For Will Ospreay, 2016 has been a breakout year but, according to him, he is not looking to jump to WWE.
Not yet, anyway.
"I just feel like right now it's not the time for me," Ospreay said of signing with WWE during a recent interview with ESPN.com. "Trust me when I say this, WWE has always been the thing I've grown up watching -- guys like Paul Heyman, who I've met, and Matt Hardy, who I've met. So many names who I can mention who have inspired me. The WWE will be the dream; however, I wanna go in there with a big splash. I don't wanna go in there and be thrown in the shallow end of the pool. I wanna be thrown in the deep end, and trust me when I say it, I'll swim."
Ospreay, at 23 years old, became the youngest wrestler ever to win New Japan Pro Wrestling's prestigious Best of the Super Juniors tournament. Currently under contract to both NJPW and Ring of Honor, Ospreay also won the ROH TV Title last month during the ROH tour of England, and faced off for the title at Final Battle this past Friday in a match that included current champ and fellow Brit Marty Scurll, along with Mexican luchador Dragon Lee.
Ospreay noted that he still wants to wrestle in his home country as often as possible, while also fulfilling his commitments to ROH and New Japan.
"I wanna stick with the British scene as much as physically possible because England is my home," said Ospreay. "England is everything that I live to inspire. I love being home, I love seeing my Nan and Granddad, my parents, my beautiful girlfriend, all my friends.
"I'm very proud of my country," he added. "If there was a WWE in England, that would be my goal. I'd love to stay. It's never been about money for me, but at the minute it's the sole provider of what I do, to be able to provide for my missus and my family and look after my parents. If I could make that type of money in England then hell yeah I'd do it. But I know I need to go out to the United States, to Japan, to Europe. I need to go all around the world to make my name and provide."
Click here to read the entire interview with Ospreay, including his thoughts on winning the BOSJ tournament, his match with Ricochet that went viral, as well as which current WWE wrestler is his "hero."
