Rocky Romero Thinks NJPW's Will Ospreay Will Go Down As A Top Five All-Time Wrestler
While Will Ospreay may largely be known for his high-flying style of wrestling, he has also begun implementing layers of storytelling into his work as well. This character evolution, in combination with his impressive in-ring skillset, has earned Ospreay a multitude of praise from his wrestling cohorts, including former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion Rocky Romero. During a recent episode "Busted Open Radio," Romero shared his high regard for "The Aerial Assassin."
"Initially it wasn't my idea to bring Ospreay in [to NJPW], but that first year, kind of helping him just get his feet wet in New Japan, [and] kind of just [to] see where he's at now, what an amazing performer," Romero said. "There's literally nobody on this planet like him, and can do the things that he can do and how he does them. I'm pretty proud of Ospreay, just to see where he's at. And obviously, he's got a ton more to go in his career."
"Where he ends up is going to be probably in one of the top five wrestlers of all-time, in my opinion," Romero continued.
The 'Ace' Of NJPW?
As of this writing, Ospreay stands as the current IWGP United States (or rather, the IWGP UK) Heavyweight Champion. According to Romero, though, Ospreay has the potential to soar even higher and possibly become the "ace" of New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
"I think that, obviously if Will continues on to work with New Japan for the next few years, I think that that's where Will needs to go," Romero said. "He needs to do what Kenny [Omega] did, but then achieve more than what Kenny did, because Kenny's run was somewhat short. When he finally got the IWGP World Championship, it wasn't the longest run, and they still had [Kazuchika] Okada as the main guy.
"It was like Okada first, Kenny kind of second, so I feel like Will could be exactly what New Japan needs to be 'the guy' internationally. Japan, USA, Europe, whatever — he could be the face of the company worldwide, which I think would make, obviously, the appeal so different than just Okada being the face or just [Tetsuya] Naito being the face."
Next weekend, Ospreay will take a momentary step back from NJPW as he faces former AEW World Champion Chris Jericho at AEW All In, which emanates from Wembley Stadium in London, England.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.