We’re taking a closer look at each competitor before heading into New Japan’s annual double round-robin tournament, the G1 Climax, that begins on July 6 live from Dallas at 6 p.m. Eastern/3 p.m. Pacific on AXS TV.
Will Ospreay (IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion)
Some might already say Will Ospreay is pro wrestling’s MVP this year, and possibly the best in the world at the moment, despite what some others may think. He kicked the year off with a stellar bout with Kota Ibushi at Wrestle Kingdom, which looking back now seems unfortunately outshined by the quality and prestige of the other matches on the card. He hung with Jeff Cobb in NYC this April and had a ridiculous albeit somewhat short bout at G1 Supercard.
Ospreay has also had an assortment of killer matches with the Archer, his Night 1 opponent at this year’s G1, as well as with his CHAOS stablemate, Kazuchika Okada, in this year’s New Japan Cup. His Best of the Super Juniors run this year was one many will talk about for the next decade; it can probably only be topped by Ospreay himself at this point. He’s a one-man band who just finished his most successful tour to date, firing on every cylinder, playing all the hits with both careless precision and superhuman ease, and Ospreay is certainly to even top that BOSJ performance with one this summer, barring injury or extreme fatigue.
Lance Archer
Lance Archer is one of the super-heavies entered in this year’s G1 and he should tally least a few big wins for him this year. Archer’s Killer Elite Squad tag team partner, Davey Boy Smith, Jr., has recently quit the company, which means that the “American Psycho” could use this year’s tournament run as a springboard into a more serious singles position on the NJPW roster.
Archer lives in Dallas and has been doing tons of local campaigning for the the tourney’s first night in Dallas. He had a notably fantastic match with the aforementioned Ospreay in this year’s New Japan Cup, which came as a huge surprise to many since Archer really hasn’t had many chances to work singles matches recently. He and Ospreay had a modern David vs. Goliath match and both played their roles so well that you couldn’t deny both wrestlers’ talent.
Will Archer and Ospreay bring the magic they made in this year’s Cup to Dallas on July 6? All we can do is wait and see, but Ospreay’s track record this year means this Friday’s bout will be the dark horse match of the entire card.