NJPW: 5 Ways The Landscape of New Japan Shifted With G1 Supercard

Jeff Cobb, Will Ospreay, and the NEVER Openweight Title

The story for Will Ospreay has been to prove that he can bridge the gap between the Junior Heavyweights and Heavyweights of New Japan. With impressive victories in the New Japan Cup, Ospreay seemed well on his way to cementing that claim.

The NEVER Openweight Title itself has been one that has languished in repetition over the years. That all felt like it was about to change when Kota Ibushi defeated 4-time title holder Hirooki Goto for the championship in last December.

Ibushi, not quite the same type of heavyweight as a Goto or Ishii, was sure to bring something new to the title and the division as a whole. This was never more highlighted than in his first defense against growing boy Will Ospreay at Wrestle Kingdom 13.

Many of the feuds and matches for the NEVER Openweight Title have shone a light on the hard-hitting, strong style, mean old dads of New Japan like Goto, Ishii and Minoru Suzuki. Featuring the prize in a match between two daredevil flyers was a total change of pace.

Ospreay defeated Ibushi for the title in a classic and brutal match at the Tokyo Dome combining high flying with sickening strikes which saw the Golden Star carried out of the ring on a stretcher and sidelined for weeks with a concussion. In felling Ibushi in his first defense, Ospreay became the very first Junior Heavyweight to hold the NEVER Openweight Title.

With Ospreay’s journey toward heavyweight, he was able to catch heavyweight mainstays like Lance Archer and Bad Luck Fale off guard with his hybrid offense.

It would be the hybrid offense of another unconventional wrestler which would be his own undoing at G1 Supercard.

Jeff Cobb is no stranger to New Japan and no stranger to bridging that very same gap between Junior Heavyweight and Heavyweight that Ospreay has been tip-toeing across. While Cobb is obviously no Junior Heavyweight, his agility and ability to move like someone half his size has made him an opponent for whom it is incredibly hard to plan a strategy.

It’s quite fitting, then, that Jeff Cobb used his own hybrid offense to catch Ospreay off guard and defeat the Aerial Assassin in his very first defense of the NEVER Openweight Title. With his victory, Cobb also retained the ROH TV Title making him a cross-company dual champion.

As Mike Elgin exits New Japan, the company will be looking for another foreign hoss to fill his spot. Personal opinions of Elgin aside, his in-ring abilities have been on point in New Japan, and he is able to surprise with agility as well.

Jeff Cobb very easily slots into the Elgin spot and winning the NEVER Openweight Title solidifies him as a fixture on upcoming tours.

The future for both men is as yet uncertain, but the result of their match paints a few possibilities.

While Ospreay is trending toward the Heavyweight division, he’s still very much a part of the Junior Heavyweight division. Could we see Ospreay land himself in the Best of the Super Juniors for, potentially, his last year in the brackets? Or, does Ospreay step into the G1 Climax to try his hand against the best heavyweights in the world?

For Cobb, G1 Supercard is a step toward a potential new life in New Japan. He had been closely tied to Elgin on previous tours, but with Big Mike moving on from the company, Cobb has the chance to step into the spotlight all by himself.

With the NEVER Openweight Title over his shoulder, Cobb could dominate the spring before rolling onto the G1 to crush some more dreams the way he crushed Ospreay’s in New York City.