At some point during the absolutely breathtaking match between Will Ospreay & Hiromu Takashi, atleast one injury occurred. Will Ospreay has reportedly injured his ankle, with it possibly also including a broken heel. With both injury striking and him losing the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, it was not a great night to be Will Ospreay.
When Did Injury Occur?
There was many spots within the match where it could have occurred. The likeliest spot was rather early in the matchup when Ospreay would hit a Sasuke Special over the top rope to the outside, only to be caught in a German Suplex situation. You could see Ospreay land awkwardly in that moment, which has many believing that was when he got hurt.
If this is when Will Ospreay got hurt, it would mean he worked the bulk of the match on a single good leg, making his jaw dropping performance all the more impressive. Many are calling the match the greatest Junior Heavyweight match ever. Both men gave their absolute best, and frankly with how frantic and hard hitting it was; I wouldn’t be shocked if both men suffered many more minor injuries throughout their near 25 minute war.
The injury clearly had little to no impact on the match as a whole. With the pressure to try and steal the show over matches like Tetsuya Naito vs. Jay White & Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi, and the adrenaline pumping through his veins, he likely didn’t even notice the injury until he got backstage and cooled off.
How Will This Effect Will Ospreay In Early 2020?
Depending on the severity of the injury, he could be out of action for a few weeks or even a few months. It could put his upcoming booking for Revolution Pro Wrestling on February 14th in peril, as well as any immediate plans that New Japan Pro Wrestling had in mind for Ospreay following Wrestle Kingdom.
Him dropping the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship was a blessing in disguise, as if the injury is severe, he might have had to relinquish the title. Hopefully he can take the time off that he will need to rehab this injury, as he deserves a break after being the best pro wrestler in the world in 2019. It would suck to see his in ring work take a dive because he didn’t take time to heal properly. Hopefully the damage isn’t severe, and we will see him soaring across our screens again very soon.
What did you think of the match between Ospreay and Takahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 14? Let us know down below in the comment section.
