An End, A New Beginning
After Will Ospreay and Kazuchika Okada leave, will you trust the process?
This isn’t a new feeling for many. If you have followed New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) for years, a prominent wrestler leaving the promotion to begin the next chapter of their career is something you have experienced again, and again, and again.
NJPW has less bidding power than top American promotions like WWE or AEW, making the departure of so many top names feel inevitable. It’s easy to become desensitized to the loss of stars because of this. However, this time feels different. It feels as if the promotion is saying goodbye to a couple of the remaining names who defined a decade for the promotion.
The New Beginning in Osaka 2024 will be the final appearance for Will Ospreay, and the first of three appearances from Kazuchika Okada this month before he officially departs the promotion. For Ospreay, we know that he’ll be starting the next part of his life in AEW, with the expectation being that he will appear in NJPW every once in a while. Okada’s future isn't as publicly known so far. He could join AEW and similarly have a deal that brings him back to the promotion a few times a year. Or, he could go to WWE and potentially not step foot in a NJPW ring for years to come.
Both Okada and Ospreay were two key players during the promotion’s expansion decade of the 2010s.
Okada made himself a bonafide superstar, picking up five different title runs as IWGP Heavyweight Champion since 2012. He headlined seven different Wrestle Kingdom cards and won the G1 Climax five times. He put on some of the biggest matches in modern NJPW history. He was the clear face of the company and continued to be one of the biggest players in recent years.
In the 2010s, Ospreay was one of the leading names that demonstrated how NJPW was one of the most innovative in-ring products at the time. Ospreay’s time in NJPW during the 2010s didn’t bring forward the same level of on-paper accolades as the incredibly successful Okada. Instead, he spent the 2010s as a name that was on the rise with a seemingly inevitable top title run eventually coming around.
He joined the promotion in 2016 and immediately made an impact. During the Best of the Super Junior XXIII tournament, he wrestled a 16-minute match against Ricochet that turned heads and caused an entire news cycle. The incredibly high-flying and exact-to-the-second choreography of the match made it bigger than the tournament it was a part of.
Ospreay became one of the more popular junior talents in the promotion, holding the division’s singles title three times up until early 2020. He then moved to heavyweight, increasing in size and making his first legitimate push towards the main title.
Ospreay was not one of the top storyline names in NJPW during the 2010s. However, he was a highly talked about rising talent who was having his biggest moments yet in the promotion.
The value of Ospreay multiplied at a low point for NJPW, as business dipped in 2020. He became one of the most reliable names on the roster to produce a high-level match against anyone. While he has remained out of the main title picture for more than two years now, he has maintained the status of being one of NJPW’s top stars — a testament to how much his in-ring performances are valued by fans.
So many names that defined NJPW’s boom period in the 2010s are long gone nowadays. When looking at the lineage of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, it becomes clear how many wrestlers have moved on: Kota Ibushi, Jay White, Kenny Omega, AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura are all on that list. Among those who remained, up until this weekend, were Ospreay and Okada. This is not to say that era is completely gone from the promotion: pivotal figures Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tetsuya Naito are notably still present. However, there is little left from that era.
Parts of the boom period remained in NJPW for years after it came to an end. However, this month truly feels like the conclusion of something. The question now is simple: Where will NJPW go from here?
Similar to a sports franchise that has seen their top stars migrate after a championship year — take for example the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, who have struggled since winning a title in 2019 — NJPW is in rebuild mode. No doubt there are quality names, but the promotion must now focus on stocking up their star power once again. They need to develop someone who can be as innovative in the ring as Ospreay, or as wildly popular as Okada.
The idea of a rebuild, from a fan perspective, might sound groan-worthy. Maybe we will look back in retrospect on this development time as something that truly deserves that attitude. However one thing is true: It’s too early to judge how the next period of time for NJPW will go.
If done right, the development will be entertaining and could generate interest.
This weekend provides a strong look at where NJPW could find its next star. Osprey’s farewell match is an absolute maximalist way to put a spotlight on others before he leaves. In a 10-man match, five members of United Empire will meet five from Bullet Club War Dogs. The match includes numerous young talents who have room to be developed: Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors, Drilla Moloney and Gabe Kidd have all been in Bullet Club for just months, but have all demonstrated that they are strong heel characters. HENARE has had flashes of brilliance over the past year, and Francesco Akira is doing well developing alongside veteran TJP in a tag team.
Lower on the card, a rivalry within a tag match might point toward who could be the next star to rise to the top. Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura were appointed by factions last year after returning from excursions. They have shown incredible promise in the ring and arguably have the potential to already achieve big things when given an opportunity, despite just being in their first year since officially debuting.
This is all to say: There are options that NJPW can explore. There is talent with tons of potential. This, of course, guarantees nothing but also shows that there’s potential for something.
Considering how much Okada and Ospreay achieved, it’s easy to dread the idea of searching for names to replace them, especially since we don’t know how long that search will take or if the results will be satisfying enough.
While Naito — an incredibly experienced wrestler — is the current top champion in NJPW, it wouldn’t be surprising if his title run is overlooked by the idea of who should be in that position soon.
The theme of 2024 will likely be all about figuring out who can be elevated to a big spot in the promotion for the first time in their career. It will be about tracking the progress of NJPW’s new arrivals and debating if they are being built up correctly. It will be about seeing what veteran names who possibly have never been given a major title push should be given a shot. It will be about giving fans something to cheer for when one of their favorite wrestlers is no longer there to be cheered.
It’s hard to tell what kind of year NJPW will have. Will an attempt at elevating names be a struggle, making it a year of declining interest from fans? Or will exciting and intriguing booking decisions make the build toward the promotion’s next stars worth watching?
We can’t say which way it will go now. However, it seems very clear what the theme will be in the promotion after Okada and Ospreay say their final goodbyes.