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133-529: The group was formed in October 2020 by Will Ospreay and Great-O-Khan , when Ospreay turned on his Chaos stablemate Kazuchika Okada during the G1 Climax . Fellow NJPW wrestlers Jeff Cobb and Aaron Henare would join, as well as freelancers T. J. Perkins and Francesco Akira , and the team of Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis known as Aussie Open , and "Lord" Gideon Grey from RevPro . The formation's concept

266-420: A bearhug , crushing the opponent into the turnbuckle . This is normally used by bigger, heavier wrestlers. A variation innovated by, popularized by, and named after Sting . It involves the wrestler trapping the opponent in a corner. Then the wrestler charges at the opponent, usually from the opposite corner, launching themselves and sandwiching the opponent between them and the turnbuckle while grabbing hold of

399-478: A four-way match , involving Tanahashi, Moxley and Juice Robinson , but failed to win the championship after being pinned by Robinson. Ospreay, along with Sanada, was set to get another title shot, at Dominion 6.12 in Osaka-jo Hall on 12 June in a Three-way match ; however, when Robinson had to vacate the championship due to his appendicitis , Ospreay faced Sanada one-on-one for the vacant championship, where he

532-659: A gauntlet match , the remaining members fully accepted TJP as the new leader of United Empire. On September 25 at AEW Grand Slam , Ospreay and Fletcher teamed under the United Empire banner, in losing effort to The Young Bucks for the AEW World Tag Team Championship . On October 12 at AEW WrestleDream , Fletcher betrayed Ospreay and assisted Konosuke Takeshita in winning the AEW International Championship . Will Ospreay This

665-411: A " Woooo! " noise in honor of Ric Flair , who popularized the move. A double variation of the aforementioned chop, the wrestler lunges forward or jumps forward in a pressing fashion while crossing arms forming an "X", hitting both sides of the opponent's neck. This variation sets the wrestler spinning 180 or full 360° striking the opponent's chest with a backhand chop. A downward diagonal attack to

798-467: A "gymnastics routine". Ospreay won his block in the tournament with a record of four wins and three losses, advancing to the finals. On 7 June, Ospreay defeated Ryusuke Taguchi in the finals to win the 2016 Best of the Super Juniors, becoming the youngest winner in the history of the tournament as well as the first English and the fifth gaijin wrestler to win tournament. Following the win, Ospreay

931-447: A Winner takes all match at G1 Supercard . At the event, Ospreay lost the match, in the process losing his title to Cobb, who retained his title. Ospreay participated in the 2019 edition of Best of the Super Juniors , where he won his block with a record of 7–2, advancing to the final. In the preliminary rounds, he suffered losses against long-time rivals Robbie Eagles and El Phantasmo . On 5 June Ospreay defeated Shingo Takagi to win

1064-456: A challenge which Ospreay accepted. Ospreay lost the championship to Omega at Wrestle Kingdom, ending his reign at 206 days. Ospreay attempted to rebound following another loss at Wrestle Kingdom, by entering the 2023 New Japan Cup , in March. Ospreay received a bye to the second round, where he defeated United Empire stablemate Mark Davis to advance to the quarterfinals. However, soon after it

1197-523: A clenched fist is illegal in most wrestling matches. A high impact version is used by Wade Barrett as his finishing move known as the Bull Hammer , also used by Karrion Kross known as the Kross Hammer . In this move, invented by Mitsuharu Misawa , the wrestler facing away from the opponent, spins 180° from the stood direction striking with an elbow. Another variation sees the wrestler first facing

1330-486: A co-promoted show with Combat Zone Wrestling in October, he won it a fortnight later in a Six-Way Elimination match. He defended it over the following months to many SWE and guest wrestlers, eventually putting it on the line in the annual Speed King Tournament where he beat Mark Andrews in the semi-final in a Best of Three falls match but lost the title to El Ligero in a Six-Way Elimination match on 30 May 2015. The following March he unsuccessfully challenged Joseph Connors for

1463-470: A conventional wrestling uppercut , the wrestler strikes the opponent's throat upward with the tips of all five stiffed fingers of a supine hand. Abdullah the Butcher and Sgt. Slaughter were professional wrestlers known for its use as signature move. A simple maneuver derived from the thumb chokehold having a wrestler drawing back a hand and striking the windpipe with only the thumb, sometimes while holding

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1596-441: A cornered opponent and climbs the second or top rope beside the opponent with a leg on each side . The wrestler then jumps down off the ropes, delivering a bionic elbow to the opponent's head, neck (if the opponent's neck is bent-down or sideways) or the shoulder. The wrestler makes a punching motion, but tucks their hand toward the chest so the elbow and forearm make contact. These can be used in place of punches, for striking with

1729-647: A four-way ladder match to become WCPW Tag Team Champions. They lost the title to War Machine on an episode of Loaded. In August 2017, Ospreay made it to the finals of the Pro Wrestling World Cup, before losing to Kushida. On 4 January 2017, Ospreay, along with fellow British wrestler Ryan Smile, started their own promotion, known as Lucha Forever, with their first show, The Dawning of Forever, taking place on 17 April in Birmingham. Ospreay debuted for Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro) on 10 February 2013 with

1862-532: A hand back and hits the opponent vertically, atop the head. This move is primarily used by very tall wrestlers such as The Great Khali and Andre the Giant . It is also known as the tomahawk chop when used as part of a Native American gimmick, ostensibly due to it resembling a tomahawking motion. It was used as a finisher by Wahoo McDaniel , Chief Jay Strongbow and Tatanka , neither of whom were particularly tall. Also known as throat strike or sword stab. Similar to

1995-430: A handstand to drive their knee to the opponent's midsection. A whole number of attacks in which a wrestler will jump/fall and land the back of their leg across an opponent's chest, throat, or face. The running variation is used by Hulk Hogan as his finisher. Nia Jax also uses the running variation as one of her signature moves. An elbow attack sees the wrestler using front or back elbow to connect it in any part of

2128-438: A knife and threatened to torture Ospreay, blaming it on Ospreay's popularity with the fans, before other wrestlers came out and intervened, freeing Ospreay. Havoc and The London Riots formed an allegiance known as Regression, which also featured Robinson. On 27 July, Ospreay entered the eight-man, staggered entry elimination Thunderbastard match, the winner of whom can pick a time for a Progress Championship match. Ospreay entered

2261-634: A loss to The London Riots (James Davis and Rob Lynch). His performance earned him a place in the Natural Progression Series I tournament, aimed at scouting and showcasing new wrestlers. He lost in the first round to eventual winner Mark Andrews in November and again in a rematch the following May. Andrews who, as part of his reward for winning, picked Ospreay to enter the following Natural Progression Series tournament. The two met again in January 2014 in

