Kenny Omega is once again the IWGP United States Champion. The Best Bout Machine reclaimed the prize this past January at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17, besting long-time rival Will Ospreay in their highly-anticipated first clash. While the two opened on somewhat of an even playing field, Omega quickly got the upper hand of Ospreay, dominating the middle half of the contest before putting him away with the One-Winged Angel. Even with this decisive victory, both men have emphasized that their Tokyo Dome bout was just the beginning of what many expect to be a full trilogy when it is all said and done.
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Omega and Ospreay have remained distant since, but a recent announcement could force their paths to cross again sooner than later. NJPW has announced a mini tournament to decide the No.1 Contender to Omega’s IWGP United States Championship. Lance Archer will face Juice Robinson at NJPW Collision in Philadelphia on April 16th while Hiroshi Tanahashi squares off against Will Ospreay on May 21st. The victors of those respective matches will face each other at NJPW Dominion on June 4th to decide Omega’s next title defense’s challenger.
There’s no word on when this title defense will take place, but it’s worth noting that the tournament’s graphic style bears significant resemblance to the font and color scheme that is used for AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door visuals. This year’s AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door is scheduled to go down on June 25th, three weeks after Dominion crowns the IWGP United States Title’s No.1 Contender.
Omega has successfully defended his IWGP United States Championship just once in his current reign. He bested Jeff Cobb, Ospreay’s United Empire stablemate, in March on AEW Dynamite when the title was on the line.
It was previously reported that AEW was looking to run Omega vs. Ospreay 2 as one of the headlining matches for the Forbidden Door sequel in Toronto. Those plans received a big asterisk after Ospreay went down with a shoulder injury earlier this year, most recently having been pulled from numerous commitments that he had scheduled over WWE WrestleMania 39 weekend.
As of this writing, there has been no official announcement on Ospreay being cleared to return to the ring. That said, his first round tournament match coming in late May indicates that NJPW believes he will be good to go at some point over the next month.
Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for updates on Ospreay’s recovery.
