Will Ospreay Loses Final Indy Match To Michael Oku At RevPro High Stakes

Will Ospreay's career wrestling on the independent wrestling scene in the United Kingdom is over and the former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion went out putting over one of Britain's top stars. 

Ospreay main evented RevPro High Stakes at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre as he challenged Michael Oku for the RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship. Their three-year story culminated in a 47-minute match that saw Michael Oku finally defeat Will Ospreay by submission with a modified Half Crab. 

Both men ended up bleeding during the match and Ospreay played the heel, even kicking Oku's girlfriend Amira to the floor at one point. Other sequences of the match saw Oku survive a Storm Driver '93, Hidden Blade, and a Storm Breaker. Ospreay connected with a Styles Clash elsewhere in the match while Amira sacrificed herself, taking a Hidden Blade from Ospreay after she pushed Oku out of the way. 

Following the contest, Oku and Ospreay paid respect to one another before Ospreay addressed the crowd, which featured an interaction with AEW President Tony Khan, who was in the building for the match. Ospreay promised to be better in AEW than he has been for NJPW for the past eight years and thanked Khan for creating an alternative which fuelled chants of "Thank you Tony." 

It was announced in November 2023 that Ospreay had signed with All Elite Wrestling. He will face Konosuke Takeshita at Revolution on March 3. 

Praise has been heaped on Will Ospreay vs. Michael Oku since the match finished, with Dave Meltzer writing: "The Will Ospreay vs. Michael Oku match that took place today at the Crystal Palace in London was beyond any words I could write about. Their match two years ago was the best storytelling match I've seen in many years. This match was far better than that."

Match of the year contenders for 2024 already include Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada from Wrestle Kingdom 18 and Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr. from New Beginning in Osaka.