2394-454: A match between Chaos members Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay , Bea Priestley , Ospreay's girlfriend, made her debut appearance in NJPW, at ringside. As Okada locked his Money Clip submission onto Ospreay, Priestley attempted to enter the ring, distracting the referee in the process. Tomoyuki Oka (now known as Great O-Khan) then made his surprise return from excursion and entered the ring behind

2527-531: A match won by Ospreay and O-Khan. On January 26, new stipulations were added to the Ospreay vs. Kojima and O-Khan vs. Tenzan matches for The New Beginning in Nagoya. The loser of O-Khan vs. Tenzan is forced to retire their Mongolian Chop , while the Ospreay vs. Kojima match will be contested under no-disqualification rules. O-Khan and Ospreay went on to win their respective matches. At Castle Attack , United Empire beat

2660-579: A no disqualification match where the reinstated London Riots neutralised the threat of Robinson's interference and Ospreay ended Havoc's 609 day reign to become Progress Champion. Ospreay successfully defended his title against the 2015 Thunderbastard Haskins and then Robinson. Robinson attacked Ospreay after losing to him, but Ospreay was saved by a returning Mark Andrews. Ospreay went on to finally beat Andrews to defend his title. Ospreay also headlined Progress' first main show outside of London in Manchester, in

2793-642: A no disqualification, 2 out of 3 falls match with former tag team partner Paul Robinson as referee. At Chapter 82: Unboxing Live, Ospreay and Paul Robinson defeated Aussie Open ( Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis ) to become the Progress Tag Team Champions. On 17 May 2023, it would be announced that Ospreay would return to Progress as part of the 2023 Super Strong Style 16 tournament. Ospreay's first match back would be against Tate Mayfairs, which he would win. His second match would be against Nathan Cruz, where he would lose by DQ and thus be eliminated from

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2926-650: A number of title defences, Ospreay lost the title back to Bodom on 5 September 2015. Ospreay bounced back with wins over P. J. Black , René Duprée , and Ricochet, which put him in line for a three-way match for AJ Styles ' British Heavyweight Championship , which also featured Marty Scurll , where the champion retained. The following day, on 3 October 2015 he lost to New Japan Pro-Wrestling 's Kazuchika Okada . Okada, impressed with Ospreay, went on to recommend him to NJPW officials. This, along with endorsements from AJ Styles and Hiroshi Tanahashi , eventually led to Ospreay being signed by NJPW. In 2016 Ospreay beat Scurll and

3059-439: A promo declaring himself as the true IWGP World Heavyweight Champion due to him never being beaten for the title and revealed a separate and identical belt. He also claimed recognized IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Shingo Takagi to be an "Interim champion" as well as revealing himself out of the G1 Climax 31 . He also said he would be competing on New Japan's American show Strong . In the build-up to Wrestle Kingdom 16 , it

3192-402: A relationship with NJPW which Ospreay later confirmed. In August 2017, Ospreay made his debut appearance for Pro Wrestling Australia (PWA) at their Sydney event Call to Arms . Originally scheduled to face PWA Heavyweight Champion Robbie Eagles in a non-title match for the main event, Eagles made the last-minute decision to put his title on the line. Ospreay ultimately defeated Eagles and won

3325-513: A rematch from Wrestle Kingdom . Between the second and the thirds round, he suffered a legit injury that almost made him unable to participate further in the G1 Climax, but nevertheless, he managed to get cleared in a very short amount of time. Afterwards, Ospreay faced the leader of Chaos, Kazuchika Okada in the main events of Night 7 of the G1 Climax, yet lost in another well-received match. On 4 January 2020, at Wrestle Kingdom 14 , Ospreay lost

3458-625: A series of shows across 2016 for What Culture Pro Wrestling for both their weekly YouTube broadcast and iPPV shows, scoring wins over Noam Dar , Marty Scurll and feud with Martin Kirby. On WCPW Loaded #15 Ospreay defeated Martin Kirby with help from Adam Pacitti , Paul Robinson & Scott Wainwright, joining the Pacitti Club. At WCPW True Destiny, Ospreay teamed with Scotty Wainwright and defeated El Ligero & Gabriel Kidd and Johnny Moss & Liam Slater and Prospect (Alex Gracie & Lucas Archer) in

3591-489: A series of wins became the first FPW Tag Team Champions after winning a four-way match. They held the titles for nine months and eventually became embroiled in a Best of Four match series against both The London Riots and The Alpha Males (Iestyn Rees & Charlie Garrett) for the FPW Tag Team Championship. The Swords of Essex failed to win a match in the series, with Ospreay wrestling the final match, which also had

3724-680: A singles match between both men was scheduled for AEW×NJPW: Forbidden Door , for Ospreay's newly won IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship , along with a triple-threat tag-team match, between FTR, Roppongi Vice and O-Khan and Cobb, for the ROH World Tag Team Championships and O-Khan and Cobb's newly won IWGP Tag Team Championships . At the event, Cobb and O-Khan lost the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships to FTR, yet Will Ospreay retained his IWGP United States Championship against Orange Cassidy. After

3857-595: A speaking tour of the United Kingdom , offered Ospreay an Evolve contract on behalf of Gabe Sapolsky while clarifying that the contract would not affect his NJPW deal. On 20 July, Pro Wrestling Torch reported Ospreay had signed the contract to make Evolve his American home promotion, but the Wrestling Observer Newsletter disputed this, reporting Ospreay did not sign and was still in talks with Evolve, PWG, TNA, and ROH, another American promotion who had

3990-581: A tag team match between Chaos and Suzuki-gun . After the match, Ospreay challenged Sabre Jr. to another match for the title which was scheduled at RevPro's High Stakes event. At the event, Ospreay defeated Sabre Jr. to win the British Heavyweight Championship. After the match, Ospreay announced that he will be moving to the heavyweight division. Ospreay was supposed to be part of the 2020 New Japan Cup starting on 4 March; however, NJPW suspended all of its activities in late February due to

4123-561: A three-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and the winner of the 2016 and 2019 Best of the Super Juniors . In 2019, Ospreay also won the NEVER Openweight Championship . That same year, Ospreay participated in the G1 Climax , NJPW's biggest tournament featuring heavyweight wrestlers. In 2020, he made his transition to the heavyweight division, where he won the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship . He

United Empire - Misplaced Pages Continue

4256-489: A title vs title match to unify Ospreay's Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship and Knight Jr's British Heavyweight Championship. Ospreay made his final title defence of the year, defeating Shota Umino at RevPro Uprising 2021. Ospreay made his first title defence of 2022, defeating Michael Oku at RevPro High Stakes 2022, in a critically acclaimed match. His next title defence was against Mike Bailey on night 1 of RevPro's 10th Anniversary show on 20 August. On Night 2

