Will Ospreay Discusses Moves He Is Afraid To Attempt, Reflects On Advice He received from Chris Jericho in 2018
Will Ospreay is not going to do a shooting star press anytime soon.
The ‘Commonwealth Kingpin’ is noted for performing some of the most bizarre moves in professional wrestling. Even Will Ospreay feels uneasy to attempt a move or two, despite the fact that he frequently performs a number of daring movements in every match.
Ospreay discussed a couple moves he’s reluctant to perform in a new interview with Fightful, including a shooting star press.
“There’s been a few. I’m scared of doing the shooting star press again. I nearly fucked it up a little while ago. I done it on a random indy show and as I started going I got stuck. Thankfully I knew which way was up and down, so I was able to push through it. Even my physio said it’s not fully healed. So there is a chance if you’re lifting someone over your head this could fucking rip off again. It is making me question whether I should be doing the Storm Breaker anymore. That is the biggest move that I fucking have. I hit that, it’s game over. But I am fucking sacred, bro. It is one of those things where I don’t want to be out for nine months. I don’t want to be out for a year. So I’ve got to think about what’s worth it now. If it means I’ve got to say goodbye to Storm Breaker, then I just gotta perfect the Hidden Blade more and hopefully that’ll do the job.”
Will Ospreay via Fightful
Many modern wrestlers have been criticized by legendary performers for taking unnecessary risks when performing outlandish feats in the ring.
Ospreay went on to reminisce on the advice he received from Chris Jericho in 2018 and how it influenced him to adapt his style.
“Jericho gave me advice back in 2018 when I landed on my head against Kushida. He was like, ‘You keep doing that, you’re gonna have an early grave.’ I did take that advice on board. I really did change up. Even like if you look at 2019 world compare to 2020 world—which makes me sad in a weird way because of those 2020, 2021, even 2022 because all that’s in a pandemic situation, nobody wanted to watch pandemic wrestling. I did my best work in that space. So if you actually watched my matches and watched my abilities, I changed up everything. It finally hit me. The injury was I had a torn pec. A grade two, so no surgery, thankfully, and my rotator cuff tore. So thankfully no surgery, but it just sat me down. It was just a moment where I was feeling my knees for the first time ever. I always remember when Okada was telling me in CHAOS. He said, ‘All the old boys used to tell me when you’re thirty, you’re gonna feel it.’ I didn’t believe him. Now I’m thirty, I can feel it. I’m starting to get there. I can feel my knees. So it is time to change the style. It is mentally taxing because there are things that I want to do again. A little while ago I was trying the reverse 450 splash I used to do and I just can’t do it. I’m too fat now.”
Will Ospreay via Fightful
h/t Fightful
Follow Mark T Cyrus at @_MarkCyrus on Twitter
If you enjoy Bodyslam’s content, you can help donate to the site here. You can also visit our PWTees store and buy Bodyslam official merchandise here.
You can listen to all of Bodyslam’s podcasts by following us on Spotify and subscribing to our YouTube Channel, or any of your favorite podcast platforms.
