William Ospreay (May 7, 1993) is an English professional wrestler better known by the ring name Will Ospreay. He is currently signed to the World Wrestling E-Federation (WWE). He was previously signed to Ring of Honor and Evolve and New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Professional wrestling career[]
Early career (2012)[]
Ospreay debuted on 1 April 2012, in the United Kingdom in a four-way match at the BritWres-Fest 2012 event. Debuting as Dark Britannico, he and competitors Metallico and Santeria were defeated by Leon Britannico. He wrestled his next match on 24 June at PROGRESS Wrestling's PROGRESS Chapter Two: The March Of Progress event, where he and Alex Esmail debuted as the tag team The Velocity Vipers. They were defeated by The London Riots (James Davis & Rob Lynch).
Ospreay made his International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom debut on 15 September at the IPW:UK Samuels vs. Frazier 2012 event where he and Mark Haskins were defeated by Ashley Reed and Paul Robinson in a four-way match. He finished his debut year with two matches during the month of November beginning with a 10 November booking for NWA-UK Hammerlock where he defeated Darrell Allen. On 25 November at PROGRESS Chapter Four: The Ballad Of El Ligero Ospreay was defeated by Mark Andrews.
New Japan Pro Wrestling (2016-2023)[]
Ospreay signed with New Japan Pro Wrestling and made his debut on 10 April 2016. His debut match was a title shot against KUSHIDA for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship but was defeated by the champion. They had a rematch on 19 June at NJPW Dominion 6.19 In Osaka-Jo Hall but was again defeated by KUSHIDA. On 22 September he had a ROH World Championship match at NJPW Destruction In Hiroshima but was defeated by the defending champion Adam Cole. On 8 October at NJPW New Japan Road ~ Ganbare! Uonuma 2016, Ospreay teamed with Trent Beretta and Rocky Romero to challenge for the NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship but were defeated by the champions David Finlay, Ricochet & Satoshi Kojima.
Will Ospreay would start 2019 well and defeat Kota Ibushi for the NEVER Openweight Championship in the opening match of Wrestle Kingdom 13, signifying a potential move to the Heavyweight division.
Ring Of Honor (2016-2017)[]
On 18 November 2016, Ospreay made his ROH debut during the opening night of the ROH Reach For The Sky, where he defeated Bobby Fish to win the ROH World Television Championship. During the second night of the event, he and Marty Scurll challenged for the ROH World Tag Team Championship held by The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) but were defeated. On the third night of the event, Ospreay dropped the World Television title to his tag partner Marty Scurll. On 2 December at ROH Final Battle 2016, Ospreay challenged for a title rematch that included Marty Scurll and third opponent Dragon Lee but Scurll successfully retained the title in this challenge.
As 2017 began, Ospreay joined ROH and NJPW on their joint promotion tours, wrestling matches in Japan, Canada and in the United States.