Will Ospreay Calls Out Yota Tsuji For Suggesting AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door Boycott

By Eric Mutter
Will Ospreay cuts a promo Etsuo Hara/Getty Images

Forbidden Door season is beginning to heat up, and so is some potential animosity between a New Japan top star and an AEW top star. Shortly after regaining the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from Callum Newman this past Sunday at NJPW Dominion, Yota Tsuji gave an interview with Tokyo Sports, suggesting NJPW boycott Forbidden Door, and that he would not defend the title on the show. On Monday morning, those comments made its way to Newman's friend, former IWGP Champion, and AEW star Will Ospreay, who took to X call out Tsuji for his comments.

"Or maybe have some pride in representing your company as the top lad," Ospreay tweeted. "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 and 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."

Ospreay wasn't done, however, later taking umbrage with a fan who suggested that AEW was taking advantage of NJPW. In his response, Ospreay pointed out that AEW stars such as himself, Kenny Omega, and Andrade El Idolo had all returned to NJPW, and that this past year's Wrestle Kingdom had been bolstered, in part, by Konosuke Takeshita dropping the IWGP Heavyweight Title to Tsuji, and Kazuchika Okada facing Hiroshi Tanahashi in the latter's retirement match. He further suggested NJPW was having trouble making stars, and if NJPW talent wanted to be treated equally to AEW, they could "level the f**k up and and actually call out the guys you wanna be on that same level."

Opinion: The Will Ospreay/Yota Tsuji Stuff Is Largely A Work, And An Annoying One At That

Yota Tsuji in a red suit Etsuo Hara/Getty Images

Let's not beat around the bush here; while there will certainly be fans that think there's actual hostility going on here between Will Ospreay and Yota Tsuji, the reality is that this is more than likely a work. Not only does Ospreay give that game away by some of the stuff he says (which sounds an awful lot like Ospreay when he was a NJPW heel a few years ago), but Yota Tsuji giving an interview where he gives some pro-NJPW/anti-AEW comments is basically a character trait of his at this point. Throw in the fact that Tsuji's had no problem wrestling, and losing, to AEW stars like Andrade El Idolo, and until I see otherwise, this is a work to me. But just because it's a work doesn't mean it's a good work, and this, my friends, is not a work that fills me with excitement.

First and foremost, we're not getting this match at Forbidden Door. Ospreay is already set to face Swerve Strickland in the Men's Owen Hart Cup Final, taking him vs. Tsuji off the board unless Ospreay has truly gone nuts and is going to work twice. That's not even the biggest problem though. That would be that a) Ospreay comes off as a bit too entitled and thin-skinned over this whole thing, while Tsuji comes off as a guy who is in desperate need of new material. It doesn't help either that Tsuji is portraying himself as New Japan's biggest defender, while the promotion itself has been wishy washy on him, it's not like his first World Title reign was that long (or strong), and this is after years of NJPW being gunshy about pushing him to the level he's at now. So essentially, we have a work for a match that's not happening for months, if not ever, between a guy who comes off easily rattled, and a guy who its hard to take seriously because his promotion won't go all in on him. As such, I look at these statements, and I don't get excited; I get annoyed. And I'm pretty sure that's not what anyone is going for.

Comments

Recommended