William Peter Charles Ospreay was born on 7 May 1993 and is an English professional wrestler who is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he is the leader of the United Empire stable.
91 Facts About Will Ospreay
2.
Will Ospreay wrestles for NJPW's United Kingdom based partner promotion Revolution Pro Wrestling, where he is a former and longest reigning Undisputed British Heavyweight Champion.
3.
That same year, Will Ospreay participated in the G1 Climax, NJPW biggest tournament featuring heavyweight wrestlers.
4.
In 2022, Will Ospreay won the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship.
5.
Will Ospreay received his training at Lucha Britannia's London School of Lucha Libre in Bethnal Green, London.
6.
Will Ospreay made his professional debut at 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.
7.
Will Ospreay said in his interview with the Huffington Post that his nickname, "The Aerial Assassin", is an allusion to the Assassin's Creed video game series and was a persona he adopted to stand out from other British high flying wrestlers, particularly Pac.
8.
Will Ospreay's performance earned him a place in the Natural Progression Series I tournament, aimed at scouting and showcasing new wrestlers.
9.
Robinson prevented Gibson using the ropes, which in turn distracted the referee for long enough for Gibson to low-blow Will Ospreay and make Will Ospreay submit.
10.
Will 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 Will Ospreay.
11.
Will Ospreay entered the match third and was immediately low-blowed by Robinson, who had already entered, who disqualified himself in the hopes of taking out Will Ospreay.
12.
Will Ospreay recovered and eventually eliminated Marty Scurll last to win Thunderbastard.
13.
At the next event, Will Ospreay defeated Robinson and announced he would invoke his Thunderbastard right to challenge for Havoc's championship at the following show.
14.
Will Ospreay successfully defended his title against the 2015 Thunderbastard Haskins and then Robinson.
15.
Robinson attacked Will Ospreay after losing to him, but Will Ospreay was saved by a returning Mark Andrews.
16.
Will Ospreay went on to finally beat Andrews to defend his title.
17.
Will Ospreay headlined Progress' first main show outside of London in Manchester, in a triple threat match against Zack Gibson and Morgan Webster to close out 2015.
18.
Will Ospreay 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.
19.
Will Ospreay spent the rest of the year in showcase matches against non-regular Progress wrestlers, losing to Zack Sabre Jr.
20.
Will Ospreay instead attacked Havoc and then realigned with Swords of Essex partner Paul Robinson.
21.
Will Ospreay returned at the last event of 2017 as a mystery opponent for Progress Champion Travis Banks, however he lost the match.
22.
On chapter 61, Will Ospreay defeated Adam Brooks, this was his first victory in the promotion since losing the Progress Championship in 2016.
23.
On 7 May 2018, day 3 of the 2018 Super Strong Style 16 tournament, Will Ospreay challenged Jimmy Havoc to a match at Wembley Arena on September 30,2018, but was forced to withdraw due to contractual obligations with New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
24.
The match was then set for Chapter 75, with Will Ospreay emerging victorious in a no disqualification, 2 out of 3 falls match with former tag team partner Paul Robinson as referee.
25.
Will Ospreay has regularly wrestled for International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom 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.
26.
Will Ospreay made it through to the final of the UK Super 8 tournament in both 2014 and 2015, losing to Zack Sabre, Jr and Rampage Brown respectively.
27.
Will Ospreay 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.
28.
On 28 March 2016, Will Ospreay lost a Loser Leaves Town match to his former Spitfire Britannia partner Dawkins.
29.
The Swords of Essex failed to win a match in the series, with Will Ospreay wrestling the final match, which had the London Riots' IPW:UK and New Generation Wrestling Tag Team Championship on the line, without Robinson.
30.
Will Ospreay has been unable to replicate similar success as a singles wrestler, twice entering the Zero G tournament but failing to win.
31.
Will Ospreay became a regular for Southside Wrestling Entertainment from March 2014 onwards.
32.
Will Ospreay 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.
33.
On 27 August 2016 Will 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.
34.
Will Ospreay wrestled 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.
35.
Will Ospreay debuted for Revolution Pro Wrestling on 10 February 2013 with a win over Mike Hitchman.
36.
Will Ospreay 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.
37.
Okada, impressed with Will Ospreay, went on to recommend him to NJPW officials.
38.
This, along with endorsements from AJ Styles and Hiroshi Tanahashi, eventually led to Will Ospreay being signed by NJPW.
39.
In 2016 Will Ospreay beat Scurll and 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.
40.
On 13 April 2017, Will Ospreay lost the British Cruiserweight Championship to interim champion Josh Bodom.
41.
At High Stakes on 14 February 2020, Will Ospreay defeated Sabre Jr.
42.
On 29 January 2016, Will Ospreay made his debut for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, during the promotion's tour of the United Kingdom.
43.
Will 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.
44.
On 1 April 2016, Will Ospreay made his debut for Evolve, losing to Zack Sabre Jr.
45.
Will Ospreay ultimately defeated Eagles and won the PWA Heavyweight Championship for the first time.
46.
Will Ospreay stated that he felt he could help the Australian wrestling scene grow, while the UK scene did not need him.
47.