4389-407: A tournament to crown a new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, due to Takahashi getting a neck injury and forcing him to vacate the belt, and lost against Marty Scurll. At King of Pro-Wrestling (2018) , Ospreay teamed with Hirooki Goto and Tomohiro Ishii in a winning effort against Suzuki-gun, represented by Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka and NEVER Openweight Champion Taichi. Ospreay pinned Taichi for

4522-565: A triple threat match against Zack Gibson and Morgan Webster to close out 2015. He lost the championship on 24 January 2016 to Marty Scurll when the referee stopped the match as Ospreay had passed out while being handcuffed in Scurll's chickenwing submission. Ospreay lost a rematch with Scurll at WrestleCon Supershow in Texas, USA in April and also lost a contendership match against Haskins on 31 July. He spent

4655-688: A win over Mike Hitchman. He soon started appearing in tag matches with Paul Robinson as The Swords of Essex and, after earning contendership with a win over The London Riots, won the British Tag Team Championship on 15 June 2013 during RevPro's first show at York Hall by defeating Project Ego (Kris Travis and Martin Kirby). After losing to Ricochet in a singles match, The Swords of Essex lost their British Tag Team Championship to Ricochet and his partner Rich Swann , The Inner City Machine Gun on 15 March 2014. On 19 October, Ospreay beat Josh Bodom for

4788-403: A wrestler attacking with the core of the body. It is executed from an upright, running position using momentum and weight to run over the opponent. The wrestler takes a short charge into an opponent in the corner of the ring without leaving the feet as they open both arms just before reaching the opponent, resulting in hitting with the chest and abdominal area while throwing both arms inward as in

4921-544: Is a former ROH World Television Champion , as well as independent promotions like Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG). After making appearances in AEW in 2022 and 2023, he signed with the company and officially joined its roster after his NJPW contract expired in February 2024. Ospreay holds the record for the most 5 or more stars matches given by wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer with a total of 43 matches. William Peter Charles Ospreay

5054-500: Is a former and longest reigning Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion . He also wrestled for British promotion Progress Wrestling , where he is a former Progress World Champion . Ospreay began his career on the UK independent circuit in 2012. In 2016, after being recommended by AJ Styles , he began to work with the Japanese promotion NJPW as part of the junior heavyweight division, becoming

5187-425: Is a snapping variation called karate fist drop that can be performed in a series, setting the wrestler besides a fallen opponent in a front stance known as Zenkutsu dachi . Then the wrestler drops to their rear leg's knee delivering the fist at the opponent's stomach, to rise up back again. A move similar to a sliding forearm smash in which a wrestler jumps down on an opponent driving their forearm into anywhere on

5320-529: Is a strike that is brought from a high position and travels vertically toward the floor, dropping the point of the elbow directly on the target. Often this will set an attacking wrestler bending an opponent over to deliver the elbow at the back of the opponent. This type of " 12-6 elbow " is illegal in the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts . This move was made famous by WWE Legend and Hall of Famer "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes . The wrestler approaches to

5453-562: Is an accepted version of this page William Peter Charles Ospreay (born 7 May 1993) is an English professional wrestler . As of November 2023 , he is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a former two-time AEW International Champion . He is also known for his eight year tenure with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he held various championships, including the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship . Ospreay previously wrestled for NJPW's United Kingdom -based partner promotion Revolution Pro Wrestling (RevPro), where he

United Empire - Misplaced Pages Continue

5586-538: Is based on the multitude of its members whereabout countries and cultures. So far, the stable has had members from six different countries. Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis from Australia, T. J. Perkins from Philippines, Jeff Cobb from the United States, Will Ospreay , Gideon Grey, Callum Newman, Dan Moloney and Bea Priestley from England, Aaron Henare from New Zealand, Great-O-Khan from Japan and finally Francesco Akira from Italy. On Night 17 of G1 Climax 30 , during

5719-484: Is done in reverse; the attacking wrestler performs the Thesz press on a charging wrestler from a standing position, then instead of pinning them, they attack them with mounted punches . Also known as vertical splash body press, this variation is made by a charging wrestler (usually standing on the second or top rope) against a standing opponent, landing on their chest and shoulders while remaining upright. The wrestler employs

5852-412: Is the pointed elbow drop, that sees a wrestler raise both elbows up and drop directly forward dropping one, or both elbows onto the opponent. This variation sees the wrestler raise one elbow before falling and simultaneously twisting around as falls to one side, striking the opponent with the elbow anywhere on the body. Sometimes, the wrestler will swing one leg around before the fall, gaining momentum for

5985-701: The COVID-19 pandemic . Although the company eventually resumed its activities with the New Japan Cup in June, travel limitations due to the pandemic have prevented most foreign wrestlers from returning to Japan. Ospreay made his return in September, where Ospreay participated in his second G1 Climax in the A Block where he ended his G1 run with twelve points. At night 17 of the G1 Climax, Ospreay defeated Kazuchika Okada after interference from Ospreay's girlfriend Bea Priestley and

6118-472: The Eye of The Hurricane . Another variation of this move sees the executor use the whole arm as a lariat instead of just the elbow, a side headlock from a jumping position variant can also be executed and twisted around into a sitout lariat. An inverted variation of this move sees the wrestler applying a front facelock before executing an elbow or a lariat to the back of the opponent's head causing them to land on

6251-508: The NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship , but he and his Chaos stablemates Beretta and Rocky Romero were defeated by the defending champions, David Finlay, Ricochet and Satoshi Kojima . On 11 February 2017 at The New Beginning in Osaka , Ospreay unsuccessfully challenged Katsuyori Shibata for the British Heavyweight Championship. In May, Ospreay won his block in the 2017 Best of

6384-400: The NEVER Openweight Championship ), and Kazuchika Okada, respectively. At New Year Dash!! on January 6, The Empire defeated Tencozy ( Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima ) & Yota Tsuji when O-Khan & Cobb held Tsuji up for a Super OsCutter . After beating down O-Khan's trainer, Tenzan to the point where he had to be stretchered out, Ospreay declared that they would be renamed

6517-521: The New Japan Cup , where Ospreay, O-Khan, Cobb and Aaron Henare would proceed to the second round with wins over Bushi , Kota Ibushi, Togi Makabe and Yuto Nakanishima, respectively. Ibushi was injured at the time and O-Khan would win by forfeit. Ospreay, O-Khan and Cobb would move to the third round with wins over El Phantasmo , Taiji Ishimori and Kosei Fujita, respectively. Henare was eliminated after losing to Sanada. Ospreay and Cobb would qualify for

6650-482: The Nigerian Nail . A move in which one wrestler runs toward another extending their arm out from the side of the body and parallel to the ground, hitting the opponent in the neck or chest, knocking them over. This move is often confused with a lariat . Popularized by Mick Foley and named after his "Cactus Jack" gimmick . The attacking wrestler charges at an opponent against the ring ropes and clotheslines them,

