Will Ospreay
Will Ospreay | |
---|---|
Born |
[1] Havering, London, England, United Kingdom | 7 May 1993
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) |
Dark Britanico Neo Britanico Jason Skye Will Ospreay William Ospreay |
Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[2][3] |
Billed weight | 175 lb (79 kg)[2] |
Billed from | Essex, England[2] |
Debut | April 1, 2012[4] |
William Ospreay (born 7 May 1993) is an British professional wrestler signed to New Japan Pro Wrestling.[3]
Early life
Since Will was a child, he loved wrestling but when some people preferred The Rock or Stone Cold, he liked guys like Essa Rios or Eddie Guerrero. After he discovered Ricochet he was inspired by him because he thought he did something different inside the ring. But what made him become a professional wrestler, was a triple threat between AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe, in TNA Wrestling, which made him an AJ fan. Then he went to the London School of Lucha Libre (Which belongs to Lucha Britannia) to receive his training, and after this he started his wrestling career.
Will has always said that his dream matches are vs Ricochet and vs AJ Styles, which both happened.
About his nickname "Aerial Assassin" Ospreay said that he was inspired by the game Assassin's Creed. "The guy in them is an aerialist and does hard core free-running and I used to always do that, so I just came up with the name Aerial Assassin" [5] said Will in the interview from The Huffington Post.[4][5][6][7]
Professional wrestling career
2012
Ospreay makes his first appearance in Progress Wrestling at the event “Chapter Two:The march of Progress” making team with Alex Esmail as “The Velocity Vipers” being defeated by The London Riots (James Dahmer & Robbie Sincaide). He also was defeated in “IPW:UK Samuels vs Frazier 2012” by Ashley Reed and Paul Robinson. His only of the year win came at “NWA-UK Hammerlock” when he defeated Darrell Allen.[3]
2013
In 2013, Will Ospreay had a couple of matches at Progress and RPW. He started to make team with Paul Robinson as “The Swords of Essex”. As a team, Ospreay and Robinson won a #1 Contendership for the RPW British Tag Team Championship on 26 May. One month later, they defeated Project Ego (Kris Travis & Martin Kirby) winning his first RPW British Tag Team Championship. At IPW:UK, Will Ospreay participated as a team with Super Crazy in the IPW:UK British Tag Team Title #1 Contendership Tournament, but they lost in the final match. Will also had a All England Title #1 Contendership Battle Royal being eliminated early on the match. Finally, on December 8, “The Swords of Essex” defeated “The London Riots”.[3]
2014
On 26 January “The Swords of Essex” were defeated at the Progress Tag Team Title Tournament semifinals by Eddie Dennis & Mark Andrews. They also defeated “Project Ego” at the FPW Tag Team Title Tournament semifinals. On 15 March, after 273 days of title reign, “The Swords of Essex” lost their RPW Tag Team Championship against “The Inner City Machine Guns”(Rich Swann & Ricochet). On singles, Will Ospreay won a 30 Man Battle Royal at the event “IPW:UK Battle Royale 2014”. Also he participated in the Speed King Title Tournament 2014 losing in a Six Way Elimination match. On 11 May “The Swords of Essex” won their first FPW Tag Team Championship in the final match of the tournament inside a Four Way Tag Team Elimination Match. One week later, they participated in a #1 Contendership match for a Progress Tag Team Title shot, but they lost against “The London Riots”. Also on Progress, Will Ospreay won an Eight Man Match to be the #1 Contender for the Progress Title. On 14 September they defend the FPW Tag Team Championship against Terry Striker & The Warden. After that, Will Ospreay was part of the IPW:UK Super 8 2014 Tournament and he was defeated by Zack Sabre Jr. in the final. Later, in October, Will Ospreay had an important couple of matches. In one week, Will defeat Josh Bodom and Rich Swann to won the RPW British Cruiserweight Title, defend the FPW Tag Team Title against “The Addiction”(Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian), and also won the SWE Speed King Title in a Six Way Elimination match. At the end of 2014, Will Ospreay defeat Josh Bodom and Uhaa Nation to defend his RPW British Cruiserweight Title and his SWE Speed King Title respectively.[3]
2015
During the firsts months of the year, Will had a Progress Title match against Jimmy Havoc, but he lost. Also “The Swords of Essex” lost their FPW Tag Team Title on 8 February against “The London Riots”. Then, he had one of his “dream matches” against AJ Styles, but he was defeated. One week later, Will defeated Rocky Romero to defend his RPW British Cruiserweight Title, and he also started to wrestle with Chris Sabin as “2 Guys Hanging Out”. In March, Will defended his SWE Speed King Title in a Four Way, and one month later against Pete Dunne. He also had a match to defend his RPW British Cruiserweight Title, defeating Jimmy Havoc. In May, Will participated in the NWA British Title Tournament, losing at the final match in July against Marty Scurll. On 30 May he also lost his SWE Speed King Title in the Speed King 2015 Tournament final against El Ligero. Later, in August, Will Ospreay participated on the PWG Battle Of Los Angeles 2015, being defeated by Mike Bailey in the semifinals. One month later, in two days, Will Ospreay lost his RPW British Cruiserweight Title against Josh Bodom and won the Progress Title defeating Mark Haskins. In October, Will had a series of matches being defeated by Kazuchika Okada, AJ Styles and Austin Aries. Also, he had a match for his Progress Title defeating his old partner Paul Robinson.[3]
2016
On 29 January 2016 Ospreay made his debut for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), during the promotion's tour of the United Kingdom. Ospreay unsuccessfully entered the 2016 Joker's Wild tournament and challenged for both the King of the Mountain title and TNA World Tag Team Championship. Reportedly, TNA had plans to push Ospreay, but dropped them upon finding out that he had signed with New Japan Pro Wrestling.[8]
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- 630° senton
- Corkscrew shooting star press
- Essex Destroyer (Front DDT)
- Imploding 450° splash
- Signature moves
- Multiple kick variations
- Springboard cutter
- Standing shooting star press
- Nicknames
- "The Aerial Assassin"
Championships and accomplishments
- Future Pro Wrestling
- FPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Paul Robinson[3]
- Lucha Britannia
- Lucha Britannia Title (2 times)
- Progress Wrestling
- Progress Championship (1 time)
- Progress Super Strong Style 16 (2015)
- 2014 THUNDERBASTARD Winner [9]
- Revolution Pro Wrestling
- RPW British Cruiserweight Championship (1 time)
- RPW British Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Paul Robinson
- Southside Wrestling Entertainment
- SWE Speed King Championship (1 time) [3]
References
- ↑ "Catch Arena Profile".
- 1 2 3 "Facebook". Will Ospreay Facebook Page.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Cagematch". Cagematch.
- 1 2 Davies, Ryan. "Wrestler Spotlight: Will Ospreay". uwejournalism.
- 1 2 Stone, Danny. "Huffington Post". Huffington Post.
- ↑ "25 Wrestlers Age 25 & Under Everyone Needs To Know". RunningEnzuigiri.
- ↑ "The Sword of Essex William Ospreay Interview". prowrestling.com.
- ↑ "New Japan bound Will Ospreay loses planned TNA push". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
- ↑ "Progress Roster". Progress Roster.