NJPW President Comments on Will Ospreay Status for Wrestle Kingdom
New Japan Pro Wrestling President Takami Obari has updated NJPW fans on Will Ospreay‘s status for Wrestle Kingdom 16. Wrestle Kingdom 16 takes place next year from January 4 to the 6th.
The Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida announced yesterday that Japan would ban foreigners into the country indefinitely. Japan also joins other countries that are trying to combat the new variant of COVID-19, Omicron. Japan’s new travel restriction created doubt on if wrestlers like Will Ospreay can attend Wrestle Kingdom 16.
In an interview with Tokyo Sports, Obari responded to Kishida’s announcement. He shared that Ospreay should be able to come to Japan because he has a work visa. However, the situation in Japan can change.
“Under the current rules, foreign wrestlers who are regularly participating in the war are not expected to enter the country. I’ve heard that (regular foreign wrestlers) have visas to work in Japan, so they will be treated as re-entry. This has been confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” said Obari.
Ospreay will return to Japan for NJPW since his match with Shingo Takagi at Wrestling Dontaku on May 4. It was also the last match that he defended the NJPW Heavyweight Championship before vacating the title due to a neck injury. After Ospreay relinquished the title, Takagi defeated Kazuchika Okada to win the vacant NJPW Heavyweight Champion at Dominion on June 7. To get back into the title picture, Okada won the G1 Climax.
It’s unclear if NJPW planned to have all three wrestlers involved, but the Ospreay injury helped build an eight-month storyline.
