Report: Chris Jericho Helped Put Together Will Ospreay's NJPW Heel Turn

During the final round of A Block matches in the G1 Climax 30, Will Ospreay turned his back on Chaos and attacked his longtime ally, Kazuchika Okada. The Ariel Assassin went on to defeat Okada with help from Bea Priestley and the returning Great-O-Khan and they have since formed a new faction in NJPW named The Empire.

Ospreay's heel turn featured Priestley distracting the official, which allowed Great-O-Khan to attack Okada from out of nowhere. The British Heavyweight Champion then feigned surprise but pinned The Rainmaker after a Stormbreaker. Ospreay feigned further confusion after the bell, but he proceeded to take out Okada with the Hidden Blade and declared his former friend had done nothing but hold him back.

According to Dave Meltzer, Chris Jericho helped Ospreay put the segment together a couple of weeks ago.

Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio: "It was total Chris Jericho. I'm not saying he did the whole angle, but when I'm watching this I'm like, 'This is Chris Jericho.' And I did find out that they did have an interesting conversation about two-three weeks ago… So he had something to do with this."

Past reports have noted The Demo God is a fan of Ospreay's and he reportedly wanted to work a programme with The Ariel Assassin over the AEW Title in early 2020.