Will Ospreay wrestled his final match in NJPW at New Beginning in Osaka, where he and United Empire members faced Bullet Club War Dogs in a Steel Cage match. United Empires came up short.
After the match, Ospreay addressed the fans.
“Osaka… For 8 years, you guys have been my home. You’ve seen me from a young boy become a man. I wanna thank everybody, every single person in here thank you so much for looking after me. I promise you all, I swear to this, I swear to all of you, I promise I will come back one day. Please do not forget me, because I will never forget any of you guys. I really don’t. I love you guys so f–king much. I love you. I’m ready to show the world what New Japan Pro Wrestling has produced. I am the man I am today because [of] all of you. I promise I will come back, but until then, Arigato Gozaimasu.”
Will Ospreay said the following backstage:
“Tonight was f–king difficult, man, real hard. There’s so many emotions going into this thing, and all I’ve just been doing is just saying goodbye to people that I’ve grown up alongside, and it’s weird it just feels like I’m cutting off a piece of myself in order to grow. I know this is the right move to do, [but] trust me, I know when It’s comes to the balance I am now in a position where I am a parent. I have an amazing miss that you guys all met out there. I have a new lease on life, and last year I’ve never been more tired in my entire life, not only traveling but just like the parent inside of things, and I feel like I was flipping and crumbling at points, it’s not with a heavy heart.
I signed my deal with AEW, and I’m allowed to come back and do New Japan matches, but I don’t know when that’s going to be. I need to find balance first because I have no idea what I’m doing right now. I’m scared for this next jump, I’ve had anxiety traveling to America. It’s not that I don’t enjoy it, I just get scared and I’m doing I’ve always done this on my own. That’s why it’s fitting because back in 2020 the pandemic hit, people needed us to f–king step up, people needed a voice, and that was us. We tried to best we only got you guys’ voice back last year, not even the whole year we got it back in May. It’s been an uphill battle consistently, I promise I’ll be back. I can’t express this enough. I love you guys. I love who I am. I love who I’ve become because of Japan. I’ve learned manners I have fallen down on my knees in front of you all, and I’ve picked myself up and allowed to work to prove myself time and time again. This is not the traditional way that I would ever go out, but I am not a traditional person at all. I’ve broken every boundary and every rule under the book. When everyone asked me to go right, I went left, and somehow I ended up here. I am honored, and I am proud to say that I am a product of New Japan Pro Wrestling. It will stay with me until the day that I die. It’s not goodbye all right, see you later.”