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Will Ospreay Provides Major Health Update

There is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Zack Heydorn|
Will Ospreay
Will Ospreay | All Elite Wrestling - Ricky Havlik

Will Ospreay received a huge pop from the New Japan Pro Wrestling audience on Sunday at Wrestle Kingdom 20. He returned to the company as a surprise appearance during the retirement ceremony of Hiroshi Tanahashi.

Prior to this, Ospreay hasn't been seen in a wrestling ring since leaving AEW to recover from a serious neck injury. Ospreay had surgery on his neck in 2025 and is now on the long road of recovery.

In addition to appearing at Wrestle Kingdom, Ospreay showed up at the NJPW New Year's Dash show on January 5. He joined his former United Empire faction in the ring, but obviously did not get physical.

Ospreay gives health update

After his appearance, Ospreay spoke in the post-show news conference and provided a major update on his health and future. Ospreay said he's still a long way away from a return, but that he can see the light at the end of his recovery tunnel.

“I can’t come back right now. I still need to recover. It’s going to take me a long time, but I’m getting closer and closer. I’m getting better and better. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. When I’m good to go, I’m gonna handle some business in AEW (and) I’m gonna come back to New Japan Pro Wrestling.”
Will Ospreay

Ospreay has a long list of things to do once he gets back to action in AEW, and he'll likely start with getting revenge on the Death Riders.

Ospreay to-do list once he returns

Will Ospreay
Will Ospreay | All Elite Wrestling - Lee South

Ospreay was put on the shelf by Jon Moxley and The Death Riders at this year's All In event. He had vowed to help Adam Page win the AEW World Championship and succeeded in achieving that goal, but was severely injured in the process.

What else can Ospreay do when he gets back? How about chasing down the AEW Men's World Heavyweight Championship? Ospreay worked hard to get that championship in 2025, but never secured it.

As far as Ospreay returning to New Japan Pro Wrestling? It's possible. Ospreay was a fixture of that company and a former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. He left New Japan to officially join AEW in 2024.

In the same press conference, Ospreay said he wanted to help rebuild the United Empire faction. It also looked as if Callum Newman was going to attack Ospreay at New Year's Dash. The rest of the United Empire faction talked him out of that without Ospreay seeing it.

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Zack Heydorn
ZACK HEYDORN

Zack Heydorn has been covering the pro wrestling industry for a decade and writes news, features, and interviews for The Takedown On SI. He also hosts and cohosts a variety of WWE and AEW shows on YouTube. Heydorn is a former Assistant Editor of PWTorch and Managing Editor of SEScoops. Zack is also the author of the Hybrid Shoot book Stunning: The Wrestling Artistry of Steve Austin, which is available on Amazon. You can follow Zack on X and Bluesky.

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