NJPW Star Fires Back At Kenny Omega

NJPW Star Fires Back At Kenny Omega AEW

On January 4 2023, Kenny Omega returns to NJPW for Wrestle Kingdom 17 in the main event for the US Title against Will Ospreay.

The pair have swapped barbed comments on social media adding to the tension of the double-main event of the show.

On November 20, a video was posted to the NJPW YouTube featuring Omega and spoke about Ospreay.

He did all this in fluent Japanese.

Part of the video saw Omega accuse Ospreay of being the “one real virus” and calling him and his friends  “auto-translate loving pals” and “second-rate Kenny Omega knockoffs.”

In an interview (in English) on the official NJPW, Ospreay addressed his opponent’s words, saying:

“Well, I don’t see us as the real virus, but I think he, I think he used the word virus, right?

“I don’t see us as the virus right now, I see us as the antidote.

“We’re the fresh new things on the block, I mean, that match I had with Finlay in Kobe, was that the first sell-out of the pandemic?”

The interviewer would clarify:

“It wasn’t the first sell-out but definitely every time you’re in that spot, we’re doing bigger numbers since before the pandemic.

“It was the biggest Kobe crowd since the pandemic, you and Okada blew away attendance in the Budokan since before the pandemic.”

Ospreay would go on to respond to the “auto-translate loving pals” comment, stating:

“The thing is, I tried to learn the language, but I can barely speak English, bro.

“I’m not, I’m not gonna hide the fact that I’m not very good with the language.

“And I’m not very good… even with the culture.

“The culture scares me a little bit, it intimidates me.”

Whilst he may not be at his most comfortable with the language or the culture, there is an aspect of Japanese life that he fully understands, with Ospreay going on to say:

“I won’t sit here and pretend that I’m fully educated about how the Japanese culture works, but I’m fully aware of the work ethic behind Japanese professional wrestling, and the work ethic is second to none.

“You can believe that even though I can’t speak the language, you can’t help but admire the work ethic and the work that I put in.”

Will Ospreay signed with NJPW in 2016.

He formed United Empire in October 2020.

Starting with Great-O-Khan, United Empire has grown to include Francesco Akira, Jeff Cobb, Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis (Aussie Open), TJP, Jeff Cobb and Aaron Henare.

He and his United Empire stablemates made appearances in AEW from June 2022 to August 2022, including the joint Forbidden Door PPV.

In July, Ospreay and Aussie Open were announced for the AEW World Trios Championship tournament surviving their match with Death Triangle but being eliminated from the semi-finals by The Elite.

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1 year ago by Dave Adamson

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