsuji for his championship.