Will Ospreay Vs. Marty Scurll Gets 5 STAR Rating

In this week’s edition of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the rating of Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll from New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Sakura Genesis show was revealed as the latest five-star rating of the year.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter is arguably the most respected wrestling newsletter in the world, and to many people, a five-star rating carries a great deal of significance. The only other matches to receive this honor are Chris Jericho vs. Kenny Omega from Wrestle Kingdom 12, Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas vs. Johnny Gargano from NXT Takeover: Philadelphia, and The Golden Lovers vs. The Young Bucks from Strong Style Evolved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyGgLao7YFc

Ospreay vs. Scurll was the best match on a stacked Sakura Genesis show, which also featured Kazuchika Okada vs. Zack Sabre Jr. in the main event. The match was perhaps the best junior heavyweight bout since Ospreay wrestled Kushida in the finals of last year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament.

The match saw Ospreay battling a damaged neck as Scurll mercilessly stomped and worked on it. It was hard hitting in the beginning but took a dangerous turn when Ospreay attempted a Spanish Fly off the ring apron to the floor. As Ospreay flipped he failed to clear the apron and hit the back of his head hard on the apron. Ospreay began bleeding from the head but finished the match by defeating Scurll with the OsCutter.

This finish represented Ospreay finally being able to defeat his longtime rival in a singles match after Scurll had taken the vast majority of their previous bouts. After the match, Ospreay challenged an old rival sitting at ringside, Kushida.

The aftermath of the match is still being felt as the botched Spanish Fly off the apron has caused Ospreay excruciating pain in his neck resulting in him seeing doctors and being questionable for his appearances during WrestleMania weekend. The ‘Aerial Assassin’ has since announced that regardless of his injury, he will be wrestling his scheduled matches during this upcoming weekend.

Did you think their match was worthy of five stars? Are you excited to see Ospreay take on Kushida once more? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter here.