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Callum Newman Ready To Step Up For NJPW Against 'Insecure' All Elite Wrestling (Exclusive)

Callum Newman is more than ready to step up against anyone in New Japan Wrestling as well as against his former mentor Will Ospreay and All Elite Wrestling
Sid Pullar III|
njpw1972.com

New Japan Pro Wrestling has kickstarted a new era following the retirement of Hiroshi Tanahashi and the recent departures of several notable stars after one of their biggest events ever, NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20 in January.

Since their annual Tokyo Dome show in front of over 46,000 fans, NJPW has seen the exits of EVIL, Hiromu Takahashi and David Finlay. However, the company have seen several stars step up in a major way, including Callum Newman.

At just 23 years old, Newman has underwent one of the most fascinating and inspiring transformations in front of the New Japan fans' eyes over the past few years. Going from the young boy of Will Ospreay to the leader of United Empire, Newman looks set to reach new heights throughout 2026.

“Confidence is through the roof," Callum Newman told The Takedown On SI. "Personally, this is the most confident I’ve been in my career. I’m putting on the best performances I’ve ever put on in my life and it’s only on the up for here now. Nothing but confidence right now.”

Newman started wrestling at a young age, making his in-ring debut at just 15 years old. Jumping from the world of football in the United Kingdom to pro wrestling, the NJPW star used his skills on the field to make a seamless transition.

“Like it was fun. I never really liked football, I was just really good at it," Callum explained. "Like I played it mostly to play with my older brother and to kind of keep my mom and dad happy because they didn’t really care about wrestling. My whole family is a very big football family, so I kind of did that to make everyone proud."

"And then I would do football training then go straight to wrestling training or I would do it after school and then go straight to wrestling training. And then as I started my career in wrestling started progressing, it would be I would play a football match in the morning and then go straight to a show."

Building his cardio and endurance helped Newman become the pro wrestler he is today, which started in the early days of his career in the business.

"Like some days it would be a 90 minute match where I’m just running everywhere and then followed by a 20 minute match in the evening, so my body was definitely tired. But my cardio is through the roof, so it’s ups and downs, but my kicking skill and footwork is essentially the same. Like warming up and how to change direction quick enough, it went from being a goalkeeper to in-ring ability. The footwork was similar.”

Known for his footwork and speed inside the squared circle, Newman adopted the nickname of "The Prince of Pace." His ability to run the ropes caught the eyes of the fans and his peers alike over the course of his development as an in-ring performer.

"So I started as a goalkeeper and then I stopped playing football for a bit. And then I came back to it. But the position is called, I was centerback, but I would kind of, so the defense was here and I was the last guy, so if the ball ever went over the defense, I would be the quick guy to just go and run through people. So that’s when my pace started coming in."

Will Ospreay's influence and impact on Callum Newman's career

Will Ospreay
Will Ospreay on AEW Dynamite | Lee South - All Elite Wrestling

Wanting to be known as "The Ace of Pace," Callum gained a great deal of his guidance in the wrestling world from one of the best in the business today, Will Ospreay.

"And then “The Prince of Pace” name, I wanted to be called 'The Ace of Pace,' but then Ospreay told me like, ‘No, you’re not good enough to be an ace yet. It goes prince, king and then an ace. You could start being a prince, Prince of Pace and then run with it.'”

Meeting Ospreay at just 15 years of age changed the course of his entire career as well as his life. The two men would go on to grow a brotherly relationship that started from his parents gifting him with a training camp that helped set the path of where he is today.

“I met Will when I was 15 maybe, yeah 15 and it was my last training session. So my mom and dad surprised me with a Will Ospreay two-day training camp and then once the training camp finished, I was like ok I’m done like this was cool," Newman stated. "We did top rope ranas, first time doing dives, so as I said to him, ‘thanks man. This was so fun, see you later. I’m done.’"

"And then he saw my mom and dad in the corner, got them and spoke to my dad and was like ‘make sure he doesn’t quit.’ And he was like ‘ok cool.’ Once that finished, my dad messaged Will, saying ‘thank you.’ And Will answered him, saying ‘if he wants to take wrestling seriously, you need to go to the London School of Lucha Libre.’"

Getting accepted to this new wrestling school led to their friendship growing into a brotherhood. Ospreay would then take Newman under his wing not only in their home country of England, but then over in Japan.

"They accepted me. Will turned up on a random Tuesday and was like ‘cool you got in, I’ll look after you.’ And since then, just took care of me. And then one day in Sheffield, for RevPro, Revolution Pro Wrestling, I got the call, saying ‘right I need you in Empire now.’ And since then, it’s been skyrocketing.”

Joining the United Empire, Newman would head over to Japan, making his NJPW debut in 2023 as the young boy for the group. Callum would steadily improve over the course of the next year before Ospreay announced his departure from New Japan and signed with All Elite Wrestling.

His final match at NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka 2024 was inside the Dog Pound Steel Cage where United Empire faced The Bullet Club War Dogs in a five-on-five bloody war. While not part of the lineup for the Empire, this bout changed the course of his career as Callum said goodbye to his mentor and was now on his own in Japan.

“The sendoff didn’t really hit me until we got dinner that night because that match I was handcuffed to the cage for 45 minutes. So like people say I was involved, I wasn’t really," Newman said. "I got dragged out, I got handcuffed and then we did the double Oscutters. So that was Will kind of passing the torch to me, I feel like, but it wasn’t until we got dinner together in Osaka and as he’s going home, I didn’t want to go back to the hotel."

"So he just took me out of the restaurant on the street and was like ‘behave yourself, look after yourself and just know you’re gonna be the best, just keep going.’ Alright cool, big hug and then since then just kept my head down and just everything I did, I just kind of threw, I don’t want to say 100% because I got a little bit complacent."

Newman explained that Ospreay checked in from time to time on him after his NJPW exit, but he found himself now on his own as things changed for The United Empire following the departure of "The Aerial Assassin."

Callum Newman draws line in the sand with Will Ospreay and AEW

Will Ospreay returns to NJPW to talk to Callum Newman
njpw1972.com

Fast forward to the New Year's Dash 2026 event, Ospreay made a surprise return to New Japan and cut a promo in which he stated that he didn't realize that things would turn out this way for the faction he created or for his protegè. This offended Newman, who looked to strike Will in the back with a steel chair before he was stopped by his United Empire stablemate HENARE.

“Like I’ll never discredit Will for everything he’s done for me. Like he kept me in wrestling, he kept me in school," Newman explained. "He made sure I stayed in school, all that stuff, took me to shows and like really took care of me, like he’s my older brother, but I don’t like the fact that he like disappeared, went to a rival company and then decided to come back whenever he feels like and says, ‘I’ll come back and I’ll help you.’"

"The words he said was, ‘I didn’t realize me leaving would make the group crumble.’ Like I spent a whole year carrying this group, trying to bring it back up and don’t you dare think that you coming back is gonna fix everything. That’s what really kind of pissed me off. That’s what really got to me."

Always the little brother to Ospreay, Newman remembered all the times he would criticize his way of doing things and doubts Will would ever give him the respect to run The United Empire the way he sees it now.

"He said he would come back and do things my way. Well, it seems like you don’t like, like he never liked me doing things my way when he was training me cause whenever I would do things my way he would kind of tell me off and tell me to calm down. But now I’ve spent so much time and effort really bringing this group back to being the top heel group in Japan, then he wants to come back, then he wants to act like he’s back in the group? No, piss off."

"Like it’s essentially, it’s my group now. I’m sorry Will, but that’s how I feel. You disappeared and you left me. You abandoned me, so did Jeff. Aussie Open ain’t got a leg to stand on. Aaron got hurt, unfortunately, but like he left me. So it was me, Great O Khan and Jakob. I was the only one that could put the group on my back, so don’t you dare think you can just turn up and retake the spot that you just left.”

When speaking about Ospreay's departure from NJPW and heading to AEW, Newman referred to the promotion as "a rival company," which echoes the sentiment made by reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji. As of late, the stars of New Japan Pro Wrestling have shown some resentment towards the partnership between the two promotions.

“Yeah, yeah, I don’t think AEW has done anything for New Japan. That’s just how I feel," Callum said. "A lot of our guys go to AEW and they’re just kind of there, like they don’t get, we’re not used as the stars we are because New Japan has the best wrestlers in the world. Like pound for pound and in technicality, we’re the best."

"We might not have the greatest production in the world, we might not have all the pyro and all the screens and stuff, but you put us in the ring, we’re the best in the world and I don’t think AEW can step to us. That’s genuinely how I feel, I don’t think anyone in AEW can do a G1, I don’t think anyone can do a Tag League. They’re more than willing to try, but just so you know you come and step to me, I will smoke you 100%."

AEW has been promoting the company's tagline of "where the best wrestle" over the past few years. Newman believes that it is less of a slogan and more of the promotion's own insecurity coming to the surface.

"I don’t care if you’re All Elite. Like just to be like ‘this is where the best wrestle,’ you say it all the time, you sound insecure. We’re New Japan, this is the lion mark, we’re all lions. Dude, we’re the best in the world, that’s how I feel. I love this company. I’m so passionate about this company, that’s how I feel.”

New Japan Pro Wrestling will be back in action with a double header of shows on Friday, February 27th. The company will present their latest Fantastica Mania show alongside CMLL in Japan. Then, the promotion heads to Trenton, New Jersey for their latest United States show, The New Beginning USA.

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Sid Pullar III
SID PULLAR III

Sid Pullar III is a lifelong pro wrestling fan who has been covering the business for the past eight years. Starting off as a podcaster and creator of the Tru Heel Heat Wrestling YouTube channel, he made the transition to news and feature writing with Sportskeeda and WrestleTalk in 2020. His passion for the industry has been documented with over 3,000 videos on YouTube and 8,000 written pieces across multiple outlets, such as Fightful, WrestleTalk, The Takedown and more. Follow him on X @TruHeelSP3

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