Will Ospreay explains his beef with Kenny Omega.
WrestleKingdom 17 will host the second singles match ever between Will Ospreay and Kenny Omega. Since their first encounter in PWG in 2015, the two have crossed paths in number of tag team matches over the years in New Japan. Their rivalry has extended beyond the ring, though, as they like to take shots at each other in interviews and on social media. Ahead of their IWGP United Sates Championship match on January 4, Ospreay spoke to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful about Omega’s antics.
“It’s typical Kenny. He oversteps sometimes and kind of puts his foot in his mouth. I guess that happens with me as well, so I can’t really be that mad, but if you’re going to put my name in your mouth, be prepared for me to respond,” Ospreay said. “I went to town on him and embarrassed him in front of all of his little stan accounts. That’s the thing, all those guys, they’re all tweeting and they’ll all come at me, but they’re not going to do anything.
“You don’t know where I live or anything. It’s a fun bit. You guys all know where I’m going to be. Kenny is an egomaniac. He’s a knobhead and thinks he knows everything. Sometimes he’s got to be punched in the mouth and reminded that he’s not above anybody, he is who he is. He’s some bloke that was really good at wrestling. I’m not going to deny his ability, not gonna deny his talent, but be all and end all, you’re a knobhead that can be beat.”
Perhaps their beef comes from simply trying to be the best wrestler in the world. While it is subjective to fans, Ospreay likes to make sure his name is in the conversation.
“It’s about him trying to take a shot. There is always that category of the best in the world and I always like to throw my name in there, but it is always subjective to the fans. It’s different in comparison to what style of wrestling that you enjoy.” Ospreay explained, “For me, being the best in the world is consistently putting yourself in different situations and different opponents that aren’t located all in one promotion. I like to test myself against all the AEW guys, I think I’ve wrestled there eight times and I’ve stole the show in all of them, which says everything.
“Then you go New Japan, I always steal the show there. Any of these, what he says, ‘no name indie guys,’ I test myself against those guys and they automatically become better. My whole thing is, to be the best in the world, you have to travel to each continent and prove it. It’s easy to do it on the bright lights and big arena, but consistently putting in those five-star matches, if you want to go down that road, and always being able to shine and being able to say that you’re the best in the world by consistently doing that, I think that’s the harder job. Kenny has never done that.”
WrestleZone will have coverage of NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 on January 4.
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