(Almost) 5-Star Match Reviews: Naomichi Marufuji vs. Will Ospreay – Naomichi Marufuji’s 25th Anniversary Show

It was only a matter of time before Will Ospreay wrestled his doppelganger.

There are many people who adore Ospreay as a wrestler and it isn’t hard to see why. He’s flashy, acrobatic, willing to risk everything on a regular basis, and he has ludicrous conditioning for a guy who has spent the past 15 or so years throwing himself around like a pinball, both on defense and on offense. Personally I’m not all that convinced of his purported historic greatness: I’ve seen awesome matches from him against the likes of WALTER, Hiromu Takahashi, Tetsuya Naito, Zack Sabre, Jr., and even once with Kenny Omega. But the thing with Ospreay is that he’s a guy that requires a very specific type of opponent to really shine and show off his strengths.

So who better to fill that role than the man who, at one point, did Ospreay’s shtick better than he did?

The Story

This is a special one-time match to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Naomichi Marufuji’s wrestling debut. In that quarter century the man has pretty much done everything there is to do in his native country. He has wrestled in companies big and small, headlined big shows, won many titles and accolades, and helped keep his home company afloat following his mentor Misawa’s tragic death.

But while Marufuji wasn’t as ambitious as other wrestlers in terms of personal glory, it cannot be denied that he has had an undeniable influence on the modern wrestling landscape through his style. Seriously, go to any local wrestling show or watch and indy fed and see how many thrust kick/superkick are spammed, how much crazy misdirection occurs throughout the match, and how much no-selling occurs during the final explosive third act of any said match. Before this particular style was associated with the PWG crowd like the Young Bucks, it was mostly associated with Marufuji and what he did in NOAH.

Part of this stylistic shift was done out of necessity: Marufuji knew he couldn’t escape Misawa’s enormous shadow if he copied his mentor move-for-move and replicated his style exactly. But he also knew his limitations: he was much smaller and faster so he had to work in a style fitting of his physical frame while still adhering to NOAH’s in-house approach as well. This led to the NOAH Ark style that Marufuji, along with KENTA and many other junior heavyweights, made famous. Their matches during the 2000s spawned many tribute acts and copycats, to the point that American industry mainstays like John Moxley were straight up openly admitting that anyone from a certain age stole from these NOAH guys…and Will Ospreay is one of them.

Like Marufuji, Ospreay wrestles all over the place (but on a much larger scale). And like Marufuji Ospreay wants to have a stylistic impact on professional wrestling on top of achieving personal glory. And if you watched the two men side-by-side, it would become quite obvious that Ospreay gets a lot of his ideas from Marufuji. So in a case Marufuji is proto-Ospreay, the master of a specific wrestling style. And like with many movies, an inevitable master-vs-student dynamic can emerge when someone new wants to knock the established guy off his perch. But can Ospreay do that, or will Marufuji’s 25 years of experience keep him in place?

The Match

This took place on September 17, 2023. It was rated ****3/4 out of five by the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer.

Ospreay shows respect with a deep handshake and bow to start things off. Marufuji gets a clean break and Ospreay willingly lets Maru chop him. Ospreay sells this single chop quite deeply, which is reasonable considering he tends to chop hard enough to break skin. Ospreay bows respectfully and then we get some chain wrestling. This goes on for a bit until Ospreay gets a ropebreak and there’s a bit of lighthearted comedy during this section as well. This is followed by a typical Ospreay ducking/avoiding exchange that ends in a double dropkick leading to a stalemate.

Ospreay goes for his usual handspring enzuigiri combo but Marufuji hits him first with a basement dropkick to the wrist. Marufuji starts working that limb over and lands another big chop, but when he tries sending Ospreay into the opposite corner Ospreay counters and elbows him from the top to the floor.

Ospreay hits more chops and some elbows, and then avoids a dropkick, only for Maru to retaliate with a handspring dropkick of his own. Marufuji lands another corner chop and counters his way into a springboard dropkick that sends Ospreay from the apron to the floor. Marufuji follows with a corkscrew plancha to the floor and then covers in the ring for a one-count. He lands Kawada kicks and bounces off the ropes but Ospreay hits first with a standing walk-up enzuigiri. Then Ospreay connects with his handspring enzuigiri as well to take control of the match.

Ospreay lands a springboard forearm for two and then lands Kawada kicks of his own when Maru blocks a powerbomb. Despite eating a big chop Marufuji manages to power out of another powerbomb and land a kick combo. Ospreay kicks Marufuji to the floor and lands a corkscrew moonsault plancha to the floor.

Marufuji counters a whip into the barricade but Ospreay hits first with a back kick. He goes for an Os-Cutter using said barricade but Maru cuts him off, dropping him throat-first onto it and driving his throat onto it a second time. He tries an apron powerbomb but Ospreay powers out and drops him onto the top rope. Then he lands a top-rope shooting star splash with Marufuji draped across said top rope. One, two, Marufuji kicks out.

