We reported earlier this week that KUSHIDA would be leaving NJPW after 8 years. KUSHIDA is easily one of the greatest performers in the history of New Japan, let alone the Juniors division.

KUSHIDA lost his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship at last week’s Wrestle Kingdom show from the Tokyo Dome in Japan. The former champion’s final bout for the company will come at the ‘Road To’ New Beginning show on January 29th against Hiroshi Tanahashi.

One of the top stars from the NJPW Juniors Division (as of now) Will Ospreay took to Twitter to talk the departure of KUSHIDA and what it means to the division going forward. The UK star stated “This is when opportunity can present itself. New Japan will need Junior Heavyweights. I could name 5 lads in the UK alone that would be a great addition. Time to step up lads.”

Ospreay is still technically classed as a Junior performer for the company. The ‘Aerial Assassin’ faced Kota Ibushi at Wrestle Kingdom for the NEVER Openweight Championship, meaning that he could compete against a ‘heavyweight’ star. It is likely that Ospreay will be moving into the heavyweight division going forward. This would mean that there are two open spots for the Juniors division in the company, exciting times ahead.