6783-488: The 2018 Best of the Super Juniors, finishing the tournament with 5 wins and 2 losses, but didn't advance to the finals due to his loss against Ishimori on the first day of the tournament. Ospreay lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to the winner of the tournament, Hiromu Takahashi at Dominion 6.9 in Osaka-jo Hall on 9 June in his fourth defense. At Fighting Spirit Unleashed , Ospreay entered

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6916-569: The British Cruiserweight Championship in a match that also included Swann. The day before, he had lost a match to Matt Sydal and so in May 2015 the two had a rematch. Although Ospreay won the rematch, with their series at 1–1 the two were booked in a Best of Three Falls match with the British Cruiserweight Championship on the line. After losing the first fall, he retained the title with two straight falls. After an eleven-month reign, with

7049-486: The D Block. In the semi-final round, Ospreay defeated C Block winner Tetsuya Naito to advance to the tournament finals. In the finals, Ospreay lost to Okada. Following his G1 loss, Ospreay continued to defend his IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, avenging a D-Block G1 loss to David Finlay and defeating him at NJPW Burning Spirit in September. In October at Royal Quest II , Ospreay defeated Shota Umino . At Battle Autumn in November, Ospreay again retained

7182-515: The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to Hiromu Takahashi . He suffered an heel injury during the match, reportedly from landing on his feet when Takahashi dropped him from the top rope. On 2 February at The New Beginning in Sapporo , Ospreay was unsuccessful at winning British Heavyweight Championship from Zack Sabre Jr. On 4 February during the Road to New Beginning tour, Ospreay pinned Sabre Jr. in

7315-572: The IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. Professional wrestling strikes#Mongolian chop Strikes can be offensive moves in professional wrestling , that can sometimes be used to set up an opponent for a hold or for a throw . There are a wide variety of strikes in pro wrestling, and many are known by several different names. Professional wrestlers frequently give their finishers new names. Occasionally, these names become popular and are used regardless of

7448-461: The June 8th episode of Dynamite, this time with Ospreay, Henare, Fletcher and Davis making their AEW debuts, attacking Trent Beretta and FTR. Ospreay competed in his first singles match at the June 15th special episode of Dynamite , Road Rager , where he defeated Dax Harwood . After the match Ospreay and United Empire stablemates attacked FTR and Roppongi Vice once more, only to be interrupted by Orange Cassidy , who stared down Ospreay. Soon after

7581-517: The LA Dojo and joined United Empire as their first Junior Heavyweight member. Despite Ospreay's absence, both O'Khan and Cobb would enter the tournament in the A and B block respectively. O'Khan would finish in the bottom half of his block, scoring just 8 points, however, Cobb would break records in his block, going undefeated for 8 straight wins, before losing on the final deciders to Kazuchika Okada on Day 18, whom he had traded back and forth wins with over

7714-577: The London Riots' IPW:UK and New Generation Wrestling Tag Team Championship on the line, without Robinson. Ospreay has been unable to replicate similar success as a singles wrestler, twice entering the Zero G tournament but failing to win. Ospreay also became a regular for Southside Wrestling Entertainment (SWE) from March 2014 onwards. After failing to win the Speed King Championship from Kay Lee Ray in

7847-644: The MCW Intercommonwealth Championship. After the Global Wars UK event, where Ospreay faced Kazuchika Okada , New Japan wrestlers Hiroshi Tanahashi , AJ Styles and Okada recommended him to NJPW. On 3 March 2016, Ospreay was announced as the newest member of the NJPW stable Chaos . Appearing in a video, Ospreay challenged Kushida to an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match at Invasion Attack 2016 on 10 April. On 10 April, Ospreay failed in his title challenge against Kushida. Following

7980-504: The May 25th episode of AEW Dynamite , Cobb and O'Khan interrupted the ROH World Tag Team Championship match between, FTR and Roppongi Vice causing a disqualification by attacking both teams, with Cobb returning to All Elite Wrestling for the first time since 2019 and O'Khan making his debut. They raised the titles, indicating the intention of challenging for the championships. The stable returned two weeks later, on

8113-574: The PWA Heavyweight Championship for the first time. Afterwards, Ospreay announced that he was moving to Australia and would begin working regularly for PWA and other local independent promotions. Ospreay stated that he felt he could help the Australian wrestling scene grow, while the U.K. scene did not need him. Days later, Ospreay faced Adam Brooks in the main event of a Melbourne City Wrestling show, Ballroom Brawl ; defeating him to win

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8246-585: The SWE Heavyweight Championship but on 7 August won the Speed King championship for the second time from Andrew Everett . On 27 August 2016 Ospreay posted a Facebook live video unveiling a new British Triangle Championship with his three Swords of Essex partners Paul Robinson, Jerry Sevanchez, and Scott Wainwright. They announced that the trios championships were not specific to any promotion and could therefore be defended anywhere. Ospreay wrestled

8379-535: The Stray Dog Army in the semi-finals. In the finals at Strong: High Alert , Davis and Fletcher defeated Christopher Daniels and Yuya Uemura to become the inaugural champions. On July 27, the AEW World Trios Championship was revealed, with Ospreay and Aussie Open being named as participants in the inaugural tournament. On August 24, Ospreay and Aussie Open defeated Death Triangle to progress to

8512-401: The Super Juniors tournament with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to his second consecutive final. On 3 June, Ospreay was defeated in the final by Kushida. On 9 October at King of Pro-Wrestling , Ospreay defeated Kushida to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for the first time. With the win, Ospreay became the first British IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. He lost

8645-538: The US title, in which Ospreay and former champion Hiroshi Tanahashi expressed interest in fighting for the vacant title. Ospreay returned to the NJPW United States shows on 16 April at Windy City Riot to face Jon Moxley , who Ospreay had called out at Resurgence and in post-match interviews during his New Japan Cup run. At the event, he was defeated. Ospreay challenged for the US title at Capital Collision on 14 May in

8778-797: The Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship from Zack Sabre Jr. At High Stakes on 14 February 2020, Ospreay defeated Sabre Jr. to win the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship. Following RevPro events being hindered due to the Covid-19 Pandemic , Ospreay made his first title defence on 4 October at RevPro Epic Encounters 3, defeating Kyle Fletcher . On 15 November 2020, Ospreay made another defence, defeating Ricky Knight Jr. at RevPro Epic Encounters 5. The following year at RevPro's Ninth Anniversary on 21 August 2021, Ospreay defended his title against Doug Williams . A month later, Ospreay once again defeated Knight Jr

