Will Ospreay Vacates The IWGP World Heavyweight Title Due To A Neck Injury

New Japan now needs a new champion.

Back on April 14th Will Ospreay defeated Kota Ibushi to become the new IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. We have seen over the years that Will Ospreay works through all different kinds of injuries, but he can not do so this time.

New Japan Pro Wrestling put out a statement Thursday morning that Will Ospreay suffered an injury on the second night of Wrestling Dontaku. He will be returning to the United Kingdom for rehab and there is no timetable on when he will be returning. Since they do not know how long he will be out of action they now do not have a World Champion as Ospreay was forced to vacate the title.

On May 4’s night two of Wrestling Dontaku in Fukuoka, Will Ospreay sustained a neck injury. As a result, Ospreay will not be participating in the next series of events and will instead return to the UK for treatment and rehabilitation.

There is no timetable for Ospreay’s return to action at this time, and as a result, his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship will be vacated.

Further announcements on the status of the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship will be made at a later date.

As far as crowning the next champion, New Japan Pro Wrestling has not stated anything on what they will do regarding who will fight for the vacant title. If we do hear anything regarding crowning a new world champion, we will have it here and on the PWUnlimited YouTube Channel.