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Will Ospreay vs. Callum Newman Set For Wrestle Kingdom 21

ByAndrew J.T. Gelinas
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The United Empire will never be the same.

Following their failed attempt at the IWGP Tag Team Championships during NJPW Power Struggle on Tuesday, Callum Newman and Will Ospreay started brawling with one another.

Both men started shoving each other, butting heads before things soon devolved into an out brawl. Newman gave his own ally Francesco Akira a wicked lariat of his own as well, prompting Ospreay to get on top of his former protege in a tremendous rage, thundering down strikes on his former protege.

After disrupting the match, Newman took a mic, where he challenged Ospreay to a match at Wrestle Kingdom 21 on January 4.

“Hey, **** this. You think you’re the leader? You think you can come back, do anything you wanna do? Huh? You know what, let’s make it official. Callum Newman. “The Prince”. Will Ospreay. “The King”. Tokyo Dome.”

-Callum Newman

During his post-show backstage comments, Newman would elaborate on his growing animosity toward Ospreay, the man who initially brought him over to NJPW in the first place.

“I’m sick to death of not only just being your younger brother. Sick to death of being one of the younger brothers to one of the best wrestlers in the world, when I know I’m one of the best f****** wrestlers in the world. So when you f*** back off to America, you’re going to do a p*** about with your other mates. An Empire that ain’t worth s***, see you back in Tokyo, mate, biggest stage we got here. Brother vs. Brother The Prince vs. The King. I’m gonna show you this is my empire. And you ain’t welcome back.”

-Callum Newman

Conversely, in his backstage comments (which can also be found via the same link), Will Ospreay delivered a fiery promo accepting Newman’s challenge, but not before cutting into his stablemate.

Embarrassing. Absolutely embarrassing that that took place in front of so many people. We had the match won. We could have been standing here IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions, but your ego keeps getting in the way. Callum, it is about time you ate my favorite type of pie, Humble Pie. I always say if there’s a choice between war and peace, we should aim for peace. But if we can’t make peace, I’m going to aim between the eyes. Callum, you have accomplished a lot at the young age of 23. You’re 24 now, mate. And the class you had, they’re all great. Tsuji, Oiwa, Yuya, Shota, all phenomenal pro wrestlers. Allow me to tell you the 8 years I spent on that blue canvas wrestling guys like Prime Kazuchika Okada, Prime Kota Ibushi, (Hiroshi) Tanahashi, Shingo (Takagi), the list goes on and on and on. The golden era is the bridge I walked on. And now, I’m gonna show The Prince what the King of Sports has f****** produced, bruv. You want Wrestle Kingdom? You’re on.”

-Will Ospreay.

This massive singles grudge match will fit on an ever growing card filled with exciting matches. Wrestle Kingdom 21 is shaping up to be a show truly fitting the lofty standards of the King of Sports.

Full card as of writing:

  • IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Yota Tsuji (c) vs. Kenny Omega
  • Callum Newman vs. Will Ospreay
  • Ryohei Oiwa vs. MJF
  • Shingo Takagi vs. Jon Moxley
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: YOH (c) vs. SHO – If SHO loses, he will leave House of Torture and reunite Roppongi 3K with YOH. If YOH leaves, he leaves NJPW

For more information on how Kenny Omega became the number one contender to the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, you can click here.

As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on the plans for Wrestle Kingdom 21 as soon as we hear more.

H/T to meraWRESTLING for the initial promo transcription.

If you use the backstage comments above, please credit the original source with a h/t and link back to WrestlePurists.com for the transcription.