8911-623: The United Empire. This change was later reflected on New Japan's websites, along with the group's first logo. After attempting to defend his tag partner from the Empire's attack, Kojima was scheduled to face Ospreay one-on-one at The New Beginning in Nagoya on January 30. O-Khan was also scheduled to face Tenzan one-on-one. All four men squared off a week beforehand in Tenzan's comeback from injury match in Ota City General Gymnasium on January 23,

9044-410: The air at the exact moment the clothesline connected. As the opponent runs to the ropes on one side of the ring and rebounds against them, the attacker also runs to the same ropes and rebounds ensuring to be behind them and performs the clothesline as the opponent turns to face them. This snapping variation is set up by a short-arm , then the wrestler pulls the opponent back and clotheslines them with

9177-441: The attacking wrestler running toward an opponent, then leaping into the air before connecting with a clothesline. This variant's use is commonly associated with The Undertaker , The Rock , and Roman Reigns . Another version sees an attacking wrestler leap up into the air and connecting with a clothesline onto an opponent leaning against the corner turnbuckle. The Rock also used a lesser variant of this move which saw him jump into

9310-437: The charge's force and momentum knocks both the wrestler and the opponent over the top rope outside the ring. An attack used by a wrestler where instead of knocking down a standing opponent, aims to squash them against the turnbuckle. Any variant where instead of aiming at just one opponent, the attacking wrestler knocks down two opponents at once. Also known as a jumping clothesline or a flying clothesline, this move involves

9443-531: The co-promoted BritWres-Fest on 1 April 2012 as the masked character Dark Britannico, the evil twin of Leon Britannico who was played by Paul Robinson, Ospreay's future tag team partner in the team The Swords of Essex . While wrestling with Lucha Britannia he twice won the Lucha Britannia World Championship . Ospreay soon became a regular for Progress Wrestling , debuting for them at Chapter Two: The March of Progress with Alex Esmail in

9576-417: The corkscrew twist, first invented by "Nature Boy" Buddy Landel in 1984. This is any elbow drop which is performed after applying a headlock, the most widely known variation is the inverted facelock elbow drop, in which a wrestler puts the opponent into an inverted facelock , and then turns 180°, dropping the elbow across the opponent's chest, driving them down to the mat. This was used by The Hurricane as

9709-504: The duo was confronted by Bullet Club's Clark Connors . This led to Dan Moloney attacking the duo from behind, betraying United Empire and joining Connors in Bullet Club. On March 12, 2024, following Ospreay completing his full-time NJPW duties and going to AEW, TJP claimed himself as leader the NJPW branch of United Empire, but would be pushed back by Great-O-Khan due to the stable losing. On April 22 however, after defeating Just 5 Guys in

9842-574: The final of the UK Super 8 tournament in both 2014 and 2015, losing to Zack Sabre, Jr and Rampage Brown respectively. He won the 30-man Battle Royale 2014 in April but failed to win it the following year when the All England Championship was on the line. On 28 March 2016, Ospreay lost a Loser Leaves Town match to his former Spitfire Britannia partner Dawkins. The Swords of Essex began wrestling for Future Pro Wrestling (FPW) in May 2013 and after

9975-594: The final two teams standing in a four-team elimination match to decide contenders to the Progress Tag Team Championship . During the match, Ospreay, having been isolated for some time, reached out to tag his partner but Robinson jumped off the apron and walked out on Ospreay. Ospreay was left on his own and lost the match, after which the Progress Champion Jimmy Havoc came to the ring and ordered London Riots to tie Ospreay. Havoc pulled out

10108-562: The first round of the Progress Tag Team Championship tournament, with FSU (Andrews' team with Eddie Dennis ) defeating The Swords of Essex (Ospreay's team with Paul Robinson). In his Natural Progression Series II opening match, his opponent Zack Gibson tried to win by holding the ropes. Robinson prevented Gibson using the ropes, which in turn distracted the referee for long enough for Gibson to low-blow Ospreay and make Ospreay submit. On 18 May, The Swords of Essex were one of

10241-406: The first time as well as becoming the first British holder of NJPW's top championship. At Wrestling Dontaku , Ospreay made his first defense of the title when he defeated Shingo Takagi. However, he suffered a neck injury during the match and was forced to vacate the title on 20 May 2021. Just three months after his injury, Ospreay made a surprise return at Resurgence on 14 August. He delivered

10374-432: The floor, striking with a specific part of the body. The wrestler either falls forward, or jumps up and drops down, hitting a lying opponent with a kesagiri chop on the way down, usually landing in a kneeling position. Scotty 2 Hotty is best known for performing the chop drop which is always preceded by a routine that involves him hopping on one leg four times (as the crowd chants W-O-R-M), doing worm dance moves toward

10507-583: The following day, Ospreay lost the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship to Ricky Knight Jr, ending his reign at 919 days with 7 successful title defences. The reign made Ospreay the longest reigning Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion in history. Ospreay returned to RevPro, for the first time since losing his title at Revpro Uprising 2022 in December, defeating Tomohiro Ishii . Ospreay made sporadic appearances for RevPro for

10640-520: The following show. He lost the championship match in January after Havoc loosened the top rope, making it more difficult for Ospreay to do high-flying moves, and used it as a weapon. During the Spring Bank Holiday weekend, Ospreay defeated El Ligero, Mark Haskins, Roderick Strong and Zack Sabre, Jr across two days to win the first Super Strong Style 16 tournament and once again lay claim to Havoc's championship. Their rematch took place on 26 July in

10773-407: The forehead to the opponent's groin. A move in which a wrestler jumps/falls down on an opponent, driving their knee into anywhere on the opponent's body. It is often sold as more powerful if the wrestler bounces off the ropes first. Ric Flair , Randy Orton and Samoa Joe are examples of wrestlers who use this move. A variation sets the wrestler kneeling besides a fallen opponent, then performing

10906-420: The free arm. In this attack a wrestler uses a three-point stance , then runs and clotheslines the opponent. Famously used by performers with known football background, such as "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan or "Mongo" McMichael . Also known as a double sledge or polish hammer after its most noted user, Ivan Putski . It sets an attacking wrestler clutching both hands together, swinging them downward hitting usually

11039-416: The latter's Progress World Championship match leading to a Fans Bring The Weapons match in March. During the match, Ospreay challenged Havoc to put their Progress contracts at stake before losing the match and leaving the promotion. Ospreay returned at the last event of 2017 as a mystery opponent for Progress Champion Travis Banks , however he lost the match. On chapter 61, Ospreay defeated Adam Brooks, this

11172-479: The mat or into a facebreaker where the wrestler places their knee in front of the opponent whilst when executing the move. A wrestler performs a series of theatrics before jumping or falling down, driving a fist usually to the opponent's forehead. Utilized by wrestlers including Jerry Lawler , Ted DiBiase , The Honky Tonk Man and John Cena , the latter of whom calls it the Five Knuckle Shuffle . There