Ospreay kicks Marufuji’s head and drops him with a Ligerbomb for another near-fall. He slams Maru in preparation for a dive but Maru rolls away. But that’s not enough as Ospreay still lands a springboard dropkick to his face. Ospreay teases a Stormbreaker on the apron. Marufuji blocks and lands an apron Shiranui using the ringpost. Both guys make it into the ring at nineteen but Marufuji hits first with a springboard basement dropkick for two. Marufuji lands some mocking strikes and demands Ospreay hit him back. They exchange chops with each one, no exaggeration, sounding like the crack of a whip. Then out of mutual respect they shake hands and hold onto each other as they continue chopping one another. Maru wins this exchange but Ospreay goes for a kick. Marufuji ducks and superkicks him through his legs. Ospreay no-sells and lands a kick combo plus a half-nelson suplex. Ospreay charges but Maru tries his misdirection lariat, only for Ospreay to counter that and – wait, no, Marufuji counters a powerbomb with a mid-air stunner. One, two, Ospreay survives

Marufuji follows with a Shiranui but Ospreay no-sells and lands his Hidden Blade elbow. Ospreay gets up first and lands his Robinson Special corkscrew kick followed by the Os-Cutter but only gets two. He goes for a superplex but Marufuji cuts him off and lands a Spanish Fly. He tries his Pole Shift second finisher but Ospreay blocks, teases the Stormbreaker, and instead lands a standard Tiger Driver for two. Marufuji kicks out at one and he is PISSED. Standing strike exchange. Ospreay hits more elbows plus a Misawa rolling elbow and then charges for another Hidden Blade. Marufuji hits first with a jump kick and, despite resistance and head-butts from Ospreay, lands a bicycle kneelift and a Tiger Flowsion…all for two. Another Pole Shift attempt. Ospreay blocks and tries another Stormbreaker. Marufuji blocks and tries a Perfect Inside Cradle. Ospreay hits first with a kneelift. Ospreay signals the end but Maru lands one more kneelift followed by a counter thrust kick. Ospreay hits back with two Hidden Blades but Marufuji still kicks out. Stormbreaker connects. One, two, and three! Ospreay wins!

Winner after 23:03: Will Ospreay

Review

It’s Will Ospreay facing the man who inspired him, what else did you expect?

In all seriousness, this was a typical Japanese high-speed bomb-fest with lots of craziness and style over substance. Since there was no story between these guys and they were for all intents and purposes having a commemorative exhibition match they had to make the action speak for itself. So they built a match around Marufuji showing what he did best and Ospreay out-doing him at his own game. It had a cat-and-mouse feel to it as both guys traded control and kept surprising each other. They packed lots of action into their 23-minute runtime, most of which was concentrated in the final third. Every time it looked like one guy was going to pull ahead the other overtook. It didn’t feel like all the crazy stuff they were doing was having any cumulative effect; instead, it felt like a neck-and-neck fight that could end at any moment. In a way this crazy no-selling filled lunacy was a double-edged sword: while it meant that each big move came across as inconsequential until the final moments, it also meant that the match was much harder to predict and thus required the audience’s full and undivided attention.

But despite there being no real story surrounding the reason for the match, a slight one did emerge once they got started. While he might not admit it, Ospreay has clearly taken more from Marufuji’s wrestling style than he has his “official” inspiration AJ Styles. And because of that dynamic Ospreay spent more time showing off but not in an obnoxious way. He made it clear he respected Marufuji and wanted to beat him by bringing the best out of him in their match. That last part was really the only part that stood out as far as big Ospreay matches are concerned: he didn’t act like an outward dick, flip people off, or show really show any smugness here. There was a level of sportsmanship and “purity” here which made sense given the venue, audience, and in-house style. So while the match didn’t really have THAT much different in it compared to Ospreay’s usual fare, it was at least nice to see him compete in an almost pure sports setting without any forced or manufactures cussing or smugness that doesn’t always fit what he’s doing.

Final Rating: ***3/4

While I wanted to give this match more praise given the talent involved, I don’t think this match is really worth all the hype. This was a completely fine match but nothing out-of-this-world. There wasn’t much difference between this match and Marufuji’s match with AJ Styles from earlier this year in terms of concept, structure, style, or substance. It was flashy, spotty, acrobatic, and exhilarating, but ultimately it lacked anything distinguishing beyond the novelty factor. If you’ve seen Ospreay versus any NJPW junior heavyweight or Marufuji versus, well, anyone else of a similar size, then you know what to expect here.

I’ve heard that Marufuji is fast approaching retirement but nothing has been announced or confirmed. But once he does hang up his boots for good, at least he knows that his style and spirit will live on in Will Ospreay.

Thanks for reading.