Update: 5 Days after Will Ospreay Vacates the IWGP World Championship, he has shared a photo of his (apparent) neck injury. It was heavily rumoured that Will was in fact not injured and that he was trying to leave New Japan, and the injury was false.
Ospreay Vacates! As reported on NJPW1972.com, On May 4’s night two of Wrestling Dontaku in Fukuoka, Will Ospreay sustained a neck injury. As a result, Ospreay will not be participating in the next series of events and will instead return to the UK for treatment and rehabilitation.
There is no timetable for Ospreay’s return to action at this time, and as a result, his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship will be vacated.
Further announcements on the status of the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship will be made at a later date as Ospreay Vacates the Championship.
Kota Ibushi was the first holder of the new belt and he recently told NJPW’s website that he thinks the new design will grow on fans as time goes on. “So when I first saw this title, I did think ‘woah, this is really different!’. I think though that the design is something that will win everyone over in time,” The Golden Star said. Ibushi did admit, though, that he always thought a title belt should be round. Ibushi would go on to hold the new belt until Sakura Genesis when he dropped it to Will Ospreay. The Commonwealth Kingpin has successfully defended the gold once since then against Shingo Takagi at Wrestling Dontaku. He was then supposed to face Kazuchika Okada later this month in the Tokyo Dome, but the show was scrapped because of the state of emergency in Japan. Now, Ospreay Vacates the IWGP Championship.