11305-419: The match Aussie Open and Ospreay continued to attack Cassidy and Roppongi Vice, however were interrupted by Katsuyori Shibata , who saved Cassidy from the trio. On the June 19th edition of NJPW Strong Ignition , Aussie Open competed in a tournament to crown the inaugural Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship . In the first round, they defeated The Dark Order's Evil Uno and Alan Angels and they defeated

11438-543: The match third and was immediately low-blowed by Robinson, who had already entered, who disqualified himself in the hopes of taking out Ospreay. Ospreay recovered and eventually eliminated Marty Scurll last to win Thunderbastard. The following show saw Ospreay team up with FSU and Noam Dar in an eight-man tag team match with FSU and Havoc's respective titles, Ospreay's title contendership and everyone else's Progress contracts at stake, depending which individual lost. During

11571-611: The match to "a gymnastics routine". The debate escalated over Twitter , with many wrestling journalists and veterans weighing in on the debate. Their match eventually took place on 12 August, with Ospreay losing to Vader after Dunne interfered while the referee was distracted. On 13 April 2017, Ospreay lost the British Cruiserweight Championship to interim champion Josh Bodom. Following a non-title contest against Zack Sabre Jr at 'Monday Night Mayhem' in Portsmouth in which Ospreay won, on 10 November 2017 at Global Wars, Ospreay failed to win

11704-547: The match, Ospreay moonsaulted from the Electric Ballroom 's balcony onto his opponents, on the floor. Later, he had Havoc in position to be pinned but as he jumped from the top rope, Robinson dragged Havoc outside, leading Ospreay to pin Davis and end the London Riots' contract with Progress. At the next event, Ospreay defeated Robinson and announced he would invoke his Thunderbastard right to challenge for Havoc's championship at

11837-414: The match, Ospreay was legitimately injured after his foot hit the rope mid-rotation after attempting a Spanish Fly off of the ring apron, causing him to land on his head on top of the apron and begin bleeding profusely from his scalp. At Wrestling Dontaku 2018 after successfully defending his title in a rematch against Kushida, he was attacked by the newest Bullet Club member, Taiji Ishimori . He entered

11970-573: The match, an impressed Will Ospreay appeared and extended Moloney an invitation to join the faction, which was accepted. On May 24, 2023, AEW owner Tony Khan announced that both Fletcher and Davis had signed contracts joining AEW. This would officially bring the faction to AEW. Ospreay would be announced to sign several months later. During their tenure in AEW, Ospreay and Fletcher were also apart of The Don Callis Family . Following Catch 2/2's claim of their second IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship on June 4 at Dominion 6.4 in Osaka-jo Hall ,

12103-408: The match, it was reported that NJPW had offered Ospreay a contract to become a regular for the promotion. The following month, Ospreay entered the 2016 Best of the Super Juniors tournament. On 27 May, Ospreay faced Ricochet in the tournament in a match, which received widespread attention in the professional wrestling world. William Regal praised the match. Vader , however, compared the match to

12236-572: The momentum to bring their opponent down to the mat into a seated senton . A chop is a strike to the opponent's neck, shoulders or chest with the edge of a hand. Also known as a knife edge chop, back-hand slice or gyaku suihei chop ( English : Reverse horizontal chop ) ( 逆水平チョップ , Gyaku suihei choppu ) , is the act of a wrestler slice-chopping the chest of the opponent using an upward backhand swing. Many wrestlers, especially brawlers and Japanese wrestlers , use this maneuver, and some crowds (especially American wrestling crowds) respond with

12369-413: The new Cruiserweight Champion Pete Dunne in a non-title triple threat match, as well as beating Mike Bailey, which saw him earn a Cruiserweight Championship match against Dunne on 10 July which he won. The following month Ospreay headlined York Hall in a match against Vader . The feud began after Vader had criticised an NJPW Best of the Super Juniors match between Ospreay and Ricochet in May, comparing

12502-489: The opponent and strikes the opponent's face with a back elbow. The wrestler faces toward the opponent, and strikes the front or back of the head with a full swinging back elbow. The move can be performed on an opponent who is kneeling and facing away. This is commonly used by Will Ospreay as a finisher, which he names the Hidden Blade , which usually sees him charge towards a seated, kneeling, or rising opponent. This move

12635-482: The opponent and swinging his arms just before hitting the chop drop, while his opponent lies face up and motionless on the mat. A move in which a wrestler jumps or falls down on an opponent driving their elbow into anywhere on the opponent's body. A common elbow drop sees a wrestler raise one elbow before falling to one side and striking it across an opponent. The Rock popularized the high impact elbow drop and called it The People's Elbow . Another common elbow drop

12768-627: The opponent by the nape. Performed by wrestlers like Ernie Ladd . Others include Umaga who dubbed the move the Samoan Spike ; the move would later be used by his nephew Solo Sikoa . Bad Luck Fale uses a variation, what is preceded by a choke-lift, called Grenade Terry Gordy used this as a move alongside the Thumb choke hold which he dubbed the Oriental Spike . Dabba-Kato also used this move during his WWE main roster tenure as Commander Azeez called

12901-498: The opponent's back, face, or top of the head. The many names of this move come from the attack mimicking the motion seen when people swing a sledgehammer or axe . There is also a top rope variation . The Wrestler performs a discus before clutching the hands together and delivering the double axe handle. It was used by Manabu Nakanishi as Yaijin Hammer . Attacks in which an attacking wrestler jumps and falls down onto an opponent on

13034-484: The opponent's body. Also known as reverse elbow, sees the wrestler giving the back with to a standing or running opponent, and then striking with the back of the elbow to the opponent's face, neck or chest. Chris Jericho used this move he called the Judas Effect . The wrestler strikes a back elbow to a cornered opponent, usually while running. The wrestler faces away from the opponent, spins around to face away from

13167-470: The opponent's body. Used by Ilja Dragunov as the H-Bomb . A move setting an attacking wrestler jumping or falling down on an opponent, driving their head usually at the opponent's face or midsection. The most common variation sets the attacking wrestler standing at the fallen opponent's feet, taking them by the ankles to spread their legs. Then the attacker releases the grip as they jump or fall down, delivering

13300-928: The promotion's tour of the United Kingdom. Ospreay unsuccessfully entered the 2016 Joker's Wild tournament and challenged for both the TNA King of the Mountain Championship and TNA World Tag Team Championship . Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that TNA had plans to push Ospreay, but upon finding out that he had signed to appear for NJPW relegated him to a short match on their secondary television programme. On 1 April 2016, Ospreay made his debut for Evolve , losing to Zack Sabre Jr. at Evolve 58 and Ricochet at Evolve 59 , both in Dallas, Texas, USA. On 12 July, Paul Heyman , during

