Watch: Will Ospreay Says Signing With WWE Has Never Interested Him

Since 1960, the only way for a professional wrestler to perform inside Madison Square Garden in [...]

By Connor Casey

Since 1960, the only way for a professional wrestler to perform inside Madison Square Garden in New York City was to work for a promotion run by the McMahon family. But Ring of Honor and New Japan will break that trend on April 6 when the two companies will come together at the historic arena for the G1 Supercard event. Thus far the card has eight matches announced, including a triple threat ladder match for the ROH World Championship and a IWGP Heavyweight Championship match between Jay White and the winner of the ongoing New Japan Cup tournament. One of the most intriguing matches will see NEVER Openweight Champion Will Ospreay take on ROH Television Champion Jeff Cobb in a "Winner Take All" match, as both titles will be on the line.

In a recent interview on New Japan's Road to MSG YouTube series, Ospreay gave his thoughts on competing at MSG while also giving his honest opinion on working for the WWE. The 25-year-old British wrestling sensation has appeared in New Japan, Ring of Honor, Progress and Revolution Pro Wrestling, but has yet to step foot inside a WWE ring since bursting out onto the scene in 2012.

"It's always been the home of another company," Ospreay said. "To be able to perform there, you have to be a great singer/songwriter, an artist....I can't sing. The other option would be going to that other company (WWE), which has never intrigued me. I never really found that aspiration to want to go there."

Ospreay said the upcoming event still doesn't feel real to him, given how many famous performers have been inside the building over the years. When it came to wrestling Ospreay recalled watching matches between Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle inside the arena as a kid.

"I would like to show people me. I get the feeling that a lot of people judge, and a lot of people don't really know who I am, where I've come from, and they like to assume and make assumptions of me," Ospreay said when asked what he wants to bring to his G1 Supercard match. "I'm a kid that grew up in Essex whose mom wanted him to be a dancer and whose dad wanted him to be a football player. For some strange reason, I got hooked and addicted to professional wrestling. And I spent years being picked on, being bullied, being a little bit of an outcast, being the laughing stock of my entire school when every year my teacher would ask me, 'What do you want to be?' Without shame or any doubt in my mind, I said, 'I'm going to be a professional wrestler."

Ospreay first gained global attention in 2016 during the New Japan Best of the Super Juniors tournament, where he took on future WWE Superstar Ricochet in a high-flying spectacle.

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