In May 2021, Will Ospreay vacated his IWGP World Heavyweight Title due to a neck injury. Ospreay was coming off a successful title defense against Shingo Takagi.
He would take just over three months off before returning to the ring from the injury.
Speaking to Renee Paquette on the Sessions, Ospreay reflected on the final match with Shingo, naming him as one of his favorite opponents, before he had to step away.
"Shingo tests me when it comes to the ring of trying to find new intricate ways of being able to perform our style of match. I do feel like we have a different way of looking at pro wrestling. We did a match in May at Wrestling Dontaku and that was one of the most hellacious nights for us because the night before, all the card was fine, and then a couple of COVID breakouts, and this is brand new, a couple of wrestlers got COVID, we were like, 'Ah shit.' We had to defer everyone's brain away from that and we just went out there for like 46 minutes. It was a real long match, but it was constantly moving. To do that in silence is some of the hardest shit I've done in my life," said Ospreay.
He continued, "It was hard as well because that's the one I got injured in. There was a point in May where I had performed a shooting star press in that match, I guess it was a little further than what I usually had, but instead of my body hitting [flat], it hit [up] and I kind of scorpion'd or cobra'd in a weird way. I felt this pop go off in my back and I had never felt it before. I injured my back and I've had an injured neck for ages. By the end of the match, I was proper fucking battered. Japan did a mad national lockdown, and I was like, 'I'm going to take time off' and go and see what the injuries were. I went home, got it looked at, got MRIs, I was fucked. I'll keep the actual full extent of the injuries to myself because I don't think it's anyone's business, but it's one of those ones where I was so mangled. I could have gone through with it, I could have done the naughty way of going about it, but for the first time I was like, 'I'm hurt, I need to go home and sort this out.' It was building upon things, there was a lot of mental pressure on us and all these injuries, it was so bad."
Ospreay would return on NJPW STRONG and wrestle on the UK independent scene before finally returning to Japan for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16.
Ospreay competed at NJPW The New Beginning In Nagoya, teaming with United Empire (Francesco Akira, TJP, & Aaron Henare) to take on Just Four Guys (TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Taichi). Fans can find results from the event by clicking here.
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