13433-461: The quarter finals with wins over Yoshi-Hashi and Sanada, respectively while O-Khan would lose to Zack Sabre Jr. Both Ospreay and Cobb were eliminated in the semi-final after losing to Tetsuya Naito and Zack Sabre Jr., respectively. After the New Japan Cup, Ospreay would start scouting the Junior Heavyweight division and at Hyper Battle he would recruit Francesco Akira as the newest member. On

13566-472: The referee's back, attacking Okada with an iron claw slam , which allowed Ospreay to hit his Storm Breaker finisher , earning him the pinfall victory. After the match, Ospreay turned heel on Okada by attacking him with his Hidden Blade elbow strike to the back of his head. Later, in a backstage interview, Ospreay announced that he would officially leave Chaos to start a new faction with him, Priestley, and O-Khan called The Empire. O-Kharn later changed

13699-413: The remainder of 2023, defeating the likes of Big Damo , Luke Jacobs and Eddie Dennis . Ospreay had a standout match on 9 July at RevPro Epic Encounter, defeating Leon Slater. On 26 August, at RevPro 11th Anniversary Show , Ospreay defeated Shingo Takagi , ahead of his match against Chris Jericho at All Elite Wrestling 's (AEW) All In at Wembley Stadium , leading to Jericho making an appearance at

13832-573: The rest of the year in showcase matches against non-regular Progress wrestlers, losing to Zack Sabre Jr., Shane Strickland, Matt Riddle and Adam Cole. Finally on 30 December, at a card composed exclusively of unannounced matches, Ospreay lost to Havoc. After the match Havoc invited Ospreay to join him in his fight against British Strong Style , who held the World and Tag Team Championship. Ospreay instead attacked Havoc and then realigned with Swords of Essex partner Paul Robinson. Ospreay attacked Havoc again, during

13965-494: The returning young lion Great-O-Khan . After the match, Ospreay attacked Okada, turning heel , leaving Chaos, and forming a new stable called United Empire . Ospreay then won the 2021 New Japan Cup as well as winning the right to challenge Kota Ibushi for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Sakura Genesis . At the event, Ospreay defeated Ibushi to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship for

14098-532: The same night, he challenged the new NEVER Openweight Champion, Kota Ibushi , to a championship match at Wrestle Kingdom 13. On 4 January, at Wrestle Kingdom 13 , Will Ospreay defeated Kota Ibushi to capture the NEVER Openweight Championship. He became the first Junior Heavyweight to hold the championship. He made his first title defense at RevPro New Year's Resolution, where he defeated Chris Brookes . On 22 February, Ospreay successfully retained

14231-428: The second half of the year. At Wrestle Kingdom 16 , Ospreay being the previous champion and not directly losing his title, would get a shot at the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against the winner of Shingo Takagi and Kazuchika Okada on night two, where he would lose to Okada. Both O-Khan and Cobb would also lose their respective matches to Sanada and Tetsuya Naito , respectively. United Empire would take part in

14364-470: The semifinals, where they were defeated by The Elite on August 31. After the match, United Empire attacked The Elite. United Empire made their Impact Wrestling debut on the September 8th edition of Impact! , when Aussie Open defeated Bullet Club's Chris Bey and Ace Austin . On March 26, 2023, at Revolution Rumble , a show promoted by Revolution Pro Wrestling , Dan Moloney defeated United Empire's Akira in singles competition. Immediately following

14497-509: The show and attacking Ospreay. At RevPro Uprising on 16 December, Ospreay defeated Gabe Kidd . Following the match, Ospreay announced that ahead of his recent signing to AEW, 18 February 2024 would be his final RevPro event. On 18 February, Ospreay unsuccessfully challenged Michael Oku for the Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship at High Stakes , this marked Ospreay's final appearance for RevPro. On 29 January 2016, Ospreay made his debut for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), during

14630-404: The side of the opponent's neck or shoulder. The words kesa and giri in Japanese mean "monk's sash" and "cut" respectively, and it is based on a legitimate defensive cut in traditional Japanese swordsmanship . This move is notably used by Kenta Kobashi . The act of chopping both the opponent's shoulders or sides of the neck in a downward swinging motion at the same time. The wrestler draws

14763-626: The spelling of his name to Great O-Khan, in reference to Genghis Khan of the Mongol Empire . Jeff Cobb joined the stable on November 15 when he was revealed to be O-Khan's mystery tag team partner for the annual World Tag League tournament. The duo would score 10 points (5 wins & 4 losses), not making the final, but getting a win over tournament finalists (and the previous year's winners), FinJuice ( Juice Robinson & David Finlay ). At Wrestle Kingdom 15 , O-Khan, Cobb, and Ospreay lost their matches to Hiroshi Tanahashi , Shingo Takagi (for

14896-420: The team of Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tencozy on night one, but were unable to win their matches on night two. Ospreay and Cobb lost to Tencozy, while O-Khan failed to capture the NEVER Openweight Championship from Tanahashi. In March, Ospreay won the 2021 New Japan Cup after defeating Shingo Takagi. After the match, Ospreay hit a Os-Cutter on Bea Priestley, kicking her out of the United Empire and saying that he

15029-443: The third time in his career. With this wrestling match being awarded 5 stars, Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez suggested that Will Ospreay has reached a point in his career where he is a serious contender for being the best wrestler in the world. After winning the title, Ospreay announced his intention to enter the G1 Climax 29 in his quest of bridging the gap between heavyweight and junior heavyweight wrestlers. Later that week, Ospreay

15162-508: The title after sustaining a neck injury. He would make his return at NJPW Resurgence , claiming to be the "real world champion", and announcing to not be returning to Japan for that years G1 Climax . In September at the Revolution Pro Wrestling High Stakes event, Ospreay recruited Aussie Open ( Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher ) to the group. The following month during NJPW Strong's Autumn Attack , T. J. Perkins betrayed

15295-457: The title against Dalton Castle at Honor Rising: Japan 2018 . At New Japan's Anniversary Show, he faced IWGP Heavyweight Champion Jay White in a losing effort. Despite still being classified as a Junior Heavyweight, Ospreay entered the 2019 New Japan Cup , beating Bad Luck Fale and Lance Archer , before being eliminated by fellow Chaos member Kazuchika Okada . It was announced that Ospreay will face ROH Television Champion Jeff Cobb in

15428-502: The title to Marty Scurll in his first defence on 5 November at Power Struggle . Ospreay regained the title from Scurll on 4 January 2018 at Wrestle Kingdom 12 in Tokyo Dome in a four-way match, also involving Hiromu Takahashi and Kushida. On 10 February, Ospreay retained the title against Hiromu Takahashi at The New Beginning in Osaka . On 1 April, Ospreay successfully retained the title against Marty Scurll at Sakura Genesis . During

