WWE loves to poach the best and brightest talent from professional wrestling brands around the world, but one top star just flat out rejected them before negotiations even got underway.
Will Ospreay, who is the current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion over in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), is one of the biggest fan favorites on the independent scene right now. When WWE got the opportunity to reach out and negotiate with him Ospreay shut it down.
On a recent edition of Chris Jericho's podcast, Talk Is Jericho, Ospreay revealed that he turned down WWE's offer because he's happy with NJPW and thinks WWE's travel schedule is ridiculous.
WWE Superstars travel more than 300 days out of the year and were forced to work this past Christmas on Monday Night RAW. Ospreay said that he couldn't do that as family is too important to him.
He prefers, like many current top stars in the independent circuit, making just as much if not more money than they would in WWE and getting to choose their own schedule.
Ospreay has been wrestling since 2012 when he began doing work for Progress Wrestling. He still does work for the promotion today, in addition to also working for both Revolution Pro Wrestling (RPW) and NJPW.
He has also been working for Ring Of Honor (ROH) since 2016. Ospreay won the Best Of The Super Juniors award with NJPW back in 2016. He is also a two-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion.
Ospreay defeated Kushida back last October at King Of Pro Wrestling to win his second IWGP Junior Heavyweight strap. It's a shame that Ospreay doesn't have any plans to join WWE soon, however, that could change in the coming years.
At the young age of 24-years-old he has plenty of time to consider a jump to the big leagues. Many former NJPW stars wait a bit before jumping to WWE, as did the likes of Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles.
Perhaps one day Ospreay will join them in WWE and reign as World Champion.
What are your thoughts on Ospreay turning down an opportunity to join the WWE machine? Do you think that we'll ever see him in the WWE? And what are your thoughts on some talents being turned off by WWE's travel schedule? Have YOUR say in the comments section below, and the fourth episode of GiveMeSport’s WWE podcast is here!
Check it out via this link: https://soundcloud.com/user-818579649/gms-wwe-podcast-money-in-the-bank-fallout
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