Will Ospreay Reportedly Injured His Shoulder In NJPW Match Against Mark Davis
New Japan Pro-Wrestling is in the midst of holding its annual New Japan Cup, a 16-man, single elimination tournament where the winner earns a future IWGP World Championship match. On Monday in Ehime, Will Ospreay battled his United Empire stablemate Mark Davis for a shot at advancing to the quarterfinals. After 20 minutes, Ospreay emerged victorious, but not unscathed.
Dave Meltzer reported on the latest "Wrestling Observer Radio" that Ospreay injured his shoulder during a risky spot in the bout. At one point, Davis pulled up the floor mats and buried Ospreay under them. Davis then performed a senton without knowing exactly where he was landing on the hidden Ospreay. The 29-year-old heard a "pop" and continued the bout anyway, although the exact details of the injury are unknown.
At the same event, EVIL defeated Jeff Cobb to advance, setting up Ospreay vs. EVIL in the quarterfinals this Friday, March 17, as long as Ospreay is cleared to compete. Other quarterfinals matches that are confirmed include Sanada vs. Tetsuya Naito, plus Hirooki Goto vs. Tama Tonga. The winner of EVIL vs. Ospreay will face the winner of Sanada vs. Naito.
Beyond the ongoing New Japan Cup, Ospreay also has WrestleMania weekend matches looming in a few weeks. Impact Wrestling and NJPW will co-present Multiverse United: Only The Strong Survive, where Ospreay is advertised to take on "Speedball" Mike Bailey in their fifth singles match together. Ospreay is also booked for the annual Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow, however his opponent is unknown as of this writing. Both of those bouts are scheduled to take place on March 30 barring any issues stemming from this reported shoulder injury.