15561-542: The title, defeating Tetsuya Naito once more. After his defence against Naito, Ospreay was confronted by Umino, who made his return to Japan and was struck down by him. Umino challenged Ospreay for the US Championship at Historic X-Over , where at the event Ospreay defeated him. After the match, Kenny Omega of All Elite Wrestling appeared on the titantron belittling Ospreay and challenged him to an IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship match at Wrestle Kingdom 17 ,

15694-479: The top rope. This move, originally called a flying body scissors , was innovated by, popularized and subsequently named after Lou Thesz , sees the attacking wrestler jumping toward a standing opponent, knocking them over their back, sitting on their waist and pinning them in a body scissors . It was initially developed by Thesz as a legitimate move and has since been seen in modern submission grappling contests. A variation, popularized by Stone Cold Steve Austin ,

15827-751: The tournament but reforming the Swords of Essex when his former tag partner Paul Robinson would come out to give his support. On Day 3, although being eliminated from the tournament, The Swords of Essex would be assisted by Callum Newman to take on CPF in a tag match in a winning effort. It is currently unknown what Ospreay's plans with Progress Wrestling are after this event. Ospreay has regularly wrestled for International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom (IPW: UK) since September 2012 in singles matches, with Robinson as Swords of Essex and with Tom Dawkins as Spitfire Britannia, playing off their alter egos Pure Britannico and Neo Britannico for Lucha Britannia. Ospreay made it through to

15960-421: The tournament final. The tournament final commenced at Dominion 6.4 in Osaka-jo Hall the following month, where Ospreay defeated Lance Archer , to become the new #1 contender for Omega's title. On 6 June at a NJPW press conference, the rematch between Ospreay and Omega for the title was confirmed to take place later in the month at Forbidden Door . On 25 June at Forbidden Door, Ospreay defeated Omega to regain

16093-534: The tournament for the second time, earning an IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match at Dominion . The match between Ospreay and Shingo was awarded a 5.75 rating by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the highest rating for a wrestling match in 2019. This was also the first match in which Shingo Takagi was pinned after his debut in NJPW. At Dominion , Ospreay defeated Dragon Lee and became IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for

16226-440: The tournament, he defeated Bushi , El Phantasmo and IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Sanada , to make it to the tournament quarterfinals. During his third-round match, Ospreay fractured Sanada's orbital bone causing him to win the match by referee stoppage. In the quarterfinal round, he lost to the eventual winner Zack Sabre Jr . After the tournament, at Hyper Battle , it was announced Sanada would be forced to vacate

16359-458: The win. After the match, Ospreay called out Taichi for a NEVER Openweight Championship match and doing so, hinting going to the Heavyweight division. The match was made official for Power Struggle (2018) , however, it was announced on Twitter that the match had been cancelled due to Ospreay's injury. On the final day of World Tag League, Ospreay returned to New Japan, where he defeated Taichi. On

16492-449: The wrestler performing the technique. Professional wrestling contains a variety of punches and kicks found in martial arts and other fighting sports; the moves listed below are more specific to wrestling itself. Many of the moves below can also be performed from a raised platform (the top rope, the ring apron, etc.); these are called aerial variations . Moves are listed under general categories whenever possible. A maneuver that involves

16625-419: Was "only looking out for number one" from now on. Toa Henare , now going by the ring name Aaron Henare, would become the fourth man to join the faction at Sakura Genesis 2021 . On the same show Ospreay would defeat Kota Ibushi to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship . At Wrestling Dontaku , Ospreay made his first defense of the title when he defeated Shingo Takagi . However, Ospreay would later vacate

16758-526: Was also the winner of 2021 New Japan Cup . Ospreay is a former two-time and the final IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion , as the title was deactivated in December 2023 when Ospreay was in his second reign. Before signing with AEW, Ospreay had also periodically ventured into the American wrestling circuit; he made appearances in NJPW partner promotions Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA, formerly known as Impact Wrestling) and Ring of Honor (ROH), where he

16891-505: Was announced Ospreay had suffered a shoulder injury and would forfeit his place in the tournament, causing Davis to take his place and advance to the next round. In April, NJPW announced a tournament to find a new #1 contender for Kenny Omega's IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, where Ospreay was announced as one of four participants in the tournament, signaling his return from injury. Ospreay returned to action on 21 May at Resurgence , where he defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to advance to

17024-463: Was announced as a participant in the 2019 G1 Climax . Ospreay made his first IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship title defense against Robbie Eagles at Southern Showdown in Melbourne. He started the G1 Climax campaign at G1 Climax in Dallas , where he was defeated by Lance Archer . He obtained his first win by defeating Sanada , but lost in the third round of the tournament against Kota Ibushi in

17157-623: Was announced that Ospreay would face the winner of the 4 January main event, on 5 January, to unify the World Championships. On 4 January, Kazuchika Okada defeated Shingo Takagi to win the World Championship. On 5 January, Okada defeated Ospreay to win and unify both World Championships. After his defeat, Ospreay stuck around in Japan, teaming with his United Empire teammates. Ospreay was eventually announced for that year's New Japan Cup . In

17290-579: Was born in London's Havering borough on 7 May 1993. He decided to become a wrestler after watching the three-way match between AJ Styles , Christopher Daniels , and Samoa Joe at TNA 's 2005 Unbreakable event. Ospreay, alongside friend Kip Sabian , would engage in backyard wrestling before Ospreay received formal professional wrestling training at Lucha Britannia 's London School of Lucha Libre in Bethnal Green . Ospreay made his professional debut at

17423-445: Was granted another shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, but was again defeated by Kushida on 19 June at Dominion 6.19 in Osaka-jo Hall . On 20 July, Ospreay entered the 2016 Super J-Cup , defeating Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) representative Titán in his first round match. On 21 August, he was eliminated from the tournament in the second round by Matt Sydal . On 8 October, Ospreay received his first shot at

17556-519: Was his first victory in the promotion since losing the Progress Championship in 2016. At Progress Chapter 66, Ospreay defeated Mark Haskins. On 7 May 2018, day 3 of the 2018 Super Strong Style 16 tournament, Ospreay challenged Jimmy Havoc to a match at Wembley Arena on 30 September 2018, but was forced to withdraw due to contractual obligations with New Japan Pro-Wrestling. The match was then set for Chapter 75, with Ospreay emerging victorious in

17689-551: Was victorious, although he didn't possess the championship belt, due to former champion Robinson refusing to give back his vacated championship. Also on 12 June during Dominion, Ospreay was announced as a participant in the G1 Climax 32 tournament starting in July, as a part of the D block. Ospreay scored 8 points in his block, advancing to the semi-finals and gaining the physical IWGP United States Championship belt from former champion Juice Robinson and David Finlay , who both competed in

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