Will Ospreay was tearing it up in New Japan and felt like he was carrying the flag for British wrestling around the world — then NXT UK showed up, and suddenly he felt like everybody forgot he existed. Ospreay admitted the situation hit him hard enough that he became “deflated and depressed,” but instead of letting it bury him, he took his name somewhere else.
The revelation came from an archived interview with Booker T that was recently replayed on the Hall of Fame podcast. Booker asked Ospreay what advice he would give young wrestlers trying to build a career, which led Ospreay into a much deeper conversation about the highs and lows the business had already put him through.
Ospreay said he has always tried to approach wrestling with a good heart and help people whenever possible, but he admitted there have been moments where the business simply wasn’t going his way. One of those moments came when WWE launched NXT UK while Ospreay was building serious momentum in New Japan.
“I can remember when NXT UK became a thing and I felt like I was on such a hot ride with New Japan. I was the British guy representing my country. But because NXT UK started to become a thing, everyone kind of forgot about me and I felt so deflated and depressed about it.”
Instead of sitting around angry about it, Ospreay said he started looking around the wrestling world for places where his name could actually help.
“But instead of being depressed about it, I kind of looked at the world and who needs help right now. And I went to—I went to Australia and I went to New Zealand. I had a little holiday, but like there was some independents that I could work for.”
Ospreay said he crossed paths with wrestlers throughout Australia and New Zealand and made sure those promotions weren’t getting some watered-down version of him. His thinking was simple: if fans heard there was a killer Will Ospreay match happening somewhere, they might seek out the promotion and discover everybody else working there. Then Ospreay summed up exactly how complicated his relationship with wrestling had become.
“No matter where I go, I always try and give everything that I’ve got. And I think that’s just because I do love wrestling more than anything.”
“There have been times where your heart has been broken because of pro wrestling. But there’s also been times that your heart’s probably been fixed by pro wrestling. And it’s just—it’s that giving and you can really help somebody else out.”
Ospreay’s comments hit even harder with the benefit of hindsight because he isn’t the only major British wrestler who believes NXT UK changed the scene in a huge way. Finn Balor later argued that WWE’s expansion into the market took so much established talent that it essentially “starved” independent promotions, a criticism Ringside News covered when Balor looked back at NXT UK’s impact on British wrestling.
Ospreay also had his own chance to go the WWE route before NXT UK became what it eventually did. He later revealed that WWE approached him about the 2016 Cruiserweight Classic, but he chose to keep chasing what he wanted in Japan instead, something Ospreay later explained while discussing why he never signed with WWE.
That decision worked out pretty damn well. Ospreay kept betting on himself, became one of New Japan’s biggest foreign stars and eventually turned himself into one of AEW’s centerpiece names.
So yeah, NXT UK may have made Ospreay feel forgotten for a minute — but he sure as hell didn’t disappear. Instead, he took the frustration, got on a plane and started proving he could make people care pretty much anywhere somebody put up a wrestling ring.
Do you think NXT UK hurt the British independent scene the way Ospreay and Finn Balor have suggested, or did WWE ultimately give British wrestlers a bigger platform? Let us know what you think in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