Days later, Will Ospreay faced Adam Brooks in the main event of a Melbourne City Wrestling show, Ballroom Brawl; defeating him to win the MCW Intercommonwealth Championship.
48.
On 3 March 2016, Will Ospreay was announced as the newest member of the NJPW stable Chaos.
49.
Will Ospreay won his block in the tournament with a record of four wins and three losses, advancing to the finals.
50.
On 7 June, Will 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.
51.
On 20 July, Will Ospreay entered the 2016 Super J-Cup, defeating Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre representative Titan in his first round match.
52.
On 11 February 2017 at The New Beginning in Osaka, Will Ospreay unsuccessfully challenged Katsuyori Shibata for the British Heavyweight Championship.
53.
In May, Will Ospreay won his block in the 2017 Best of the Super Juniors tournament with a record of five wins and two losses, advancing to his second consecutive final.
54.
Will Ospreay regained the title from Scurll on 4 January 2018 at Wrestle Kingdom 12 in Tokyo Dome in a four-way match, involving Hiromu Takahashi and Kushida.
55.
Will Ospreay entered 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.
56.
At Fighting Spirit Unleashed, Will Ospreay entered 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.
57.
At King of Pro-Wrestling, Will 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.
58.
Will Ospreay became the first Junior Heavyweight to hold the championship.
59.
Will Ospreay made his first title defense at RevPro New Year's Resolution, where he defeated Chris Brookes.
60.
On 22 February, Will Ospreay successfully retained the title against Dalton Castle at Honor Rising: Japan 2018.
61.
At the event, Will Ospreay lost the match, in the process losing his title to Cobb, who retained his title.
62.
The match between Will 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.
63.
At Dominion, Will Ospreay defeated Dragon Lee and became IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for the third time in his career.
64.
Later that week, Will Ospreay was announced as a participant in the 2019 G1 Climax.
65.
Will Ospreay made his first IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship title defense against Robbie Eagles at Southern Showdown in Melbourne.
66.
Will Ospreay started the G1 Climax campaign at G1 Climax in Dallas, where he was defeated by Lance Archer.
67.
Will Ospreay obtained his first win by defeating Sanada, but lost in the third round of the tournament against Kota Ibushi in a rematch from Wrestle Kingdom.
68.
On January 4,2020, at Wrestle Kingdom 14, Will Ospreay lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship to Hiromu Takahashi.
69.
Will Ospreay suffered an heel injury during the match, reportedly from landing on his feet when Takahashi dropped him from the top rope.
70.
Will Ospreay was supposed to be part of the 2020 New Japan Cup starting on March 4; however, NJPW suspended all of its activities in late February due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
71.
At night 17 of the G1 Climax, Will Ospreay defeated Kazuchika Okada after interference from Will Ospreay's girlfriend Bea Priestley and the returning young lion Great-O-Khan.
72.
Will 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.
73.
At the event, Will Ospreay defeated Ibushi to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship for the first time as well as becoming the first British holder of NJPW's top championship.
74.
At Wrestling Dontaku, Will Ospreay made his first defense of the title when he defeated Shingo Takagi.
75.
Will Ospreay delivered 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.
76.
Will Ospreay claimed recognized IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Shingo Takagi to be an "Interim champion" as well as revealing himself out of the G1 Climax 31.
77.
Will Ospreay said he would be competing on New Japan's American show Strong.
78.
Will Ospreay was eventually announced for that year's New Japan Cup.
79.
Will Ospreay scored 8 points in his block, advancing to the semi-finals and gaining the physical IWGP United States Championship from former champion Juice Robinson and David Finlay, who both competed in the D Block.
80.
Will Ospreay lost the championship to Omega at Wrestle Kingdom, ending his reign at 206 days.
81.
On 8 November 2016, Ring of Honor announced that Will Ospreay had signed a contract with the promotion, which went into effect on 1 December.
82.
Will Ospreay lost the title to Marty Scurll two days later, during the final day of ROH's three-day tour of the United Kingdom.
83.
Will Ospreay had been given another opportunity to regain the title in a four corners match at ROH's December pay-per-view, Final Battle 2016, but Scurll retained his title.
84.
At Final Battle 2017, Will Ospreay was defeated by Matt Taven.
85.
On ROH TV, on 15 September 2018, Jay Lethal issued an open challenge and it was answered by Will Ospreay, who said: "I Need the World Title".
86.
In 2018, Will Ospreay announced that he would be starting his own promotion, Frontline Wrestling.
87.
Will Ospreay said that Frontline would be a British Puroresu style company and that wants to take wrestling in England back to being seen as a sport.
88.
Two weeks after United Empire teammates Great-O-Khan and Jeff Cobb debuted on AEW Dynamite, by attacking Roppongi Vice and FTR, Will Ospreay made his surprise debut for the All Elite Wrestling on the June 8,2022 episode of AEW Dynamite, where along with other stablemates Aaron Henare and Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis of Aussie Open, he attacked Trent Beretta and FTR.
89.
From 2017, Will Ospreay was in a relationship with fellow professional wrestler Bea Priestley.
90.
However, it was later revealed by IWL that the venue, rather than Will Ospreay, had requested her removal.
91.
In 2019, Will Ospreay was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism.