Will Ospreay Explains Turning Down WWE to Sign With NJPW

The Aerial Assassin had an opportunity to compete for WWE a decade ago, but Will Ospreay turned it down to compete in Japan fulltime.

Will Ospreay | Ricky Havlik - All Elite Wrestling

Will Ospreay is without question one of the best professional wrestlers to never step foot inside a WWE ring, but it almost happened back in 2016.

The 2026 Men's Owen Hart Cup Champion was invited to take part in the WWE Cruiserweight Classic, a 32-man tournament featuring wrestlers from across the globe that was billed as 205 lbs or less, but the then-23-year-old declined the offer and signed a contract with New Japan Pro Wrestling.

During an appearance on the newest episode of Marking Out with MVP & Dwayne Swayze, the Aerial Assassin explained his rationale for what turned out to be a life-altering decision.

Will Ospreay | All Elite Wrestling

Will Ospreay new Japan is where he wanted to be full-time in 2016

"All the guys that have gone [to WWE] have come from [NJPW] and their stock has gone up," Ospreay recalled telling his mother at the time of his decision. "New Japan was so hot at the time, and I politely declined the offer to be part of the Cruiserweight Classic. And I [asked] New Japan, if I could be a part of them more than just being in the Super Juniors."

Ospreay was ready to make a full-time commitment to NJPW, even though company representatives gave their blessing for him to compete in both the Cruiserweight Classic and the Super Juniors. But his mind was made up, and he would end up spending the majority of the next decade honing his craft in Japan.

"They said you can do WWE as well. You're not locked down. I went, 'Well, I wanna be locked down. This is where I want to be.' And then they gave me a contract deal and I spent eight years of my life there. Like, eight years of just growing up. I'd never left England that much. I think I went to Germany twice. I went to America once and then all of a sudden you just like threw me in the deep end in Japan."

It wasn't long after that Ospreay found himself competing in his first-ever main event inside the legendary Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. It was a Best of the Super Juniors bout against his longtime rival, Ricochet.

Even though he was wrestling a familiar opponent, with whom he still has great chemistry to this day, Ospreay told MVP and Swayze that pre-match jitters were getting the best of him that day.

"I remember feeling nervous, like scared," Ospreay said. "I would watch Dragongate, I'd watch NOAH and I'd see this building all the time. See the orange seats. It was just like Korakuen main event with stakes on the line, with like points on the line. Like, [the crowd gets] so bity on all the false finishes. Anything that like sets their excitement up, you feel it in the entire room."

At one point during the match, Ospreay and Ricochet saw fans in the Korakuen Hall balcony climbing on top of each other to get a better look of the action.

"Such a crazy environment to find myself in. It was a double down, [and] I remember laying there and just being like, this is my dream."

The atmosphere inside Wembley Stadium later this summer may rival what Ospreay experienced over a decade ago. He's scheduled to challenge Kenny Omega for the AEW Men's World Championship at All In: London, after Omega defeated MJF to win the gold this past Wednesday night at AEW Beach Break.

You can now listen to the full Marking Out interview with Will Ospreay exclusively on the BZZR sports platform. Video of the episode will drop on their YouTube channel on Monday, July 13 at 1 p.m. ET.